CLASSROOM / LEARNING ASSISTANT
From: August 2026
Applications are invited from suitably experienced, enthusiastic and committed classroom assistants for the above post, which will be tenable from August 2026.
The School
The Compass School is an independent primary school in East Lothian for girls and boys from pre-school (nursery) to Primary Seven. Children attending the School enjoy its friendly and caring environment in which they can feel secure and happy and in which they are encouraged to succeed, developing confidence, skills and ability. Its small class sizes allow each child to enjoy a very high level of individual attention. Over the years, it has built up an excellent reputation for providing high quality education and for the excellent results it achieves with its children. In 2022, The Compass achieved Gold status as a UN Rights Respecting School. In recent years, the School has been awarded ‘Champion School’ status by iTeach and became one of Scotland’s first Digital Schools in recognition of its work in digital learning within the curriculum. In September 2025, the School received a national Excellence Award for its intergenerational work in confronting age discrimination and stereotypes.
The School is located in a beautiful situation in Haddington, which is situated less than fifteen minutes along the A1 from the outskirts of Edinburgh.
The Post
We are seeking a well-qualified and motivated person who wishes to make full use of his/her talents and enthusiasm, in working as part of a dedicated and professional team. The successful candidate will demonstrate commitment both to their post and to the life of the School.
They will be prepared to work in a small school environment, developing not only their skills, in working with children throughout the primary stages, but assisting in areas of school life and curricular development.
Key Responsibilities
To work as an effective member of our staff team delivering a high-quality child centred service which meets the needs of children and their families.
The key tasks involved would be:
- To provide general support and assistance to the class teacher in the day to day activities of the class, such as:
- helping the class teacher to prepare the classroom for lessons
- listening to children read, reading to them or telling them stories
- helping children with number work
- helping children who need extra support to complete tasks
- helping with art and craft activities and displaying work
- caring for children who are upset or have had accidents
- playing educational games with children and encouraging younger children to learn through play
- helping with outings and sports events
- helping with routine administrative tasks
- To supervise children in the school playground (or indoors if wet), encouraging positive play, dealing with the treatment of any minor injuries which occur, the maintenance of positive behaviour within the playground and liaison with relevant class teachers and school management.
- To support children in the Dining-Room, encouraging good eating habits and good manners
- To keep abreast of current educational initiatives and developments and participate in continuing professional development.
An interest and ability to be involved in the School ‘out of hours’ programme would be desirable.
Terms and Conditions
The person appointed will be party to a Contract of Employment between him/herself and the Governors of The Compass School.
The rate of pay will be £11.70 an hour, paid monthly in arrears for 39 weeks of the year. An additional five weeks of holiday pay is also paid at the same rate.
The hours which take place during term time only are approximately as follows:
Monday- Thursday 9am – 3.30pm
Friday 9am - 12.30pm
The candidate should ideally hold a relevant qualification in childcare with experience of working in a primary school environment. A recent First Aid qualification would also be desirable as would a good knowledge of digital skills in the classroom.
The appointment is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure PVG check through Disclosure Scotland Procedures.
The Compass School is a non smoking/vaping campus.
Additional Information About The School
The Compass School is firmly committed to purposeful child-centred learning with small class sizes (average number of pupils in each class – 17; maximum - 20) allowing for a significant level of individual attention for each child. Children are encouraged to develop their individual skills and abilities to the full within a wide ranging and stimulating curriculum. French is taught from age four as are Judo, Music and Swimming alongside the main core subjects. The curriculum is broadly based on the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland although has been adapted to meet the needs of our children and the academic standards to which we strive. Classes are made up of a wide span of abilities and the School is able to cater for the gifted as well as the less able.
A wide-ranging programme of sporting activities is also offered with all of our older children taking part in fixtures with other schools in a variety of sports.
Outdoor education is also a feature of life at The Compass School with overnight visits to such places as London, York, France, the Scottish Highlands, the Belmont Outdoor Centre in Perthshire and the Broomlee Outdoor Centre in the Scottish Borders, being combined with day visits to a variety of places of interest in East Lothian, Edinburgh and beyond, as our children explore the 'outdoor classroom'.
The School has been in existence for over 60 years, having been created by the Founder headmistress, Mrs Alny Younger, to fill a gap in educational provision in the area. The School since 1992 has been under the trusteeship of a Board of Governors.
There are currently 141 children on the school roll organised into eight classes, ranging from Reception/Nursery (4 year olds) to Primary 7 (12 years).
French, PE, Music and Judo are taught by specialist staff, but most other subjects are taught by class teachers.
The Compass offers an attractive environment in which to work, with well-motivated happy children guided by a friendly and committed staff. We have very good relations with the parents and strong support from the governing body.
Staff have access to a wide-range of Continuing Professional Development opportunities through the Scottish Council of Independent Schools professional learning programme and via many online or in-person courses and conferences.
The School last underwent an HMI inspection in March 2016 and received what the local media described as, a glowing report. Many strengths were identified within the School, particularly its strong positive ethos and its wide-ranging curriculum. Since annual inspections by the Care Inspectorate commenced in 2004, our Form 1 class and Compass Care, our after-school care facility, has enjoyed successive highly satisfactory reports. Our most recent report in December 2019 saw us, for the third consecutive time, being awarded ‘Excellent’, the highest possible category, in every aspect of our provision.
Further information on the School can be obtained from the School's website at www.thecompassschool.co.uk .
Application Procedure
Applications should be submitted by letter to the Headmaster at the address below, enclosing the accompanying/attached application form and the names and contact details of two referees. The deadline for receipt of applications is Wednesday 13 May 2026.
Applications should be sent to: The Headmaster, The Compass School, West Road, Haddington, East Lothian, EH41 3RD