Communication Support Worker – Oaks Park High School, Ilford

Are you passionate about supporting deaf children with their learning and communication needs? Do you have a British Sign Language (BSL) qualification, or live experience of using BSL? Are you keen to further your BSL communication skills in a dedicated provision for deaf children? If helping people comes naturally to you and you find reward in supporting young people, this could be the perfect job for you! Join us at Oaks Park High School, where we are excited to welcome a dedicated and passionate Communication Support Worker to join our team in the exciting adventure of creating a new provision for deaf students.

We are looking for an inspiring and experienced Communication Support Worker or someone who has experience of BSL and is willing to train as a CSW. You will assist in supporting the delivery of flexible, high quality education that meets the needs of deaf learners within an inclusive environment. The successful candidate will work alongside our dynamic inclusion team to set up and establish a brand new specialist provision.

At Oaks Park High School, our students and staff work hard to ensure the best academic outcomes. You will work closely with the Teacher of the Deaf, and school based staff, to enable equality of access to information and education to meet the needs of deaf learners. The support may involve working with pupils whose first language is BSL. This type of support would generally involve a two way exchange of information, through BSL, written notes or clear speech.

You will be responsible for understanding individual learner’s needs, developing and using a range of communication strategies, for example working between BSL signing, sign supported English (SSE) speech, note- taking and/or language modification and preparing for support sessions and subject areas, as appropriate. You will work closely with the TOD (Teacher of the Deaf) in ensuring the quality of the curriculum being delivered is linked to national and local curriculum guidelines and where necessary contribute to Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs).

You will require relevant experience supporting deaf children/young people and have an understanding of the barriers deaf people face especially in education settings. You will be focused on and responsive to learners’ needs, with strong communication skills (spoken and written) and ability to listen accurately in noisy surroundings.

If you would like to be part of this forward thinking and ambitious school community, we eagerly anticipate receiving your application.