Pastoral Assistant

Those Huge Small Victories

For children with complex, challenging needs, the level of care and education must go above and beyond. That’s what drives us, here at Witherslack Group. With our high staff-to-child ratio and in-house clinical teams, we’re proud to have won a reputation for excellence and market leading OFSTED ratings.

Get out what you put in

As a Pastoral Support Assistant you’ll help us meet our young peoples’ emotional needs. Our young people have challenging complex emotional and behavioural needs [Autistic Spectrum Disorder/Social, Emotional and Mental Health] and need more support than most. You’ll make sure they get it by applying high standards of care. It means working with families and developing programs for each individual young person. With careful assessment and planning, you’ll create a positive learning environment where every young person can thrive.

With experience working with young people with BESD or ASD in a school or care setting you will understand our young peoples developmental needs and what pastoral care entails. A good listener who can motivate and work in a team, you inspire young people to achieve. Flexibility and good organizational skills mean you’ll be an asset to the Witherslack Group.

One of the best environments in SEND

Luxborough Court School is a brand-new, purpose-built school registered for 150 pupils aged 5 – 19 with Autistic Spectrum Disorder. There is a large sports hall with changing facilities (the site was formally a Premier League football club’s training ground), a bespoke 6th form suite plus a number of other smaller individual spaces used for therapeutic intervention and bespoke support. The School benefits from extensive outdoor space plus a large central courtyard garden in the centre of the school and separate secondary and junior playgrounds, with a multi-use games area.

There are good public transport connections with Chigwell Station less than a mile away, providing Central Line Tube services to London and Essex. The road links are good - the site is located near the M11, Junction 4.

What we do for you

We know you’re going to do great things. For your hard work and commitment, we reward you with the best salary and benefits package in the education sector. With us, you’ll get to bring learning to life and make a genuine difference to the lives of our young people – plus you’ll get:

• Training: A full induction and on the job training
• Holiday: You’ll work hard at WG, so you’ll be rewarded with full school holidays/35 days holiday including bank holidays
• Progression: If career development is your thing, most of our head teachers and leaders have been promoted from within our group
• Flexible benefits: meaning you can increase/decrease benefits such as life insurance – check out our benefits here
• Wellbeing: a host of wellbeing tools and advice including employee assistance
• Medical cover so you can claim back the cost of things like an opticians or dentist appointment and a host of high-street discounts
• Beautiful working environments with the very best facilities – check out our schools here
• A recommend a friend scheme that offers a £2,000 bonus every time
• Contributory pension scheme – matched up to 5%

Bring your whole-self to work

Our young people come from all walks of life, diverse backgrounds and with different needs – and our workforce reflects that diversity, so that our teams can engage, encourage and inspire our young people to be themselves. You’ll be more than a Pastoral Assistant, you’ll be able to connect with our pupils because of:

• Previous experience with ASC, ADHD or SEMH pupils and with working with families in challenging circumstances and expertise to support and resolve difficulties
• Experience of multi-agency work with an understanding of legislation, policies and guidance around safeguarding and child protection
• Ideally - NVQ 3 in Care/Level 2 Teaching Assistant Qualification

Interested in joining us?

Our young people deserve the best possible future and we feel the same about our teams. You deserve to have the career you want, with a purpose-led employer, in an environment that allows you to be yourself.

The Witherslack Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its young people. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check (we will cover the cost) and an online search. We are an equal opportunities employer welcoming applications from all sections of the community.

For a full job description and person specification, please see the attached document.

Special Education / Careers in Care / Careers in Special Education / Working with Children / SEMH / SEN / ASD