Silvercrest Education Ltd | Peterborough & surrounding areas
£18–£25 per hour | Flexible, term-time opportunities | September 2026 onwards
Job Summary
Silvercrest Education is expanding our network of Teaching Assistants and Key Adults across Peterborough in preparation for new alternative provision placements from September 2026.
We are seeking experienced, compassionate and reliable practitioners who would like to join our approved practitioner pool, supporting children and young people who are unable to access education successfully within a traditional school environment.
Silvercrest works with Local Authorities to provide alternative education for learners with a range of needs, which may include SEND, SEMH, emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), communication and interaction needs, disrupted education, exclusion, medical needs and children awaiting appropriate school placements.
Placements vary according to individual need and may include 1:1 support, small-group provision, home-based education, community-based learning and support alongside a Qualified Teacher.
This is an ideal opportunity for Teaching Assistants and support practitioners looking for meaningful, flexible work where they can build consistent relationships with individual learners and make a measurable difference to their engagement with education.
Successful applicants will complete Silvercrest's safer recruitment and onboarding process and join our practitioner pool. Hours are offered as suitable commissioned placements become available and are matched according to experience, location, availability and the needs of individual learners.
The Role
As a Silvercrest Alternative Provision Teaching Assistant or Key Adult, you may:
- Provide personalised 1:1 or small-group support for children and young people across KS1–KS4.
- Work alongside a Qualified Teacher to enable learners to access personalised educational programmes.
- Provide consistent key-adult support to develop trust, engagement and positive relationships with education.
- Support English, Mathematics, literacy, phonics and wider curriculum activities under teacher direction.
- Adapt resources and activities in response to individual SEND and learning needs.
- Support learners with communication and interaction difficulties.
- Support attention, engagement, turn-taking and participation in learning.
- Provide emotional regulation and co-regulation support.
- Implement agreed sensory and movement strategies within educational sessions.
- Use visual communication systems, structured routines and other individualised approaches where appropriate.
- Support learners to develop independence and confidence.
- Provide appropriate supervision in accordance with individual risk assessments and support plans.
- Observe and record engagement, progress and significant information accurately.
- Contribute to the implementation of EHCP provision and individual learning targets.
- Work collaboratively with Qualified Teachers, parents/carers, Local Authority teams and other professionals.
- Support transition and reintegration into education or a future specialist placement where appropriate.
- Follow Silvercrest's safeguarding, attendance, reporting and quality-assurance procedures.
Who We're Looking For
We would particularly like to hear from Teaching Assistants and Key Adults with experience in:
- Alternative Provision
- SEND
- SEMH
- Autism and social communication needs
- Speech, language and communication needs
- EBSA / emotionally based barriers to school attendance
- Specialist schools or resource provisions
- PRUs
- 1:1 support
- Looked After Children
- Learners experiencing prolonged absence or disrupted education
- Early literacy and phonics
- Sensory and regulation support
- Reintegration and transition
- Primary or secondary education
You do not need experience in every area. Placements will be matched to your individual skills, qualifications and professional experience.
Essential Requirements
Applicants should:
- Have experience working with children or young people in an education, SEND, alternative provision or comparable support setting.
- Demonstrate a strong understanding of safeguarding and professional boundaries.
- Be able to build positive, consistent relationships with children who may initially find engagement with education difficult.
- Be calm, patient and able to respond appropriately to individual communication, regulation and learning needs.
- Be confident working both independently and alongside a Qualified Teacher.
- Be able to follow individual learning plans, EHCP strategies, risk assessments and professional guidance.
- Have good written and verbal communication skills.
- Be able to maintain accurate records relating to attendance, engagement and progress.
- Be reliable and able to provide the consistency required by vulnerable learners.
- Be willing to complete Silvercrest Education's safer recruitment and onboarding requirements.
A relevant Level 2 or Level 3 Teaching Assistant, Supporting Teaching and Learning, Childcare or SEND qualification is desirable but not essential where applicants can demonstrate substantial relevant experience.
An Enhanced DBS registered with the Update Service is desirable. Appropriate safeguarding and pre-employment checks will be completed before practitioners are allocated to commissioned provision.
Additional Experience We Value
Depending upon individual placements, experience or training in areas such as the following may be particularly useful:
- Makaton or other AAC approaches
- Intensive Interaction
- Attention Autism or attention-building approaches
- ELSA
- Emotion Coaching
- Trauma-informed and attachment-aware practice
- Sensory processing and regulation
- Precision teaching
- Phonics interventions
- Positive behaviour support
- Personal care
- Supporting children with limited awareness of danger
- Working alongside Speech and Language Therapy or Occupational Therapy programmes
Practitioners will only be matched to placements where their experience, training and competence are appropriate to the learner's identified needs.
Why Join Silvercrest?
Silvercrest is building a network of exceptional practitioners who believe that education should adapt to the learner, rather than expecting every learner to fit the same model.
Our practitioners benefit from:
£18–£25 per hour, depending on experience, qualifications and the requirements of individual placements.
Flexible opportunities that can work alongside school employment, supply work, childcare or other professional commitments.
Daytime, term-time provision.
Opportunities ranging from a small number of weekly hours to larger commissioned packages.
1:1 and small-group work where practitioners can develop meaningful, consistent relationships with learners.
Opportunities to work alongside Qualified Teachers and other education professionals.
Professional and safeguarding oversight from Silvercrest Education.
Opportunities to develop experience across a growing portfolio of Local Authority commissioned alternative provision.
Joining Our Practitioner Pool
This advert is for Silvercrest Education's September 2026 Alternative Provision Practitioner Pool.
Joining the pool does not guarantee a minimum number of hours. Instead, approved practitioners will be contacted as suitable Local Authority referrals and commissioned placements become available.
We will consider your location, availability, qualifications, SEND experience, preferred age range and areas of specialist experience when matching practitioners to learners.
This means you can tell us whether you're looking for, for example, a few hours each week alongside another role or a more substantial alternative provision timetable.
Some placements may require a practitioner to work alongside a Qualified Teacher for all commissioned hours, while others may involve individual support under teacher and Silvercrest oversight.
Application
Please submit your CV together with a short supporting statement outlining:
your experience working with children and young people, relevant qualifications, SEND/AP experience, age ranges you have supported, your availability from September 2026 and the areas of Peterborough you are able to travel to.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an initial conversation with Silvercrest Education before progressing through our safer recruitment and onboarding process.
Silvercrest Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to appropriate safer recruitment checks.
Pay: £18.00-£22.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Employee mentoring programme
Work Location: In person
