Designated Safeguarding Lead

Team: Education and Teaching

Location: Lower Bentham, Lancaster

Salary: £31,099 - £40,478 + excellent benefits

Contract Type: Permanent

Position Type: Full Time

Interview Date: Wednesday, 27 September 2023

Closing date: Sunday, 17 September 2023, 23:59

Those Huge Small Victories

For children with complex, challenging needs, the level of care and education must go above and beyond and 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. Our aspirational homes, schools and ethos help us achieve the best possible outcomes. In short, we’re enhancing life opportunities. Our Designated Safeguarding Leads are a huge part of making sure our children and young people’s needs are fully recognised and comprehensively met. 

Get out what you put in

You will work as part of the leadership team and report directly to the Head Teacher for this crucial role. You will have the opportunity to collaborate with other members of the Witherslack Group team in different locations to enable you to progress and develop your skills and knowledge. 

As a Designated Safeguarding Lead you will take responsibility for safeguarding within the school, this means that on a daily basis you will be liaising with statutory and non-statutory agencies, parents/carers and staff on matters of wellbeing , child protection and safeguarding and will be a great source of support, advice and expertise in the team.

One of the best environments in SEND

Enabling young people to progress and succeed is part of the DNA of Cedar House School and this is achieved by a commitment to truly celebrating the individuality and talents of every young person. 

The primary provision ensures that a nurturing environment and extensive therapeutic support allows a seamless transition to a secondary school that boasts a broad curriculum and far-ranging vocational offer. In addition, the state of the art residential offering enables those young people who reside at the school to benefit from the 24-hour curriculum, while living in a truly homely and personalised environment. 

The result is that each young person develops the skills and confidence to achieve both academic and life successes, where they are given the launchpad to release their potential and leave ready to live life to the full. We were recently recognised as Good by Ofsted.

What we do for you

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
• Flexible benefits: meaning you can increase/decrease benefits such as life insurance – check out our benefits here
• 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 – check out our schools here  
• A recommend a friend scheme that offers a £2,000 bonus every time
• Contributory pension scheme – matched up to 5%

Bring your whole-self to work

Our young people and their families 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. As well as having at least 3 years’ experience in a Designated Safeguarding Lead role, we will also look for:

• Comprehensive portfolio of CPD related to Safeguarding and Child Protection.
• Outstanding interpersonal and problem resolution skills.
• A genuinely empathetic approach is also essential
• Full UK driving licence

Interested in joining us?

Our young people deserve the best possible future and we feel the same about our teams. You deserve to have the career you want, with a purpose-led employer, in an environment that allows you to be yourself.

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.

For a full job description and person specification, please see the attached document.

Special Education / Careers in Care / Careers in Special Education / Working with Children / SEMH / SEN / ASD