SEMH Teaching Assistant

SEMH Teaching Assistant- Specialist School

📍 Sheffield 
⏰ Full-Time | Monday–Friday
📅 Long-Term | Temp-to-Perm Opportunity

Are you passionate about supporting young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs?

Do you have experience within SEND, education, youth work, residential care, mental health, behaviour support, social care or working with vulnerable young people?

We are recruiting a SEMH Teaching Assistant to join a specialist school in Sheffield, supporting pupils across KS2–KS4 with complex Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.

This is not your typical Teaching Assistant role. You will be working closely with young people who may have experienced significant barriers to education and require a consistent, nurturing and relationship-based approach to help them engage successfully with school.

About the School

The school is a specialist SEMH provision supporting pupils who require a more personalised and supportive approach to education.

Many pupils have experienced challenges with engagement, emotional regulation, relationships and accessing traditional education and require additional support to feel safe, settled and ready to learn.

The school takes a nurture and trauma-informed approach, recognising that a young person’s emotional wellbeing and sense of safety are fundamental to their ability to learn.

Learning is personalised around individual needs and developmental stages, with a strong focus on helping pupils develop:

• Emotional regulation
• Confidence and self-esteem
• Positive relationships
• Resilience
• Communication and social skills
• Independence
• Academic engagement and progress
• Skills for adulthood and future employment

The Role

As a SEMH Teaching Assistant, you will work alongside Teachers and other specialist staff to provide both academic and pastoral support.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing 1:1 and small-group support within the classroom
• Supporting pupils to engage with lessons and access the curriculum
• Building strong, positive and professional relationships with young people
• Supporting pupils with their social, emotional and mental health needs
• Helping pupils recognise and regulate their emotions
• Encouraging positive behaviour and engagement with learning
• Providing reassurance and consistency during challenging situations
• Supporting pupils who may display behaviours that challenge
• Helping young people develop their confidence, resilience and independence
• Supporting targeted academic and SEMH interventions
• Working closely with Teachers, Learning Mentors and the wider pastoral team
• Maintaining clear professional boundaries while becoming a trusted and consistent adult

Who We’re Looking For

We are particularly interested in candidates with experience in areas such as:

• SEMH schools or specialist education
• Alternative Provision or PRUs
• SEND Teaching Assistant roles
• Behaviour support
• Youth work
• Children’s residential care
• Mental health support
• Family support
• Social care
• Mentoring or pastoral work
• Sports coaching with challenging or vulnerable young people
• Young offender or rehabilitation services

Previous school experience is beneficial, but transferable experience will also be considered.

More importantly, we are looking for people who have the resilience, patience and emotional intelligence required to build relationships with young people who may not immediately trust adults or engage with education.

The Ideal Candidate

You will be:

• Calm, patient and resilient
• Confident supporting challenging behaviour
• Able to remain consistent and professional under pressure
• Naturally able to build relationships with young people
• Understanding of SEMH and barriers to education
• Comfortable working within a highly structured specialist environment
• Able to balance nurture with clear expectations and boundaries
• Passionate about helping vulnerable young people achieve positive outcomes
• Committed to a full-time, long-term position

Why Apply?

This is an opportunity to work within a specialist setting where relationships and emotional wellbeing are at the heart of education.

You’ll have the opportunity to work closely with young people, understand the reasons behind their behaviour and help them develop the confidence, resilience and skills they need to succeed both academically and personally.

For the right candidate, this is a full-time, long-term role with the opportunity to become permanent with the school.

If you have experience supporting young people with SEMH, SEND, challenging behaviour or additional barriers to learning, we’d love to hear from you.

Apply today to find out more about this opportunity.