Boarding Housemaster/mistress

Full time, residential, permanent position for September 2019 

A professional experienced in providing educational or residential care to children and young people, or a graduate seeking their first position within a school and/or boarding environment is sought to join our enthusiastic residential staff team.

The School:

Nationally celebrated, More House School provides an exceptional, mainstream education for boys with Specific Learning Difficulties.  Providing a transformative education repeatedly recognised as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted over more than a decade, we offer a specialised learning environment for 470 day and boarding boys from Year 4 to Year 13.  Our pupils are taught to recognise their strengths and develop their self-belief so that they achieve independence and extraordinary results at GCSE, BTEC and A Level, above the national averages.

Delivering a mainstream independent-school experience, both academically and socially, the very broad curriculum affords all pupils the opportunity to discover their strengths, challenging them to fulfil their academic and extra-curricular potential.  All boys who attend More House are individually timetabled, with many receiving support through the on-site Learning Development Centre and its qualified therapeutic staff.  Judged ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted in its last four school inspections, our most recent inspection (March 2019) graded More House School ‘Outstanding’ overall, and ‘Outstanding’ in each of the six sub-sections of the report, both for educational provision and for the residential boarding provision.  More House is CReSTeD approved, listed in their Specialist Schools category, and is a member of the Independent Schools Association and the Boarding Schools’ Association.

The school is set on a wooded hillside in nearly thirty acres on the Hampshire/Surrey border, and attractive modern facilities lie above the playing fields.  London Waterloo is one hour away by train from close-by Farnham railway station, and there is easy access to the M25, M3 and A3 major routes.  Guildford is twenty minutes’ drive away.

The Boarders:

The boarders thrive on the support provided by an enthusiastic and committed team of residential staff who support one another closely.

There are currently just over 100 boarders, the vast majority of whom board during the school week, with a small number remaining in school at non-exeat weekends.  Recent expansion of Main House increased capacity and provided extra social facilities.  There is an ongoing commitment to development of the boarding facilities.

The youngest boarders are accommodated in eight-bed dormitories and the older ones in either single or shared study bedrooms.  All thrive on the support of our committed staff team to develop themselves and their learning.  They are a caring, lively group of children and young people.  The ethos of the school is sensitive to their needs and the feeling of shared community is one which we nurture.

The boarding team comprises ten full-time members of staff.  Most are young graduates and all live in self-contained, mostly single bedroom, studio-flats within the boarding houses.  The Deputy Head (Head of Boarding) is in charge of all aspects of the boarding curriculum, ensuring all staff-members are trained to the level required by the school.  With the strong support of the school, all boarding staff-members, unless qualified teachers, currently complete the Certificate of Professional Development for Boarding Staff offered by the Boarding Schools’ Association and awarded by Roehampton University.  The Head of Boarding plans the duty roster for the morning, evening and weekend shifts, and all boarding members of staff are answerable to the Head of Boarding, Mr Fred Pennell in the first instance. 

About this post:

The School is open for around 35 weeks a year.  The post-holder has responsibility to the Head of Boarding and Headmaster for the care and welfare of a dormitory or corridor within a larger house, and as part of a team of housemasters/mistresses, supporting students’ emotional and physical well-being and development.  They will be required to participate in the school’s extra-curricular activities programme.   This is a non-teaching role, although it may be possible to take on a small amount of teaching, dependent on subject and timetable.

Rent-free, single-bed accommodation is provided on site and the post-holder is required to sleep in the accommodation provided whilst on duty.  The School pays for council tax, utilities and provides meals in term time only.  Excellent in-school support and guidance is given, and the school will also pay for any deemed necessary or appropriate by the school.  This position offers paid holiday during all of the holiday recesses apart from announced INSET days where all employees attend, and offers flexible ‘off-duty’ days as the boarding timetable permits.  This will not be less than one day each week and no greater than two.