Cover AssistantCouncil

Pleckgate High School
Pleckgate Road
Blackburn
BB1 8QA

Job Title: Cover Assistant 
Grade/Salary: NJC SCP 16 – 23, £27,726 to £31,284
Contract Type: Permanent 
Contract Terms: 37.00 hours, Full Time, Term Time
Closing Date: Monday, 21st September 2026
Required From:2nd Novemeber 2026

TO APPLY FOR THIS VACANCY PLEASE FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS BELOW

What does this job do?

• To work under the direction of the class teacher or in their absence, the Head of Department, to implement planning and assessment, working with whole classes, individual or small groups of pupils in order to achieve high levels of accelerated pupil progress.
• To support pupils to overcome barriers to learning, promoting the inclusion of all pupils by developing their communication skills, supporting and mentoring as required to manage their behaviour, developing independence and social skills and to take responsibility for monitoring/reporting on the impact of class-based interventions.
• To provide supervision and guidance and learning opportunities in all non-lesson-based activities.
• Complement the professional work of the schoolteachers by taking responsibility for agreed learning activities.
• Supervision of whole classes during the short-term absence of teachers with agreed lesson plans in place across the school as required.

What are the job requirements?

• GCSE or Equivalent qualification in English and Mathematics at level 9 – 5.
• Child Care/NVQ/ HLTA or other relevant qualification (related to education is desirable i.e.: a degree) at level 4.
• Experience of support work with children in an educational setting.
• Experience of planning, preparing and delivering agreed work, and supporting programmes for individuals or groups of pupils.
• Knowledge of The National Curriculum and Schemes of Work in Literacy and Numeracy.
• Knowledge of how to support the development of social communication and literacy skills, promoting high standards of literacy, articulacy and numeracy.
• Knowledge of how to support pupils with ASD barriers to learning.
• Ability to work as a member of a class team to deliver and assess planned lessons.
• Ability to break down given planned tasks into small steps of learning and can give focused feedback on progress made and next steps.

About Pleckgate High School:
We are a large secondary school, part of the Education Partnership Trust (EPT), situated on the northern outskirts of Blackburn. Our school community is made up of 1350 students and 180 staff with excellent facilities to benefit both the school and local community. Pleckgate High School is a thriving multicultural community that places the best interests of young people at the heart of everything we do.

We are an ambitious school with high expectations for ourselves and our pupils. We are committed to providing excellent teaching and learning and we want all our pupils to be safe, happy and successful. In our Ofsted report in June 2024, our school was described as offering a “harmonious and supportive environment. Pupils learn the importance of being kind and respectful towards others”. Every pupil at Pleckgate is encouraged to have ambitious goals and to work hard. A copy of our full report is available from the school website.

We are proud of our achievements – our ambitious curriculum, our examination success, opportunities for pupils' personal development, our charity work and our community involvement. We are significantly oversubscribed and pupils achieve positive outcomes at Pleckgate.

We are significantly oversubscribed and pupils achieve positive outcomes at Pleckgate. We are proud of how staff support pupils in achieving success both academically and through sport.

As a staff member of Pleckgate High School, you will be able to take advantage of the staff benefits, available through the EPT, which includes access to both the Simply Health and Discount for Teachers schemes. We also have an Associate member of our Senior Leadership Team whose role is to work with our staff on staff wellbeing, working to ensure you have a balanced home and work life-style.

If you have any questions about our school, or the role itself, please don't hesitate to get in touch and please visit our school website http://www.pleckgate.com to get a flavour of what we have to offer.

About the Education Partnership Trust (EPT):

EPT was established in 2012 as a multi-academy trust and is an approved academy sponsor. Our vision is to create outstanding schools which transform learning, lives and communities. We benefit from our diverse and unique range of schools which include secondary mainstream, alternative provision and special and have a proven track record of sustained improvement. Our schools are united by a drive to improve opportunities and outcomes for children and young people within a collaborative learning culture.

Our staff are our most valued asset so we continually invest in our colleagues and we believe that all teaching and support staff posts within our schools are key in terms of supporting pupil achievement and improving their life chances. As such we are keen to recruit dedicated and ambitious professionals who will add value to our schools and trust by helping our young people to succeed.

Our extensive range of rewards and benefits include:

• Healthcare cash back plan provided free by the trust includes optical, dental, physio, diagnostics, health assessment, NHS prescription charges, hospital cover, discounted gym memberships plus lots more.
• Employee Assistance Programme, including counselling, CBT, and wellbeing initiatives.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Access to government pension schemes.
• Free parking.
• Training, mentoring and progression opportunities.
• Trust wide intranet to share knowledge and resources.

Incomplete application forms will not be shortlisted, if you need to discuss a reason for being unable to complete a section, please contact the recruitment team [email protected].

We warmly welcome a visit to the school or an informal conversation prior to application. Please contact Carrie Smith - [email protected].

Please be advised, as part of due diligence checks, online searches will be carried out on shortlisted candidates.

Apply via: Cover Assistant | SAMpeople Recruit

This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. 

 This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Any offer of employment will be subject to a satisfactory check supplied by the Disclosure and Barring Service. The check will include any cautions, reprimands, or final warnings as well as convictions. 

Position type: Full time - Term time