Teaching Assistants

SEND & SEMH Jobs Across East Sussex | Teachers, TAs & Support Staff If you're good with young people, I don't necessarily care whether your CV says “SEND” yet.

Obviously, experience matters.

If you've spent years working in specialist education, I want to hear from you.

But some of the best people I've seen move into SEND haven't necessarily started there.

They've come from mainstream schools. Care. Youth work. Coaching. Mentoring. Sometimes they've worked with young people for years without ever having “Teaching Assistant” written on their CV.

What they tend to have in common is something that's harder to teach.

They can connect with young people.

I'm currently recruiting across a growing network of SEND and SEMH schools throughout East Sussex, and I'm looking for more people to work with during the 2026/27 academic year.

That includes Hastings, Battle, Eastbourne, Hailsham, Seaford, Newhaven, Lewes and the surrounding areas, across both primary and secondary specialist education.

So, what am I actually recruiting for?

Quite a lot.

Depending on your experience, I'm regularly looking for:

• SEND Teachers
• SEMH Teachers
• Teaching Assistants
• Learning Support Assistants
• Behaviour & Engagement Mentors
• 1:1 Support
• Pastoral & Intervention staff
• Flexible day-to-day educators
• Long-term and ongoing staff

Some vacancies need somebody experienced who can walk into a specialist environment and hit the ground running.

Others give me much more room to look at the person behind the CV.

That's where things get interesting.

A sports coach who's spent three years getting reluctant teenagers to participate.

A care worker who knows how to remain calm when somebody else is dysregulated.

A mainstream TA who's realised the pupils they connect with most are often the ones who need a different approach.

A graduate who's brilliant with young people but isn't quite sure where they fit within education yet.

Those conversations are worth having.

I also won't pretend SEND is for everybody.

• Before moving into recruitment, I worked directly within SEND education myself.
• I loved it. But I also know what the difficult days look like.
• You might spend twenty minutes preparing something that a pupil refuses to engage with.
• You might be supporting a young person whose behaviour is telling you far more than their words are.
• You can have days where the achievement you're celebrating would barely register on an assessment spreadsheet.
• And then a pupil who wouldn't engage with you three weeks ago asks you for help.
• Someone manages a full lesson who previously couldn't manage ten minutes.
• A young person starts trusting you enough to tell you what's actually going on.
• That's the job too.
• Good specialist education isn't about lowering expectations. It's about understanding that the route towards them sometimes needs to look different.

What happens when you apply?

• I'm not going to automatically send your CV to every SEND school within driving distance.
• First, I'll speak to you.
• I'll want to know what you've done, what you're looking for, which young people you've worked with, where you're based and what sort of environment you think you'd thrive in.
• If you're experienced, we can talk properly about what you want from your next move.
• If you're new to SEND, I'll be honest about where I think your experience transfers—and where it doesn't yet.
• My background in specialist education means I know how different these schools can be, and I'd rather make a good match than simply make a quick one.

The practical bit

• Teaching Assistant and LSA opportunities are paid from £92.60 per day, with qualified teaching positions paid to scale where applicable.
• I'm recruiting for flexible, long-term and ongoing opportunities throughout the 2026/27 academic year, with access to CPD and professional development.
• You'll need an Enhanced Child Workforce DBS registered on the Update Service. If you don't currently hold one, you'll need to apply through us and join the Update Service. I'll guide you through that process, although the associated cost is covered by the applicant.
• We'll also require your full employment and education history and references covering 24 months of employment in total where possible, prioritising your most recent and relevant employment.

You don't need to know exactly which job you want before you apply.

That's partly what the conversation with me is for.

If you're already working in SEND, tell me what you'd like to do next.

If you're looking at specialist education thinking, I reckon I'd be good at that , tell me why.

Apply, introduce yourself, and let's see where you might fit across East Sussex.

All applicants will require the appropriate qualifications and training for this role. Please see the FAQ’s on the Teaching Personnel website for details.
All pay rates quoted will be inclusive of 12.07% statutory holiday pay. This advert is for a temporary position. In some cases, the option to make this role permanent may become available at a later date.
Teaching Personnel is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We undertake safeguarding checks on all workers in accordance with DfE statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ this may also include an online search as part of our due diligence on shortlisted applicants.
We offer all our registered candidates FREE child protection and prevent duty training. All candidates must undertake or have undertaken a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Full assistance provided.
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