Trauma-informed Teaching Assistant - Permanent Contract

Trauma-informed Teaching Assistant - Permanent Contract

Mole Valley, Surrey

£22,000 per annum

Term-time only, Monday to Friday, 8:30am - 4:30pm

ASAP or September 2026 Start

*** Interviews are arranged ASAP ***

Most settings that describe themselves as trauma-informed still operate a reward and sanction system. They just call it something else. The language changes. The underlying logic does not. This school has removed that logic entirely.

There are no rewards here. No sanctions. When a child is struggling, the adults around them do not withdraw or escalate. They co-regulate. The child does not return to class until they are genuinely settled. That is not a policy on paper. It is what actually happens, every day, because the whole school is built around one central belief: all behaviour is communication.

This is a specialist SEMH school in Mole Valley, Surrey, working with children aged 4 to 11. It is small, with a maximum of 60 pupils. Every class has one teacher and one teaching assistant. The ratios are real. The model depends on them.

The on-site therapeutic offer is substantial. Pupils have access to a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist, an educational psychologist, and a dance and art therapist, each for two days a week. There are also three dedicated trauma-informed practitioners working within the school. When a child needs more than the classroom can hold, there is somewhere to go and someone trained to help.

When a child is ready to move on, the school does not simply open a door and wave them through. Transition is planned, supported, and involves the people around the child, not just the child themselves.

The curriculum goes beyond academics. Pupils learn about themselves and the world around them, not just the subjects on a timetable. What this means for you as a Teaching Assistant is that you are not expected to manage behaviour alone, pretend you are fine when you are not, or figure things out without support. The school has built its structures around the people who work there as much as the children they serve.

Staff are genuinely looked after here. There is protected time each week for reflection and planning. New staff are properly inducted, with a structured induction rather than being left to find their feet alone.

You do not need a school background for this role. If you have worked in residential childcare, a prison or secure setting, youth work, or any role where building a genuine relationship with someone who had every reason not to trust you was the work, you will understand this environment quickly. Graduates in psychology, criminology, or social work are welcome. So is the lived experience of SEND.

What matters is that you can stay regulated when the children around you cannot. That you understand why behaviour happens. And that you are looking for a place that will actually support you to do this work well.

The role is permanent. It is available for an immediate start or from September 2026. All pupils hold an EHCP. Primary needs include SEMH, Autism, ADHD, anxiety, and attachment difficulties.

To find out more, call Heeji Moon at Parker Smith Inclusion on 0203 011 4848, or respond to this advert.

Parker Smith Inclusion is a specialist SEND-only recruitment consultancy. Long-term and permanent roles only, always on a PAYE basis, with no umbrella companies or hidden costs. Over 400 educators have left us five-star Google reviews. We think that tells you more than we could.