Pastoral Lead

Overview

The Sandon School is an over-subscribed 11-18 mixed comprehensive of 1275 students with an excellent reputation in the local area. We have superb facilities and view ourselves as an innovative teaching and learning community. The school is situated close to the A12 on the east side of Chelmsford within easy reach of Chelmsford, Colchester, Southend and Brentwood and has good public transport links.

Following a restructure of the pastoral services in the school, we require a Pastoral Lead to join our strong Student Services team. The role will include triaging safeguarding concerns and allocating as necessary, running student workshops to support student’s emotional needs, working with parents and students as appropriate and supporting the Designated Safeguarding Lead, Heads of Year and Heads of School in pastoral matters as required. Please see the job description for full details of this important role in school.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Appointments will be subject to references and enhanced DBS checks.

Additional information, including a job description, person specification and hours of work, is available in the Information Pack or by sending an email to recruitment@sandon.essex.sch.uk.

The closing date for applications is the Midday on Friday, 9 May 2025.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early and encourage candidates to complete and return applications as soon as possible

Duties

The School:

To respond to the school’s CP button for safeguarding concerns (CPOMS) and triage/allocate/deal with incidents
To report safeguarding concerns to the named person for Child Protection in line with the school’s policy
To assist Head of Year in conducting investigations into student incidents
To attend Vulnerable Student meetings
To identify relevant issues with students and arrange interventions, working with parents to best support students and signposting parents to relevant external support, attending meetings when required
To arrange meetings with parents and attend when appropriate
To be the lead liaison for individual students needing consistent care and support
To liaise with and make referrals to external agencies alongside pastoral administrator
To oversee welfare checks on students not attending full school time, working closely with the Attendance/Admissions Officer
To be the lead liaison for interventions from external agencies such as Flourish, Made for More, school counsellors, etc.
Respond to call outs for students in year group
Involvement in year group assembly
To work alongside Head of Year/attendance officer on the ‘We Miss You’ paperwork, to encourage students back into school who are struggling to attend.
Assist with raising attendance figures by providing support for those students with low attendance, working closely with the Attendance/Admission Officer.
Attending attendance meetings as required
To work alongside Head of Year to liaise with the Education Access Team for students that have medical evidence. To ensure all relevant paperwork is in place and recorded appropriately.
To oversee students on a part time timetable, working alongside Attendance/Admissions officer and ensure all documentation is in place and reviewed
To oversee students on alternative provision, making sure all relevant spreadsheets are completed, welfare checks have been completed where appropriate, and paperwork is in place
Lead student workshops during enrichment time to help students with pastoral needs ie anxiety, mindfulness and wellbeing etc.
To support the peer mentoring programme
Liaison and organisation with Head of Year for internal suspensions
Liaise with the Attendance/Admissions Officer to support with the integration of new students – ie be aware of any pastoral needs and organise tours
Be aware of students within identified year groups e.g. disadvantaged, EHCP, medical needs
Support the Heads of Year, Head of school, Co-ordinator for Alternative Education and Deputy Headteacher (Guidance and Support) in pastoral matters as appropriate
To manage own diary, triage issues and keep records

OTHER:

To participate in the performance and development review process, taking personal responsibility for identification of learning, development, and training opportunities in discussion with line manager
To comply with individual responsibilities, in accordance with the role, for health and safety in the workplace
To ensure that all duties and services provided are in accordance with the School’s Equal Opportunity Policy
The Governing Body is committed safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share in this commitment.
This job description is not an exhaustive list, and you will be expected to carry out any other reasonable tasks as directed by your line manager.

To undertake any other duties under the reasonable direction of the Headteacher/Business Manager.

Personal attributes

It is likely that the successful candidate will satisfy the following specification:

Attributes

Essential

Desirable

Qualifications

· Good standard of English

· Effective writing skills in English

· Good standard of numeracy

· Working with children in a range

of education settings

Previous experience

· Good general education

· Credibility with colleagues, students and parents

· Familiar with a school environment

Professional competence

· Precision and attention to detail

· Able to prioritise own work effectively and to utilise support

· Punctuality

· Reliability

· Ability to work well under pressure

· Ability to diffuse challenging situations

· Takes responsibility for own

development

· Knowledge of behaviour management techniques

· Safeguarding knowledge

Personal qualities

· Enthusiastic

· Punctual

· Reliable

· Flexible

· Approachable

· Calm

· Good communication skills, both written and verbal

· Sense of humour

· Good health

· Ability to work well individually and as part of a team

· Common sense

· Ability to lead by example

· Have empathy, and the ability to

listen to students

Salary & Benefits

This post is paid on Pay Scale 6 points 13-17. The full time pay range for this role is £28,163 - £30,060 and the actual salary for this part-time post will be £21,208-£22,636 per year. These figures include the holiday pay entitlement for someone with less than 5 years’ service.

Employees are paid monthly in twelve equal payments across the year.

Probation

All individuals new to employment with the school will be required to satisfactorily complete a six-month probationary period.

Key Information for candidates

Hours per week: 32.5 hours

Initial working pattern: 8:15 to 15:45 Monday, Tuesday & Thursday

8.15 to 16.00 Wednesday

8:15 to 15:05 Friday

Working weeks per year: 39 weeks (term time only including INSET days)

Holiday entitlement: Pro-rated holiday entitlement (including public holidays)
for this post is 5.7 weeks pa

This is a part-time post, and the successful candidate will work during each week of term time including non-pupil days.

Holiday will be deemed to be taken during school closure periods. There is no entitlement to take holiday during term time.

Safeguarding

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Our Safeguarding Policy is widely available and the latest version can be seen on our website. All appointments will be subject to satisfactory references and enhanced DBS checks.

Location

The Sandon School
Molrams Lane
Chelmsford
Essex
CM2 7AQ

Supporting documents

Deadline and info for applications

Application process:

Applicants must complete the application form and submit it to the school by no later than the closing date advertised. All applicants are strongly advised to read the job description and person specification for the post prior to submitting their application.

For further information, please contact recruitment@sandon.essex.sch.uk

Closing date for applications: Midday on Friday, 9 May 2025.