Teaching Partner

Teaching Partner (KS1): Part Time

Barton Park Primary School

Grade 4, 23.75 hours per week, permanent role, start November 2026 or sooner

Are you ready to make a real difference where it matters most?

At Barton Park, we serve a vibrant, wonderfully diverse community. Many of our pupils face significant social deprivation—meaning our children deserve nothing less than the very best practitioners from day one. We firmly believe in a “keep up, not catch up” ethos. By securing foundational skills in Year 1, we ensure our disadvantaged cohort gets the high-quality early education required to transform their life chances.

We are seeking a dedicated Teaching Partner who recognises that Year 1 is a crucial bridge in a child’s learning journey. If you are passionate about early numeracy, early literacy, and ensuring no child falls behind, we want to hear from you. Whether you are an experienced practitioner or looking to start your career with a drive to learn, we will provide the training and mentorship to turn your passion into expert practice.

Key Responsibilities & Role Impact

• Mastering Foundational Skills (Keep Up, Not Catch Up): Deliver targeted, high-impact support in early literacy (phonics, vocabulary, early writing) and early numeracy (number sense, mathematical fluency). You will work proactively to ensure pupils master core concepts immediately, preventing gaps from forming rather than trying to fix them later.

• Elevate Year 1 Learning: Work alongside the class teacher to build a rich, structured and inspiring learning environment for cognitive, linguistic, and mathematical development.

• Impact Through Interaction: Deliver patient, language-rich interactions that expand vocabulary and deepen understanding. You will support all pupils, including those with EAL or speech and language delays, using high-quality dialogue to build confidence in reading, writing, and math.

• Professional Growth & Collaboration: Join a passionate, collaborative team that invests in you. You will receive tailored training and mentorship, and in return, bring a drive to attend occasional out-of-hours CPD to rapidly advance your pedagogical practice.

• Lunchtime support: You will also be expected to be part of our lunchtime care team, offering general support in the lunch hall or playground. However, we are also keen to hear from practitioners who wish to run an enrichment club for KS1 children during the lunch hour.

What We Are Looking For

• Passion for Early Literacy & Numeracy: A strong interest in how young children learn to read, write, and master early mathematical concepts, alongside a commitment to closing the disadvantage gap.

• A "Keep Up" Mindset: Understanding that high-quality, immediate support gives children from disadvantaged backgrounds the best possible start and equal life chances.

• Interactive Initiative: The ability to seize learning moments, turn everyday discussions into vocabulary-building opportunities, and scaffold core skills on the spot.

• Inclusive & Resilient Approach: A patient, non-judgmental attitude and an understanding of inclusive practice, SEND, and trauma-informed support.

• Qualifications & Growth: A recognised Teaching Assistant qualification (e.g., NVQ Level 2) is desirable, but not essential. What matters most is your drive, adaptability, and willingness to learn.

• Safeguarding: A strict commitment to child protection, health, and safety policies.

Flexible Working: We value work-life balance and are committed to attracting the best talent. This is, therefore, a part time role but requires a daily commitment to ensure consistent learning opportunities for our children. There are likely to be opportunities to extend hours in the future.

Our school is new and growing each year. It is popular within our local community: our reception class has been oversubscribed each year. Parents speak highly of the opportunities we provide the children and our wonderful new facilities. We have developed a forest school site locally used by EYFS and Year 1, and have an emergent orchard and wildlife area onsite, as well as two fabulous outdoor play grounds. Our 6 values are embedded in all we do and our children are welcoming and keen to learn. You would join a small, motivated and dedicated team of professionals, serving a newly opened school at the heart of a growing community.

What we can offer

Our school is new and growing each year. It is popular within our local community: our reception class has been oversubscribed each year. Parents speak highly of the opportunities we provide the children and our wonderful new facilities. We have developed a forest school site locally used by EYFS and Year 1, and have an emergent orchard and wildlife area onsite, as well as two fabulous outdoor play grounds. Our 6 values are embedded in all we do and our children are welcoming and keen to learn. You would join a small, motivated and dedicated team of professionals, serving a newly opened school at the heart of a growing community.

Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.

OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.

OUR ‘WHY?’ is that children and young people ‘only get one go’ in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible ‘go’ for our pupils.

OUR ‘HOW?’ is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.

Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our “Working in RLT” guide.

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

The school reserves the right to consider and interview candidates ahead of the closing date if appropriate. An offer may be made to an exceptional candidate in this instance.

If you would like to have a confidential conversation with Bryony McCraw, headteacher, about the role, prior to application, then please email [email removed] or telephone [phone removed].

The River Learning Trust and Barton Park Primary School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. The Trust is required to conduct a variety of checks and online searches about you as part of their recruitment process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. The River Learning Trust is an equal opportunities employer committed to creating a safe, inclusive environment for all staff, free from discrimination and harassment.

For all RLT Safer Recruitment Documentation candidates should click on the following link RLT Safer Recruitment Documents for Candidates. Please see our website for up to date policies including our Child Protection and Behaviour Policies.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. For further guidance for applicants click on this link List of offences that are not filtered