Senior Safeguarding Officer

At KAA, we believe that a young person can only flourish in school if they feel supported and safe in their wider life. If you share this belief, and are looking for an exciting and rewarding challenge working at an Academy where pastoral support is a key strategic priority, then we have the perfect opportunity for you! 

The Role

We are appointing a new Senior Safeguarding Officer to join our outstanding academy from February 2022.  The role is being offered on an initial three year fixed period, with the option to extend beyond that subject to further funding.

The successful candidate will be someone with a background in education and/or social care who understands the huge impact that compassionate pastoral support for young people and their families can have on educational outcomes. 

An important part of the role is extending this support beyond the school building. You’ll conduct home visits, and develop our outreach by liaising with local charities, youth groups, and other partner organisations in the community. 

They will have the safeguarding experience to take on a central role in our large pastoral team, and work closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead to oversee the day-to-day safeguarding work in the academy. 

This is exciting and varied work: you’ll work directly with our Directors of Learning of each year group; you will manage a team of safeguarding officers; you’ll be a main point of contact with external agencies and help us develop these partnerships; and, most importantly, you’ll work directly with families and students to ensure they’re able to thrive in their education. 

What you offer

You will be up for the challenge of working in a fast-paced environment and able to deal with the unexpected in a calm, methodical way. You’ll also need to be a highly organised person who understands the critical importance of record keeping and keeping key colleagues informed about ongoing cases. You’ll also be passionate and proactive about continuously evaluating and improving our safeguarding systems. 

Our approach to pastoral care at KAA is compassionate and empathetic, and you’ll be able to model this to others you work with through your interactions with colleagues, families and students. Excellent communication skills are essential, and you’ll need to quickly establish yourself as someone who is approachable in difficult situations. 

You’ll come with an experience that means you understand the complexity of working with families who need support, and have the skillset to navigate these conversations skillfully and overcome the barriers that exist for some of our students. 

Finally, you’ll be someone who is resilient in the face of setbacks; KAA staff continually reflect on their practice and you’ll need to be open to feedback and open to ideas about making improvements to the systems and processes around you. 

This role would be perfect for anyone currently working in the education sector in a pastoral support capacity, or someone working within the wider social care system looking for an opportunity to work with young people in a school setting.  We would be particularly interested in hearing from candidates with experience working with agencies that work directly with schools to support young people, such as Early Help, Family and Children’s Services, Families Forward, or CAMHS.  

What KAA offers

The successful candidate will be joining a dedicated and talented team that’s firmly committed to making KAA one of the best academies in the UK. 

KAA is an organisation committed to the professional development and well-being of its staff: you can expect an intensive in-house CPD programme tailored to your role, as well as opportunities to visit other schools that are part of our network. 

Application process 

The application deadline is 12pm on Monday 13th December and candidates should apply by downloading our application from our website:  www.kaa.org.uk/recruitment. 

Further questions about the role should be directed to our HR Manager Alice Burch who can be emailed on recruitment@kaa.org.uk