Pastoral Support Assistant (Assistant Head of House) in Coventry

We are seeking to appoint a motivated and progressive Pastoral Support Assistant (Assistant Head of House) to work alongside one of five Heads of House within our pastoral team, to support students’ learning by focusing on behaviour and attendance. The successful candidate will play a key part in the school’s pastoral system and show patience and commitment to develop positive attitudes and approaches to lifelong learning for all students. The successful candidate needs to be a dynamic, self‑motivated and well‑organised individual who will help our young people to achieve the best outcomes and to make positive contributions to their emotional health and well‑being. You must also be an exemplary leader in dealing with staff, pupils, parents and outside agencies from all different social backgrounds.

Key Attributes

• Dynamic, self‑motivated and well organised
• Excellent leader in dealing with staff, pupils, parents and outside agencies
• Skilled to generate positive approaches to learning
• Excellent communication skills both verbally and written

All staff are expected to know what to do if they have concerns about a child, take on the responsibility for providing a safe environment and promoting children’s welfare, undertake regular safeguarding and child protection training and, familiarise themselves with KCSIE part 1 and local policies and procedures as directed by the trust/academy.

Blue Coat is a successful and oversubscribed school in the heart of the city of Coventry. As a Christian school our intake draws from both the local area and across the city and surrounding areas. Consequently, we have a diverse intake and a culturally thriving school. The school was graded ‘Outstanding’ in its SIAMS inspection and ‘Good’ by Ofsted in May 2023 and continues to perform exceptionally well academically. In 2023 our Attainment 8 at GCSE was 52.3 and our Progress 8 score was +0.42, both of which are above national average. The vast majority of our students stay on into the sixth form and continue their studies. We have a large and successful Post 16 provision with 350 pupils on average studying either A levels or Vocational Level 3 courses. We have excellent rates of progression to universities, apprenticeships and employment. We were inspected by Ofsted in May 2023, and were judged a Good School, with Outstanding for Personal Development, The Sixth Form and Leadership and Management. Ofsted shared in their report: Leaders and teachers share a moral purpose. There is a cohesive and vibrant school community. Leaders have built an inclusive community. Staff are very proud to work at the school. Staff feel very well supported by leaders and greatly value the training they receive to continually improve their work.

Benefits

• A highly supportive and committed senior leadership team
• Employee Assistance Programme which offers 24/7 confidential advice and support on a range of matters and free access to accredited counsellors
• A focus on staff wellbeing including a network of wellbeing champions and a supportive working environment
• Opportunity to join a committed and forward‑thinking team of staff
• Employee Benefits platform providing staff access to a range of benefits such as shopping discounts

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and appointments will be subject to rigorous safeguarding checks including enhanced DBS and references. The postholder must share our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Candidates who have been successfully shortlisted will be asked to complete a self‑declaration to confirm any (non‑protected) criminal disclosures or information that would make them unsuitable to work with children. The role is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offender Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. We aim to recruit the very best staff and welcome those from all backgrounds, communities and faiths (including non‑faith individuals). Inspire Education Trust is clear about its responsibilities in embracing diversity and ensuring we recruit people of a high calibre based on their skills, abilities and experience. As such, we welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates. The role of Pastoral Support Assistant will be classed as regulated activity. Any offer of employment will be conditional until satisfactory completion of all mandatory pre‑employment checks. It is an offence to apply for this role if barred from engaging in regulating activity relevant to children. Following recommendations from Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) for an additional pre‑employment check, with the effect of 1st September 2022, please note an online search may form part of this recruitment process.