Designated Safeguarding Officer

Calthorpe Park School is a highly successful place to learn and grow. The school is in an exciting phase of ongoing development as its numbers increase year on year within the context of outstanding standards of care and expectation. The school’s projected growth over a number of years creates many ongoing opportunities for staff to develop, enhance and advance their careers within the same institution.  

We pride ourselves on the excellence of our exam results but our ethos is to support all students to have the opportunity to succeed and the experience of success in a culture of care and consideration; challenge and commitment; respect and responsibility; integrity and impression. We aim to educate the whole child for the whole of their life: no ceilings or parameters; aspiring to excellence in everything we do.

Job/Person Summary

Calthorpe Park School is seeking a suitably qualified / experienced person to join our successful and expanding team to lead on safeguarding matters across the school. The successful candidate would ideally have a minimum of five years safeguarding experience either within an educational environment or obtained working with other agencies.

You must be tenacious, resilient and persistent demonstrating a commitment to strive to secure the best possible outcomes for our students. Furthermore, you must be willing and ready to have challenging conversations with all our stakeholders. IT literacy and a comprehensive understanding of statutory aspects pertaining to record-keeping are also desirable. You will have experience of managing and prioritizing your own caseloads.

This will be a proactive and responsive role based on need. The successful candidate will be expected to triage cases but will also have a caseload and will be directed by the DSL. This role will require multi agency working on a daily basis and will also involve attending multi-agency meetings virtually and in person when required.

You will be required to work on the school site between 8:30am and 4:30pm during term time however, an element of flexibility around how that time is allocated will sometimes be necessary. Furthermore, whilst remote working during some of the holidays will be possible, some administrative tasks will need to be undertaken on-site.

The salary scale is circa FTE £26,000 to £29,000 subject to negotiation based on qualifications and experience.

Ofsted December 2022:

“As part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising numbers of pupils on roll, leaders have strengthened the safeguarding team. Several staff have been appointed with specialist backgrounds in social services, the police and healthcare. The promotion of mental health is a high priority in the school. The safeguarding team works well with staff and external agencies to support pupils at risk. All staff are vigilant and know what to do if they have concerns about pupils or members of staff. Pupils have a good understanding of how to assess risk and keep themselves safe, including when online.”

We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised date if we receive applications that meet the criteria.

Prior to interview, an online search will be conducted to identify any past or current incidents or issues that might affect your suitability to work with children and undertake this role.  This is in line with guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education.  Please note this online search will be carried out only on publicly available information and be limited to issues relating to your suitability to work with children and/or in a school environment. Issues that arise will not automatically be a bar to your employment at this school.