Our client is a specialised SEN school providing comprehensive education, therapy, welfare, and support for children aged 6 to 16 with social, emotional, and mental health needs (SEMH), alongside other complex requirements.

The Charles Hunter Associates team were tasked with promptly supplying 10 agency teaching assistants to begin assignments the following week.
After a thorough consultation with the client to understand their requirements, we set a goal of introducing two new teaching assistants per week.
We’re proud to announce that we have consistently met this target so far.

While we had established a working relationship with the organisation since 2021, this project marked our first collaboration with this specific SEN school.

Their decision to engage our services stemmed from a prior successful partnership we had developed with them. Our client, having worked with us in another educational setting, opted to continue collaborating with us after transitioning to this new institution.

• One significant challenge we had to overcome was the remote location of the school, situated outside of Newbury.
• Additionally, the work hours of these TA positions added a hurdle, as many teaching assistants usually prefer roles with standard school hours.
• To address the challenge of the remote location, we devised a transport solution. We arranged for our temporary workers to be picked up from the local train station and dropped off each day, ensuring their capacity to work the five days a week required for their assignment.
• We also collaborated with the client to schedule three shift patterns — 8:30-15:30, 9:00-15:00, and 9:00-15:30 — providing flexibility to our teaching assistants whilst meeting the school’s staffing needs.