Job Description

Columbus School and College

Essex
31,650 - 43,607 per year

Salary:

Main Pay Range + Sen Allowance + well-being cash plan + pension scheme (LGPS) + additional Lift Schools benefits

Job type:

Full Time, Permanent

Start date:

September 2025

Apply by:

3 August 2025

Job overview

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Main Pay Range + Sen Allowance

Permanent, Full Time or Part Time

September 2025

At Columbus School and College, we are looking for a creative and inspirational teacher to join our specialist team, working with Pupils aged 3 - 19 with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), severe learning difficulties (SLD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD).


We have high expectations for all our learners and are profoundly focused on preparing them for the future with a broad and ambitious curriculum tailored to their individual Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), developed in collaboration with parents, carers, and other professionals .

Here's what we can offer you:

A welcoming, skilled, and dedicated team of leaders, teachers, and staff who are passionate about our pupils. A comprehensive induction programme and a supportive mentor to help you quickly settle in, feel a sense of belonging, and achieve success in your role. Excellent opportunities for professional development and clear pathways for career progression. High levels of support to enhance your teaching practice, including collaborative work with Pioneer Special School in Basildon. Concise assessment systems designed to reduce workload, allowing you to focus on improving learning rather than just proving it. The chance to work in some of the highest quality learning environments in the country for pupils with special needs, across our two campuses. A culture where we want our pupils to be excited about coming to school and to truly love learning, feeling motivated and challenged every day. We achieve this by building precisely on what our pupils already know and can do.

Are you:

Passionate about delivering outstanding education to pupils with PMLD, SLD and/or ASD? Creative and reflective in your teaching approach? Committed to making a meaningful difference to the lives of children and young people?

We welcome applications from those seeking full time or part time hours. If applying for part time, please include your preferred working pattern in your personal statement. We are happy to be flexible with days.

Come and see us in action!

We warmly encourage you to visit our school and experience our exceptional learning environment firsthand. To arrange a visit or schedule a friendly chat please contact Brooke Carr, our School Operations Manager, at bcarr@columbusschoolandcollege.org. School tours are also available upon request.

Closing date : 3rd August 2025

?We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response. All candidates are advised to refer to the job description and person specification before making an application.


Lift Schools are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our people and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair and consistent recruitment process which is inline with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.


Lift Schools embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. Job share, part-time and flexible working opportunities will be considered.


We are a Disability Confident Employer and there is a guaranteed interview scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.


Brochure
14.84MB

About

Columbus School and College

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Columbus School and College

Partridge Avenue, Chelmsford
Essex
CM1 4JG
United Kingdom

+44 1245 258667

Columbus School and College was formerly two separate special needs schools in Chelmsford -Woodlands School in Patching Hall Lane and The Hayward School in Maltese Road.



Woodlands School served children with profound and multiple learning difficulties and complex learning difficulties aged 3-19 years. The Hayward School served children with moderate learning difficulties and autism aged 4-16.



The two schools federated in 2005 to form Chelmsford New Model Special School with a single governing body. There were two campuses - Woodlands Campus and Hayward Campus.



On the 1st September 2009 the two schools formally amalgamated to form Columbus School and College. The School Campus in Oliver Way currently has pupils aged from Nursery to Year 6 and the College Campus in Partridge Avenuecurrently has students from Years 7 to 14. There is an FE Department on College Campus which has students from Year 12 to Year 14.

Our Curriculum

Columbus School and College provides a broad and ambitious curriculum that is profoundly focused on preparing learners for the future. We have high expectations of learners' progress across the key areas of communication and interaction; cognition and learning; sensory, physical health and development; social, emotional and mental health; and self help and independence. Each learner has a personalised curriculum closely related to their education, health and care plan (EHCP). The curriculum is designed through collaboration with parents and carers and, as necessary, other professionals and specialists.



Some learners access the full range of National Curriculum subjects, and build subject specific knowledge and skills. Learners with more complex needs engage in a curriculum emphasising communication and physical development. All learners access a curriculum that builds on what they already know and can do, and is adapted to meet their different needs and starting points.



We are determined that children get off to a flying start in the Early Years. As learners progress to key stage 4 and 5, independence, community based learning and employment readiness become even more prominent in their learning. Learners need to remember/apply knowledge to perform a skill. Our key skills curriculum equips children and young people with the skills they need most. For example, communication, applying mathematics and social skills.



Our specialist learning environments, motor therapy suites and sensory rooms support teaching and learning. The work done in these spaces is heavily supported by therapists and their assistants, with much of what is designed and delivered being transferred into the classroom throughout the week.



We believe learners should gain the knowledge and skills they need to be as independent as possible. To this end, staff avoid learners becoming unnecessarily dependent on them. Community-based learning is a weekly feature of learners' timetables. Targeted and carefully planned community-based learning may include travel training or visits to the local shops. Learning in the community also enables learners to simultaneously repeat and extend what they have learned in school. Columbus offers education journeys both abroad and within the UK. A wide, rich set of experiences contributes to learners' personal development.



Reading is prioritised. In Early Years, many children begin learning letter sounds through our systematic synthetic phonics scheme. Learners take home books that contain the letter sounds they have learned, but also develop a love of reading through hearing stories. Learners make strong progress with reading because their needs are quickly identified and staff are well trained to help them. Comprehension and fluency become the focus when pupils have learned the sounds that letters make. Reading remains a focus for older learners because it is key to enabling independence.

Who is Lift Schools?

Lift Schools is made up of 57 primary, secondary and special schools, educating more than 33,000 pupils across the country. We believe education can transform lives - and we want every child in our schools to achieve their full potential.



Our mission:



We will provide an

excellent education

to every child, in every classroom, every day.

With

excellent leadership and teaching

in every school, we will help children go on to lead successful and happy lives.

We will work with others

beyond our network

to benefit more children and communities.

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.