One of our partner schools in Sunderland are looking for someone charismatic, approachable, and genuinely keen to get involved in school life. They are not necessarily looking for the most experienced TA, but rather someone who is:

• Warm and engaging

• Confident 

• Happy to build strong relationships with students

• Positive and willing to be moulded and developed

• Understanding of the school environment and its ethos

Building relationships with students is a key priority for them.

Daily Expectations & Routine

Breakfast Club:

All staff are expected to attend breakfast club. You will sit with students and actively engage with them while they eat – not stand around supervising from a distance. You are welcome to have breakfast there as well.

Lunch:

Lunch is provided (no need to bring your own). You will eat alongside the students and engage with them. After lunch, there is time to continue building relationships through activities such as ping pong, PlayStation, and other social interactions. Students are supervised throughout the day.

Although there is no traditional lunch break away from students, children leave at 2:15pm. You are expected to remain on site until 4:30pm. In the longer term, this time will be used for admin and updating reports for your tutor group. In your first few weeks, you will observe others completing these tasks and provide support elsewhere while you settle in.

Lesson Support & In-Class Expectations

When supporting in lessons, TAs are expected to be fully involved rather than stand at the back. You will:

• Move around the room and work with students

• Support their learning in real time

• Help students stay focused and engaged

Staff use an orange pen to mark and provide feedback during lessons. A particular focus is on helping students improve their literacy, including correcting spelling and reinforcing accurate written communication where appropriate.

Start & Attendance

Students arrive between 8:30am and 9:30am. The school works proactively to ensure attendance - if students do not arrive by a certain time, parents are contacted and, in some cases, staff may collect students to ensure attendance.

School Environment & Safety

• The school operates a phone-free policy.

• On arrival each morning, students go through a metal detector scan. This is mainly to check for phones and vapes rather than weapons. Phones are confiscated and returned at the end of the day (vapes are not returned).

• Coats are checked to ensure students are not carrying prohibited items.

• The environment is described as very calm and quiet.

• Staff are issued with radios (subject to availability at first, but eventually everyone has one) to communicate with colleagues.

The school is considered a very safe environment.

Behaviour & Boundaries

• Minor swearing (e.g., “Oh sh*t no, I dropped it”) is managed with gentle reminders and redirection.

• Verbal abuse towards staff or students is not tolerated and would lead to exclusion.

• Physical assaults on staff are extremely rare but would result in  an exclusion and police involvement.

Team Teach Training

If you remain long-term, you may have the opportunity to undertake Team Teach training (de-escalation and restraint techniques). Restraint is rarely used, and you can opt out of performing restraints if preferred. As an agency we also offer Team Teach trainning as well. 

Structure & Classes

• Classes are mixed ability, with reading ages ranging significantly.

• Classes are built around harmony and positive dynamics.

• Key Stage 3 (Years 7, 8, and 9) are kept separate to reduce distractions and operate on a three-cycle loop to avoid repetition.

• Key Stage 4 students are focused on achieving GCSE qualifications. All Year 11 students complete GCSEs.

• The school performs well academically for its setting.

• There is a strong focus on literacy across the school — improving reading and writing skills is a key priority.

Twilight Provision

There is also a one-hour twilight provision (approximately 2:30–3:30pm) for a small number of students who require additional support. You may occasionally be involved in this, though numbers are usually low.

Overall Ethos

This school is an academic school with high expectations. Students are encouraged to achieve the very best they can. The atmosphere is calm, structured, and relationship focused.

This role will suit someone energetic, personable, proactive, and confident in building positive professional relationships with young people.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss anything further, please don’t hesitate to get in touch and apply today! 

All applicants will require the appropriate qualifications and training for this role. Please see the FAQs on the Protocol Education website for further 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.

Protocol Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. We undertake safeguarding checks on all workers in accordance with the 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 FREE online safeguarding and Prevent Duty training to all our workers. All candidates must undertake or have undertaken a valid enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and subscribe to the DBS Update Service.

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