Learning Support Practitioner (40 weeks per year) WCC621274

Job Details:

Salary range: £29,286 - £29,703 pro-rata, per annum (actual salary £26,503 -  £26,881 per annum)  
Work location: 219 Lisson Grove, London, NW8 8LW
Hours per week: 36
Contract type: Permanent
Vetting requirements: Enhanced DBS Check
Closing date: 15 June 2025
Interview date: 23 June 2025

Agency workers or employees of WCC partners:

If you are an agency worker, a contractor or employed by Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC), Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F) or a partner organisation of Westminster City Council please apply via this link.

About Us

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF CAROL’S LIFE-CHANGING JOURNEY

As the educational arm of Westminster City Council, Westminster Adult Education Service (WAES) is a world of extraordinary stories. From Childcare & Early Years Education to ESOL, and from Accounting and Digital to the Creative Arts and more, WAES’s courses offer unparalleled opportunities to grow, develop and acquire new skills. People like Carol work to help everyone in our diverse communities to achieve their potential and transform their lives. 

Carol left a music industry career back in the 80s, to volunteer in a local nursery. It changed her life.  Now she’s managing a team to help create life-changing opportunities for children and families across Westminster and beyond. She’s never looked back. She loves working in, and for the benefit of, her local community. From volunteering to getting a job in a nursery, to studying and becoming a Childcare Development lecturer, to joining Westminster City Council back in 1989, Carol has always seized every chance to keep learning and progressing. And now, she encourages her team to do the same. She puts her heart into enabling people’s development. That’s why Carol and Westminster are so well suited. We’re all about nurturing people too.

Carol’s immensely proud of her team, many of whom joined as learners. They have qualified and progressed. And they’ve achieved an Outstanding Ofsted grading together. She’s also proud that WAES can give opportunities to local people with potential. Just as enthused and ambitious now as she was 35 years ago, there are still goals Carol wants to achieve for her team, for learners, children and families. With Westminster, she’s in exactly the right place to keep doing that. 

To find out more about our work, visit waes.ac.uk

The Role

As a Learning Support Practitioner, you can make your own contribution to Westminster’s success. This is a meaningful, hands-on role where you will support learners with a range of needs to build confidence, overcome barriers, and achieve their potential – both inside and outside the classroom. Working as part of WAES’s supportive and inclusive Additional Learning Support (ALS) team, you’ll play a vital role in making education accessible, engaging, and empowering for every student.

You will provide one-to-one, small group, and in-class support tailored to individual learner needs. This may include helping with literacy and numeracy, taking notes during lectures, supporting IT use, or managing behaviour that challenges. You’ll also contribute to learners' wellbeing and personal development, encouraging good attendance and punctuality, and offering breaktime or personal care support when needed.

Working closely with teaching staff, SENCOs, and other professionals, you’ll share observations, contribute to lesson planning, prepare resources, and support curriculum delivery across a range of subjects. You’ll also assist with trips, events, enrolment weeks, and assessments – including exam invigilation and initial assessments – playing a key part in the learner journey from start to finish.

This role involves working with a diverse caseload, balancing classroom support, admin duties, and communication with multiple stakeholders. Emotional resilience, patience, and teamwork will be key to your success – but the impact you’ll make is tangible and deeply rewarding.

In return, you’ll be part of a values-led organisation that truly invests in its people. You’ll work in a collaborative, purpose-driven team, where your voice is heard and your development is supported. Every day is different – and every day is a chance to make a real difference.

Please refer to the Job Description for more information.

About You

You are someone who is passionate about supporting learners to reach their potential. With experience working with young people or adults who have learning difficulties, disabilities, or behaviours that may challenge, you bring empathy, patience, and a proactive mindset to your work.

You understand how to engage learners effectively and support them in achieving their coursework goals, targets, and individual outcomes. You have a working knowledge of key legislation – including the Children and Families Act 2014 – and know how to apply this to help learners achieve positive, meaningful progress.

Personal care is something you are willing and able to provide, and ideally, you’ve supported adults in this area before. You’re also confident using IT tools like Word, Excel, and databases, and you’re comfortable supporting learners both in person and online during remote lessons.

Communication is one of your strengths – whether you’re writing reports, recording observations, or working one-to-one with a student. You can adapt your approach to meet different needs, and your flexible, reliable working style means you’re ready to support daytime, evening, or Saturday sessions when needed.

Above all, you’re a strong team player with a commitment to equality, inclusion, and health and safety. You’re open to training, eager to learn, and motivated by the opportunity to make a real difference in people’s lives.

Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.

We reserve the right to extend or close this vacancy early without warning, subject to the volume of suitable applicants.

What We Offer

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.

At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this, visit  https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-duties

As a forward-thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.

The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for an interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever possible.