Pastoral Support Officer

Job details: Pastoral Support Officer

Salary: Spinal Point 2 to 7 (£18,887 - £20,444pa) – Depending on Level of Experience

Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract Type: Full-time

Reporting to: Executive Headteacher and Head of School

Location: Across Site (Neasden, Harrow, and Ealing)

Main purpose:

• Pastoral Support Officer is responsible for the organisation and delivery of interventions to improve the welfare and pastoral care of students, ensuring interventions are recorded, monitored and impact is evaluated.

• Providing support to the teaching staff in meeting the welfare and pastoral needs of students.

• Ensuring that home-school communication is maintained, and partnership links are developed with support agencies. This will include attending professional meetings and liaising with external agencies.

• Promoting a Trauma informed approach when interacting with students, staff and parents. 

• To manage and look into behaviour and pastoral incidents in depth and report to relevant senior members of staff.

Duties and Responsibilities

Main Duties:

• To promote and model a trauma informed approach in interactions with students.

• To contribute to the emotional, physical, spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of all students through the delivery of a variety of interventions.

• To be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all students across all sites.

• To manage a caseload of students with SEMH needs. 

• To ensure that all student attendance and punctuality is outstanding, following up on concerns as appropriate with urgency.

Planning:

• To carry our relevant assessments which will support development of pastoral/mentoring provision for each student. 

• To develop a mentoring/pastoral plan for each student. 

• To develop and plan relevant outcomes in accordance with the student’s needs, which will feed into their EHCPs and IEPs.

• To review all outcomes and contribute to annual reviews through detailed reports. 

Working with colleagues and other relevant professionals:

• Communicate effectively with other staff members and Students, and with parents and carers in collaboration with the class teacher.

• Communicate their knowledge and understanding of Students to other school staff and education, health, and social care professionals, so that informed decision making can take place on intervention and provision.

• With the class teacher, keep other professionals accurately informed of performance and progress or concerns they may have about the students they work with.

• Understand their role in order to be able to work collaboratively with classroom teachers and other colleagues, including Teaching Assistants, SALTs and OTs etc.

• Collaborate and work with colleagues and other relevant professionals within and beyond the school.

• Develop effective professional relationships with colleagues.

• Where appropriate, to know and apply positive handling techniques.  

• Developing training schedule and delivering the relevant training to colleagues within the school such as TA’s, Class Teachers etc.  

Whole-school organisation, strategy and development:

• Contribute to the development, implementation and evaluation of the school’s policies, practices and procedures, so as to support the school’s values and vision.

• Make a positive contribution to the wider life and ethos of the school.

Health and Safety:

• Promote the safety and wellbeing of students and help to safeguard students’ well-being by following the requirements of Keeping Children Safe in Education and our school’s child protection policy. 

• Be mindful and empathetic towards vulnerable children, preserving their dignity and administering personal care when required. 

• Participate in risk assessments for individual students, groups and for activities (indoor & outdoor) to ensure that behaviours are managed safely. 

• To have regard for the health and safety of all users of the building and assist in the event of an emergencies.

Professional development:

• Help keep their own knowledge and understanding relevant and up to date by reflecting on their own practice, liaising with school leaders, and identifying relevant professional development to improve personal effectiveness. 

• Take opportunities to build the appropriate skills, qualifications, and/or experience needed for the role, with support from the school.

• Take part in the school’s appraisal procedures.

• To ensure that up to date knowledge on relevant policies, training and mentoring/pastoral support strategies.

Personal and professional conduct: 

• Uphold public trust in the education profession and maintain high standards of ethics and behaviour, within and outside school.

• Have proper and professional regard for the ethos, policies and practices of the school, and maintain high standards of attendance and punctuality

• Demonstrate positive attitudes, values and behaviours to develop and sustain effective relationships with the school community.

• Respect individual differences and cultural diversity. 

Other areas of responsibility:

• Other responsibilities will be directed by the Head of Schools/FE and Executive Headteacher, as and when required in meeting the needs of the students and organisation. 

• The Pastoral Support Officer will be required to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people and follow school policies and the staff code of conduct.

Qualifications and experience

• Desirable: Level 4 in Mentoring and Coaching or working towards one. 

• Essential: GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) including English and Math’s.

• Essential: Experience of working with children 

• Desirable: Minimum of 2 years’ experience of working with students in school-particularly with those who have SEMH or SEND.

• Desirable: Experience of planning and leading training and learning activities (under supervision).

• Desirable: Experience with Mentoring and Pastoral Support Provision.

Skills and knowledge

• Good literacy and numeracy skills 

• Good organisational skills 

• Ability to build effective working relationships with Students and adults

• Skills and expertise in understanding the needs of all Students

• Knowledge of how to help adapt and deliver support to meet individual needs

• Excellent verbal communication skills 

• The ability to remain calm in stressful situations 

• Knowledge of guidance and requirements around safeguarding children

• Knowledge of Preparation to Adulthood (PFA) and the relevant pathways to support development of outcomes etc. 

• Understanding of roles and responsibilities within the classroom and whole school context 

• Knowledge of how to successfully lead learning activities for a group or class of children 

• Knowledge of how statutory and non-statutory frameworks for the school curriculum relate to the age and ability ranges of the learners they support

• Knowledge of how to support learners in accessing the curriculum in accordance with the SEND code of practice