Sports Coaches, Youth Workers & Behaviour Mentors – SEN Education Opportunities
Smile Education are looking to hear from sports coaches, youth workers, behaviour mentors, support workers and other professionals who are interested in moving into education and working with children and young people with SEN.You don't necessarily need previous experience as a Teaching Assistant. If you have experience working with young people, managing behaviour, building relationships and motivating individuals, your skills could transfer extremely well into a school environment.
We work with mainstream schools, specialist SEN settings and alternative provision across Birmingham, Worcester, Bromsgrove and surrounding areas, with a variety of opportunities available.
The opportunities
We provide training for the following roles:
- SEN Teaching Assistants
- 1:1 Teaching Assistants
- Behaviour Mentors
- Learning Support Assistants
- Pastoral Support Workers
- Sports and Activity-Based Teaching Assistants
- Youth Support Workers
- Classroom Support Assistants
Depending on the setting and individual needs of the pupils, you could be supporting children and young people who experience:
- Autism / ASC
- ADHD
- SEMH
- Challenging behaviour
- Emotional regulation difficulties
- Communication and interaction needs
- Additional learning needs
Your day could involve supporting pupils in lessons, providing 1:1 mentoring, helping with behaviour and emotional regulation, delivering sports or activity-based sessions, encouraging engagement and helping young people develop confidence and independence.
We are particularly interested in hearing from people with backgrounds in:
- Sports coaching
- Football coaching
- Personal training
- Youth work
- Mentoring
- Care and support work
- Community work
- Armed Forces
- Martial arts
- Outdoor education
- Residential support
- Behaviour support
- Children's services
The most important thing is your ability to build positive relationships with young people.
We are looking for people who are:
- Confident and approachable
- Patient and resilient
- Positive and enthusiastic
- Comfortable managing challenging behaviour
- Able to build trust with young people
- Proactive and willing to use their initiative
- Reliable and professional
- Passionate about helping children and young people succeed
Why move into education?
Working in a school can be a fantastic next step if you enjoy working with young people and want a career where you can make a genuine difference.Your existing experience in coaching, mentoring, behaviour support or youth work can provide valuable skills that transfer directly into the classroom.
We offer:
- Day-to-day, short-term and long-term opportunities
- Full-time and part-time positions
- 1:1 and small-group roles
- Mainstream and specialist SEN settings
- Alternative provision opportunities
- Competitive rates of pay based on experience
- Dedicated consultant support
- Opportunities to develop a career within education
If you are a sports coach, youth worker, behaviour mentor, support worker or someone with strong experience working with young people and you're considering a move into education, we'd love to hear from you.
You don't need to have all the answers. You need the right attitude, the right personality and a genuine passion for supporting young people.
Apply now
We are committed to safeguarding children. Each applicant will be expected to undertake compliance checks including Prohibited list, Barred list, DBS and Qualifications.