Are you passionate about helping young children with additional needs communicate, learn, play and thrive?

We are looking for a caring, enthusiastic and motivated Early Years Inclusion Assistant to join our specialist Early Years Language Centre provision.

This is a fantastic opportunity to work directly with young children with SEND, particularly children who need additional support with their speech, language and communication.

You will be part of a supportive, multi-disciplinary team, working alongside Early Years Inclusion Teachers and Speech and Language Therapists to deliver specialist intervention and create an engaging, inclusive Early Years environment. The established Language Centre role includes working collaboratively with children, teachers, Speech and Language Therapists, parents and children's education settings.

About the role

As an Early Years Inclusion Teaching Assistant, you will help children to develop their communication, interaction, independence, confidence and engagement in learning.

Working closely with the Early Years Inclusion Teacher and other professionals, you will:

support children to take part in engaging, play-based learning and specialist language and communication activities;
help deliver planned speech, language and communication interventions alongside teaching and therapy colleagues;
use appropriate strategies, visual supports and resources to help children understand, communicate and participate;
help prepare and adapt the learning environment so that activities reflect children's individual needs and interests;
contribute to observations of children's learning, development and progress;
develop positive and trusting relationships with children and their families;
work collaboratively with colleagues to provide consistent support for children;
help create and share practical resources that families and Early Years settings can use to support children's communication;
contribute to outreach work with children's Early Years settings to help practitioners understand and use effective communication strategies; and
promote inclusion, independence and high aspirations for every child.

The existing Language Centre role includes helping deliver speech and language intervention sessions, contributing to team planning, adapting the learning environment, producing communication resources and working with children's settings through the outreach offer.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for someone who is kind, patient, creative and genuinely passionate about improving outcomes for young children with additional needs.

You will enjoy working directly with young children and understand the importance of learning through play, relationships, communication and positive interaction.

You will be someone who:

has a strong interest in Early Years development and SEND;
understands that every child communicates differently;
can follow specialist advice and adapt approaches to individual children;
is confident working as part of a team;
communicates positively with parents, carers and professionals;
is observant and reflective, noticing children's responses and celebrating their progress;
is willing to learn and develop their knowledge of speech, language, communication and inclusive Early Years practice; and
brings enthusiasm, warmth and creativity to their work with children.

Why join us?

The Early Years Language Centre offers the opportunity to work within a specialist environment where education and Speech and Language Therapy work closely together to support young children with SEND.

The established provision combines direct intervention with children with support for the settings they attend, helping practitioners develop their knowledge of speech and language strategies and inclusive practice.

You will have the opportunity to learn from experienced professionals, develop your specialist Early Years SEND practice and, most importantly, see the difference that the right support can make to a young child's communication, confidence and participation.

We are looking for someone who will see children's strengths and potential, not simply their additional needs, and who will work alongside families and professionals to help every child make progress.

If you are passionate about Early Years, SEND and helping children find their voice, we would love to hear from you.

Come and help us make sure children get the right support, at the right time, to belong, communicate, learn and thrive.

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 Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.

Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. 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.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.