Harris Academy Ockendon is looking for a Teaching Assistant to support individuals and groups of students to enable access to learning, contributing to the development and maintenance of a purposeful, nurturing learning environment.

A lovely secondary school where the students say, “Good Morning”, and actually mean it. Check out our school via our video.

“I am passionate about three things:

1. Leading staff to become happy, successful, highly trained professionals who stay in the game and don't burn out or lose their way.
2. Creating a fulfilling secondary experience for students where they can grow to become well-rounded, ambitious and successful young adults ready to put a ding in the universe.
3. My life outside work.

Being great at number 1 and number 2 should not mean we can't do number 3!”

- George McMillan, Executive Principal and National Leader of Education.

We are an 11-18 academy with a thriving Sixth Form and a lovely building. It is a school where we are as passionate about developing our staff as we are about developing our students.

Our location just outside the M25 means we attract staff not only from Essex but from London. Indeed, over half our staff live in Kent/Surrey/South East and Central London. Some of our team even travel from West London because they like the school so much.

Our role here is to help students and staff dream bigger than they ever thought possible, and to make that dream come true through our culture of “work hard, be kind, take responsibility” which beats at the heart of our school.

The Executive Principal is George McMillan. Originally from Glasgow, he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA (hons) degree in English Literature and a burning desire to teach. After teaching in Edinburgh, then moving to senior management in Chafford (Essex), George took over Harris Academy Greenwich in 2011 and led its transformation to hitting the top 15% of schools in the country for progress 7 years in a row. Harris Greenwich is one of only a handful of schools in London to retain its Outstanding status (2014 then 2022) under the new Ofsted framework, and the World Class School status twice in a row.

The Principal is Ms Jo Rainey. Originally from Belfast, she graduated from the University of Ulster with a first class degree in History and Geography. Over the past 21 years, she has taught history and led in schools across London and Essex with most of her senior leadership career being spent in Hackney. Jo has been Principal at Ockendon since 2018. She is highly respected for her strong sense of integrity, her passion for student life chances, and loyalty to the school.

The Harris Federation is a highly successful group of schools who serve many of the most deprived areas of London and Essex. We are collaborative, enterprising and share a passion for turning lives around, yet each school is autonomous and free to set its own vision and strategy for how it does that.

Each Harris school feels completely different in terms of culture and ethos. Perhaps this is the school you've been looking for.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Supervising and supporting identified students, in 1:1, group or whole class situations, ensuring their safety and access to learning
• Assisting in the development of appropriate resources, schemes of work and teaching strategies, working with the teacher to ensure the provision supports each identified student's learning needs
• Assisting in evaluating identified students' progress through agreed assessment activities
• Providing detailed and regular feedback to teachers on students' achievement, progress and needs
• Leading small group sessions and interventions as appropriate
• Attending to the students' personal needs where required
• Supporting with behaviour management, using appropriate strategies in line with academy policy
• Contributing to creating a purposeful and supportive learning environment
• Undertaking structured and agreed learning activities/teaching programmes as appropriate, adjusting activities to ensure achievement of learning goals

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• Qualifications to degree level or equivalent
• Some knowledge of strategies in working with young people with challenging behaviours
• Knowledge of some of the social issues facing students from disadvantaged backgrounds
• Awareness of Health and Safety issues in the workplace.
• Experience of working directly with young people in an education or training environment, supporting the learning of students.
• Experience of establishing and maintaining positive working relationships with a range of stakeholders, at all levels.
• Experience of managing and being responsible for own workload.

For a full job description and person specification, please download the Job Pack.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please send us an email, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. This will be helpful for you when completing your application, and throughout the recruitment process.

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we may interview and offer to a candidate before the closing date. Please note that we only accept applications submitted before the closing date via our careers website.

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance for teachers on MPS/UPS, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our website.

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.