Hiring: SEND Secondary Classroom Teaching Assistant

25th November 2025Website Admin

Hiring: SEND Secondary Classroom Teaching Assistant

Required for: ASAP

Hours and Pay: Monday-Friday,  8am-4pm, competitive salary.

We are looking for a highly motivated and dynamic individual for a Secondary Teaching Assistant role at Gesher. As a Teaching Assistant you will work collaboratively with teaching staff to deliver an inclusive, engaging, and nurturing educational experience rooted in our relational ethos and commitment to Project-Based Learning (PBL). You will support the holistic development of the individual pupil both in and outside the classroom, helping them grow as confident, independent learners and active members of the school community.

The post holder will:
  • Work under the instruction and guidance of teaching staff to implement agreed programmes of work with the individual pupil, in or out of the classroom
  • Provide care and support for the pupil, to ensure their safety and well-being
  • Encourage enjoyment, enthusiasm, and independence in learning
  • Contribute to the development of confident, caring pupils who show a sense of responsibility and pride in themselves and the school
  • Assist in the provision of a welcoming, stimulating environment
  • Assist in the smooth running of the school
  • Have access to a wide range of CPD across the school to support growth and self development which can be applied in classrooms

Gesher School is a unique all-through school providing a specialist, meaningful and functional learning environment for young people with special educational needs. This includes language, communication and social pragmatic difficulties. We have a specialism in autism spectrum challenges (ASC).

Young people are at the heart of Gesher School, where we foster a sense of belonging and community. Our school offers a happy, safe, friendly, and stimulating environment in which young people are supported to learn, interact and have fun. We believe that all young people have the potential to achieve, but that every child is individual and requires a tailored, young person-centred approach to learning.

The Gesher approach is warm, friendly and nurturing. Emotional health and resilience, developing young people’s independence and learning, is at the core of our vision.

At Gesher we provide:

  • Opportunities that enable young people to thrive as we want our children to be ambitious about achieving their full potential
  • A collaborative learning team around every young person to support each young person’s learning needs and maximise meaningful learning opportunities
  • A therapeutic team that works together with families to nurture and support young people’s emotional, social, and academic development
  • A partnership with families to improve the lives and life chances of young people with SEND by ensuring that they are healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution, and experience the wider community

Being part of our learning community, you will be able to use your creativity and shape the way our school provides excellent learning opportunities for our young people.

For further information, please visit www.gesherschool.com.

To apply, please complete an application which can be found here.

Please, complete and return your application to [email protected]. CVs will not be accepted.

Interviews will be organised on a rolling basis. This ad may be withdrawn as a suitable candidate is identified.

Diversity is a core value of Gesher School.  We believe the power of diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. As such, we actively encourage people from a variety of backgrounds to apply for roles at our school. 

Gesher School is committed to safeguarding young people and staff. Successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.

Autism Is Not Political – It’s Human

17th October 2025Website Admin

Autism Is Not Political – It’s Human

by Danielle Petar – Assistant Headteacher: Inclusion/SENDCo at Gesher

Like many people working in education and in the wider neurodiverse community, I was dismayed to hear recent comments by global political administrations linking autism to the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy. These claims have been strongly refuted by experts across the world.

Over the years, we’ve seen far too many myths about autism and other neurotypes such as ADHD—many of which have thankfully been debunked. But the persistence of misinformation is damaging. It undermines science, years of research, and, most importantly, the tireless work of the autistic community who have fought to break down stereotypes and have their voices heard.

Prominent autistic content creators spoke to Sky News after the claims went viral. Chelsea Webster, founder of The Autism Support Group, warned that such comments risk shifting the narrative around autism—from one of support and understanding to one that promotes fear and avoidance of diagnosis.

This is a dangerous path—one that views autism as something to “cure” or “eradicate.” As Ellie Middleton, autistic author and content creator, powerfully stated:

“I can’t take my autism out of me and have it fixed.”

Her words remind us that being autistic is not separate from who a person is—it’s how they think, feel, and process the world. It’s intrinsic to identity and should be recognised and valued, not “fixed” or “treated.”

This highlights the importance of understanding autism through the voices of those with lived experience. We should amplify autistic voices, not speak over them.

At Gesher, we hold that belief at the heart of everything we do. Our community—students, staff, families, and governors—celebrates the richness of neurodiversity. Every neurotype, whether neurotypical or neurodivergent, brings something valuable to our collective experience.

As part of our ongoing commitment to inclusion, all staff receive regular training throughout the year to deepen their understanding of neurodivergence. This training is delivered by people with lived experience—voices who can speak authentically about their strengths and needs. Whether through listening to our students, colleagues, or guest speakers, we ensure our learning is guided by those who truly know what it means to be neurodivergent.

This work extends to our students too. At Gesher, we support young people to understand who they are, find their voice, and advocate for themselves—first within school, and later as adults in the wider world.

So, what can we all do?

