Pastoral Care Assistant

£24,404 - £28,624 + excellent benefits

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.

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.

The transformational effect of Avon Park School is consistently witnessed by parents, carers and professionals alike. The school’s ability to connect and engage with pupils is a result of its strong ethos of “high expectations and aspirations for every child” – and recently achieved an Outstanding rating by Ofsted.

All school staff, including teaching, pastoral and therapy, work in a truly collaborative way to ensure each pupil not only develops academically but also emotionally and personally. This ‘whole school’ commitment sees pupils with ADHD, ASD, Asperger’s or SEMH grow into capable and confident young people who want to succeed.

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
• 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
• 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
• A recommend a friend scheme: that offers a £1,000 bonus every time
• Contributory pension scheme: matched up to 5%

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

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.