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Job summary

Main area
Progress Support Worker
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 4
Contract
Fixed term: 1 year (1 year contract - will finish end of August 2026)
Hours
  • Full time
  • Term time hours
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
260-TP-976
Employer
Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Gloucester House, Tavistock Children’s Day Unit
Town
London
Salary
£33,094 - £36,195 Pa inclu HCAS (PRO RATA) - based upon Term Time calculations
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
09/09/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust logo

Progress Support Worker

NHS AfC: Band 4

It is a condition of this employment that you must live in and remain a resident of the United Kingdom during your employment with the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust.

 

Covid-19 Vaccination

Getting vaccinated, and getting a booster, remains the best defence against COVID-19.
We encourage and support  staff to get  COVID-19 vaccine and a booster dose as and when they are eligible. 


Please note in order to progress your application, your data will be processed by our 3rd party recruitment providers – North London Partners Shared Service, who conduct recruitment activities on behalf of The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust

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The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust with a focus on training and education alongside a full range of mental health services and psychological therapies for children and their families, young people and adults.

We are committed to improving mental health and emotional wellbeing, believing that high quality mental health services should be available for all who need them. We bring a distinctive contribution based on the importance we attach to social experience at all stages of people’s lives, and our focus on psychological and developmental approaches to the promotion of health and the prevention and treatment of mental ill health

We contribute to the pool of ideas through our own research and development, but are also committed to bringing together the best ideas of the time, old and new, from inside and out, together with the most gifted and able professionals in our fields of endeavour. We aim to share our ideas and practice through as many routes as possible.

As a Trust we aim constantly to be evolving in nature and form in relation to the environment in which we work, to ensure that our contribution remains relevant.

The Trust uses electronic new starter forms on Trac to collect personal details. Information collected is securely stored and used to set up the employee record on the ESR HR system.

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Job overview

Are you a creative, dynamic and resourceful? Are you an experienced Teaching Assistant or LSA looking for an opportunity to have an even greater positive impact? Do you have high expectations of yourself, your team and your pupils?  This is a challenging yet highly rewarding role, supporting teachers within our school to enable some of the most vulnerable pupils to achieve their full potential. 

As part of the Tavistock & Portman NHS Foundation Trust, Gloucester House offers a specialist therapeutic education for pupils aged 5-14 who present with complex SEMH needs.

If you have:
A passion for supporting children's achievement through creative and imaginative learning opportunities.
The ability to inspire, challenge and motivate.
Excellent communication skills with high levels of emotional intelligence, reliance and flexibility.
The ability to work collaboratively as a member within a professional multi-disciplinary team.
A responsive, highly approachable attitude and the ability to support your colleagues in this challenging yet rewarding environment.

We can offer:
An opportunity to join a highly skilled team at the cutting edge of practice for children with complex needs.
Support, guidance and training from a highly skilled and experienced team.
Extensive clinical support including individual, class-based and whole team reflective practice.
Excellent salary and continuous professional development opportunities.

Main duties of the job

To work with individuals/groups of children to support them to progress in academic learning and social and emotional development.
This may be through:

Supporting classroom management in collaboration with the teacher and other members of the class team.

Recognising barriers to learning and implement ‘My Strategies’ and to address this under the guidance of the class teacher and with other professionals.

Implementing programmes and delivering specific pieces of work with letters and sounds / specific educational support programmes, under the guidance of the teacher or set by other professionals e.g. SALT/OT/EP.

Being aware of the children’s academic levels and specific learning needs through knowing Integrated Care Plan (ICP) targets and Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) objectives.

To be fully informed of and to implement Integrated Care Plans in collaboration with the multi-disciplinary team.

To develop children’s ability to develop as ‘learners’ a good understanding of the children’s learning abilities, and to support the working through of any difficulties relating to educational development and supporting access to the curriculum.

To take a lead role in planning and delivering specific programmes and lessons as appropriate: these may be subject-based or may relate more generally to the social and personal development of children in Gloucester House.

Working for our organisation

Gloucester House forms part of the Specialist Schools Service of the Tavistock Clinic and is managed by the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust.  It is a specialist school and CAMHS team which provides education and clinical  services for up to 21 pupils aged 5-14 years who have social, emotional and mental health difficulties, often alongside other learning difficulties such as specific language or literacy difficulties and sometimes more general learning difficulties. Baseline records show that all pupils are underachieving when they start at the Gloucester House. Many of the pupils who attend are from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, some of whom have experienced severe deprivation or trauma/abuse in their early lives. The pupils come from both inner and outer London boroughs.

Gloucester House aims to provide a safe and nurturing environment and an effectively integrated educational and therapeutic approach in order to promote the overall development of primary age and early secondary pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs. 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person specification for more information on the role requirements and duties.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • GCSE (or equivalent) in English, Maths and Science
Desirable criteria
  • Achieved either the King’s Scout Award / Queen’s Scout Award, Queen’s Guide Award, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, participated in the National Citizen Service or obtained other qualifications showing broad and balanced skills.
  • Additional training or professional learning in teaching or supporting young people in school (such as NVQ)
  • Additional training or professional learning in supporting young people with complex needs or SEMH
  • Higher degree or training

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience working with young people in an educational/vocational/clinical setting
  • Experience of working with children with social, emotional, behavioural and mental health difficulties.
Desirable criteria
  • Experience leading/facilitating small group learning activities in a formal or informal educational setting (i.e. school, Scouts, religious groups, charity work, placements, youth clubs)
  • Experience of working with young people with developmental trauma
  • Experience of supporting the delivery of phonics and/or supporting the teaching of early literacy/numeracy skills

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Able to deliver engaging and motivating learning activities
  • Able to relate to young people with SEMH needs
  • Able to work as part of a multi-disciplinary team
  • An understanding of child protection and safeguarding
  • Ability to celebrate equity, diversity and inclusion in practice
  • Able to use reflective practice effectively to help manage the considerable emotional impact of working at GH.
  • Ability to use initiative and prioritise time efficiently
Desirable criteria
  • Knowledge of specific strategies to support learning
  • Knowledge of strategies to support emotional regulation (i.e. Zones of Regulation, Emotional Literacy, PACE)
  • Experience of working with young people to develop understanding of individual difference (for example work on race equity, LGBT+ inclusion, neurodivergence)

Personal Qualities

Essential criteria
  • An accepting, compassionate attitude towards others
  • Empathic therapeutic presence and curiosity
  • Emotionally robust, with an ability to stay stable under stress
  • Understanding of your own lived experience and the relevance in work with young people with SEMH needs
  • A good ability to play

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Veteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyAge positiveInvestors in People: GoldCare quality commission - GoodMindful employer.  Being positive about mental health.Disability confident employerStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Lucy Kemp
Job title
Team Operational Manager
Email address
[email protected]
Additional information

Please contact by email in the first instance, we will call you back if necessary. 

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