We can listen. We can learn. And we can give young people the tools and space to do the same—to be proud of who they are, to speak up for themselves, and to know we will always be their champions.

Ofsted rates Gesher School as Outstanding in every area for the third time

30th September 2025Website Admin

Pupils excel at this exceptional school.

We are thrilled to announce that Ofsted has for the third time rated us as Outstanding in every area. Inspectors highlighted that “pupils excel at this exceptional school,” acknowledging the highly personalised and holistic support we provide for our students. This achievement is a testament to the incredible dedication of our staff and the hard work of our students, as well as the strong relationships we foster with our parents and the wider community.

The inspectors noted, “the school has developed an ambitious curriculum that expertly meets the varied needs of its pupils.”

We’re proud that the report reflected our Project-Based Learning approach, stating that “most subjects are taught through well-considered projects that engage and excite the pupils”, and noting how our projects “offer real-world contexts and practical experiences, helping our students develop crucial language and communication skills”.

We believe every child deserves an outstanding school experience; a huge thank you goes out to everyone in our community who has supported us on this journey so we can make this happen.

Relationships, Belonging and a Network of Joy

26th July 2025Website Admin

Relationships, Belonging and a Network of Joy

Polly Ross

This is a story about a boy, his teacher, a wooden tree and a school full of love and learning. It reminds us that learning can and does happen anywhere and any way in a school when the culture is right.

Our School

Shefford Lower School is a large lower school in Central Bedfordshire with a significant SEND register. We don’t believe in an approach to SEND in which learners should either be in a specialist environment or a mainstream school.  So, we have adapted our learning environment and teacher-student relationships to support a wholly inclusive mainstream specialist environment accessible to all young learners in our community. 

We further believe that progress can take many different forms and that all children have an entitlement to leave us with every step, however small, recognised, captured and celebrated.

When I was young, my mother gave me a wooden Christmas tree. When I became a headteacher, with an office, I brought it into school where each December it was displayed, decorated and lit. By last summer it was looking tired and I kept reminding myself to throw it away. 

Peter’s story (not his real name)

Peter is a young learner who receives a high level of adult support due to his complex needs. These include a significant speech delay, autism, social communication needs and self-care needs.  

One day Peter came in because his Teaching Assistant wanted to mention something to me. As he waited, Peter saw the tree gathering dust on the top of a cupboard and gestured that he would like to see it. I had no idea that this would be the beginning of something magical!

Peter decorated this sad little tree, and then returned the next day, then each day, several times a day, beginning to talk as he did it, presenting it joyously to me and showing it to everyone along his way as he proudly walked it around the school en route to show his teacher.

He had found something in the school which brought him (and many others) joy. This tree was subsequently to become a powerful tool in his speech and language development. The creativity flowed and anything and everything became a potential decoration, from a kitchen spoon to flowers from the forest, bringing warmth and amusement to all. 

After this had been going on for a month or two, someone suggested keeping the tree in Peter’s classroom as I may sometimes be in meetings,.This was until we realised that walking down to my office and saying hello was an important part of it!

The ritual continued. Peter’s confidence grew and his speech and language seemed to be coming on until one day he came in and said: “Hello Mrs Ross. Can I have the tree please?” A clearly enunciated sentence!

Reciprocal Joy

I started to take photos of this tree my mother had bought me and sent one to her to let her know it was not only still going strong but, in fact, supporting a child with additional needs to thoroughly enjoy his experience of school. My mother responded, telling me how beautiful it was, and so it continued. He would decorate a tree, show it to all around the school who would smile, share it with me and it would also make my mother’s day!

Just before his annual review I sent all the photos to his teaching assistant to share with his family at the meeting, following which she sent this reply:

Oh Polly, thank you for these pictures, they are really great. I will print them off for his review next week. He makes my day and fills it with joy every day–whether it’s through watching him carefully decorating his (your) beloved tree, some work he has done, learning he has remembered, or new vocabulary he has said to me. 🙂 Thank you for always being so supportive and welcoming when we come to see you.  Helen

 Educational Reflections

We realised, of course, that this had also been an exercise in relationships and belonging; Peter’s relationship with the TA and the pride she took in working with him and watching him grow. This, allied to the knowledge she developed about his interests through safe talk, had supported him to be successful. It has also facilitated relationships with other pupils and adults – and with me through his friendly visit each day.

This story is also about joy, which all learning should bring: the joy Peter brought to those around him in walking his tree through school; or that his TA gets from working creatively alongside him and making a difference; or that he brought to my office and many a meeting held there – and even the joy he brought to the lady, a retired art teacher, who had once given her daughter a small wooden tree.  

Polly Ross is Headteacher at Shefford Lower School in Bedfordshire.

Professional Prompts

  1. In the ‘Welcome’ editorial, we said that relationships and belonging would be two of the sub-themes of this How does Polly Ross’s piece illustrate these themes?
  1. What are ways that students’ beliefs, interests and passions can be incorporated into the school context?
  1. How can school leaders be more engaged and connected to students on a regular basis?