The Vision Support Service is an education service that works with children and young people from 0-25. The Service is based at Tapton School and supports the needs of children and young people with a vision impairment in educational settings across Sheffield.

The Vision Support Service has an exciting opportunity for an enthusiastic and experienced practitioner to join our unique and dedicated team as a Specialist Teaching Assistant.

The role will involve directly supporting children with a severe sight impairment in their school or post 16 setting. You would work collaboratively with the team around the child to assist in the teaching and support of the students to ensure high quality specialist provision that enables the child to access and develop specialist independent learning skills.

The candidate will ideally have experience across different age phases and be knowledgeable in strategies that reduce barriers to learning and support an effective learning environment for SEND students in mainstream education. Experience of working with students who have a vision impairment is desirable although not essential as specialist training will be ongoing for the successful candidate.

Applicants must have NVQ level 3 qualification for teaching assistants or equivalent. Although the Service is based at Tapton the role may involve working in a range of educational settings including our integrated resource at Tapton Secondary School. The post may involve travelling and working in different settings across the city.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare and safety of children and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be required to complete an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service Check, in line with Section 115 of the Police Act 1997

For informal enquiries please contact Karen Beaumont Business Support Manager karen.beaumont@sheffield.gov.uk or Joanne Hogg Service Lead Vision Support Service joanne.hogg@sheffield.gov.uk. Tel: 0114 2941201.

We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.

It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.

Under the Disability Confident Scheme, disabled applicants, who meet the essential criteria of this job, are guaranteed an interview.

We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.

If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.

Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.