Pastoral Assistant

**Full Job Description**:
**_How would you like to be paid for five days but only work four*?_**

**_ Our colleagues’ wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at OFG, so we’re always looking for new ways to improve everyone’s work/life balance. We’re taking part in a trial of the 4-Day Working Week, meaning that you could be working one day less a week (or equivalent)._**

**_ 4DWW will be rolled out within our school, when we have a full complement of staff, and within the next year - so there’s never been a more exciting time to join us #teamOFG_**

We are looking for a **Pastoral Assistant** to join our team at Park School. Someone who can deliver a holistic and integrated approach to care, education and clinical services would be perfect for this role.

**Location**:
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**Park School, Oxfordshire**

**Salary**:
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**£22,000 - £25,500 per annum**

**Hours**:
**40 hours per week, Monday to Friday**

**Contract: Permanent, Term Time Only**

**Must be UK based. May occasionally have to drive for work so a full UK Driving License is required.**

**About the Role**

The post holder will manage and work as part of a team supporting the learning and behaviour of students. The post holder will provide practical support for individual students and work with the whole school to promote positive behaviour management.

**Support to Students**
- To provide individual support or activities for students in danger of becoming disaffected or disengaged, in lessons, during break times, lunch times and on educational visits as appropriate
- To work with individual students to raise awareness of appropriate behaviour and responses in the classroom and around school, providing them with feedback as to their progress
- To calm and diffuse difficult situations involving students

**Support to Staff**
- To provide positive role models for other support staff
- To maintain dialogues with key people around individual pupils’ needs (for example: Community Leader, Pastoral Leader, form tutor, Class Teacher, Youth Service and Education Welfare)
- To monitor and evaluate responses and progress against action plans through observation and planned recording, feeding back to appropriate staff
- To assist in the taking of statements for any student involved in an incident that requires further investigation

**Who we are looking for**
- Experience in a similar setting would be an advantage.
- Evidence of continuous professional development in behaviour management
- An awareness of the current issues affecting young people
- Experience of managing in a multi-disciplinary team
- Experience of working with outside agencies

**Skills, Abilities and Knowledge**
- Effective behaviour management skills
- Good oral and written communication with students and adults
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Ability to respond to challenging circumstances in a positive manner
- Good interpersonal and organisational skills
- Ability to prioritise own workload, meet deadlines and to work independently
- Able to work in a calm, efficient and safe manner

**About us**

Park School is an independent specialist day school for boys and girls aged from 7 to 18, catering for pupils with a wide range of social, emotional and mental health needs. Our dedicated team work together to ensure successful outcomes for pupils who often arrive at the school with a troubled view of education and life.

We pride ourselves in steering pupils in the right direction, nurturing aspiration to progress them both academically and socially to encourage them to take pride in their achievements. Socially, we build confidence in our students, so they are able to have a greater understanding of the wider community in which they live.

Acorn Education & Care is the UK’s leading independent provider of specialist education and residential care for vulnerable pupils and young people. As part of Outcomes First Group, we are leading our sector in setting and delivering new approaches that provide measurable outcomes for those in our care.

**Why join Acorn Education & Care?**

**Benefits**

**Your health and wellbeing are important to us, so you’ll get an exceptional reward package including**:

- Life Assurance
- Pension scheme with options to increase your contributions
- “Your Wellbeing Matters” - access to a wide range of first-class mental health support services and physical health checks

**And a market-leading benefit offering through our Flexible Benefits Platform, Vista, enables you to choose the package that’s right for you, including**:

- A wide range of health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits
- 100’s of discount options valid in the UK and abroad
- Cycle to Work Schemes
- Electric Car Purchase Scheme
- Critical illness cover

And that’s not all, we place the outcomes of the pupils and vulnerable young adults in our services at the heart of everything we do, so you’ll wake every day in the knowledge that your role will have a significant po