The Dragon is seeking to appoint a Boarding Houseparent to be responsible for one of their nine boarding houses. The main objective of this role is to manage efficiently the staffing, organisation and resources of the house and to provide the safety, good discipline and wellbeing for all pupils in the house in line with the culture of our School. The role will support and develop the social and emotional learning of all members of the house and to fully comply with all current safeguarding child protection procedures. The Houseparent will be supportive of all types of boarding at Dragon.

Below is a list of some of the duties involved in the Houseparent role. This is not an exhaustive list.

Duties and Responsibilities:

Pastoral                                                                                                           

·       To counsel pupils, at a time and place which is conducive to good communication, concerning any emotional, academic, social or behavioural problems they may have; to liaise with the houseparent of the pupils' siblings, if appropriate; to fulfil the requirements of the school's Safeguarding Policy, following all guidelines and procedures.

·       To support the school's rewards and disciplinary policy and, by encouragement and reward and by a clearly understood and fair system of sanctions.

·       To liaise with the Dragon Health Centre and house boarding assistants to ensure that pupils' medical requirements are properly catered for and recorded; to encourage pupils to adopt a healthy life style.

·       To ensure that boarding colleagues, parents and pupils understand the approach to boarding in the house, and the principles on which community life in the house is based.

·       To ensure that the individual circumstances, needs, strengths and weaknesses of each pupil are identified and known by staff as needed, so that individual opportunities, talents and potential are developed and maximised.

·       To be aware of the academic strengths and weaknesses of pupils; to liaise with tutors and subject takers to ensure that relevant background circumstances of pupils are known and discussed.

·       To ensure that a full and varied programme of extra-curricular activities is available, and pupils are appropriately occupied especially at weekends. 

·       To work closely with the Heads of Boarding to ensure the best possible boarding care for the children.

Boarding House Management 

·       To provide the adult members of the house team with a clear statement of their roles and responsibilities, and to provide for a periodic review of their performance. This includes overseeing a timetable of staffing to ensure the house is appropriately staffed.

·       To plan, implement and review structures of staff supervision; to ensure the safety and security (including emotional) of all pupils at all times when they are in the school's charge (including meal times, weekends, and on expeditions and outings); to ensure that adequate arrangements for ‘back up’ cover are made.

·       To provide the Head of Boarding with accurate weekend numbers so that catering and trips can be arranged at weekends.

·       To supervise the cleanliness and tidiness of boarder and private accommodation provided by the School.

·       To liaise with the boarding assistants to ensure that pupils' clothes and personal belongings are used appropriately, repaired as necessary, and stored securely and tidily.

·       With assistance from Heads of Boarding and HR, as required, recruit house boarding assistants. To be responsible for the management of the house budget and to ensure that proper accounts are kept, for use by the finance department.

·       To liaise with the Estates team to organise repairs to buildings and equipment; reporting defects via the Intranet help Desk.

·       To liaise with Estates department in respect of minor equipment, laundry and cleaning materials plus major maintenance/equipment replacement requirements. 

·       To carry out ‘silent hours’ emergency evacuation practices, at least once per term and in consultation with the Fire officer.

·       To report all potential hazards to boarders and staff to the H&S Officer and to be responsible for the compilation of boarding house risk assessment documents.

·       To provide snacks etc. and other dietary supplements in accordance with the School’s policy.

·       To develop in the pupils a collective responsibility to be aware of the difficulties or problems of others, and to offer such support and help for each other as is appropriate. To attend all in house training as required and to actively take advantage of the schools’ willingness to support attendance at courses outside of school. (BSA, IAPS etc)