Pastoral Support Worker

At OFG, we work smarter so you can spend more time doing what makes you happy!

If you really want to make your mark in a rapidly growing business that is committed to improving the lives of children and young people, we have a role for you!

We are looking for a Pastoral Support Worker 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.

Salary: £22,000 - £24,000 per annum

Location: Park School, Oxfordshire

Hours: 40 hours per week

Contract: Monday to Friday, Permanent, Term Time Only

About the School

Park School is a co-educational day School, which helps educate and support 40 Children aged between 7 – 18 who have Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) challenges and additional complex behaviours.  Park School is linked with five residential homes and is located in Oxfordshire. The School also provides education for students from Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Gloucestershire.

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 children’s needs (for example: Community Leader, Pastoral Leader, form tutor, Class Teacher, Youth Service and Education Welfare)
• To provide other adults in school additional support in behaviour management through observation, shared planning and working alongside colleagues
• 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

Behaviour Improvement Activities

• To manage and organise resources and daily documentation. This may at times involve obtaining work from teachers and returning it for assessment
• To work as directed in classrooms and behaviour management areas with students
• To organise and develop resources, maintain supply and condition of resources and general upkeep of the department area

Who we are looking for

• Evidence of continuous professional development in behaviour management
• Experience of working with families and young people who have challenging behaviours in a variety of settings including secondary education
• An awareness of the current issues affecting young people
• Experience of managing in a multi-disciplinary team
• Experience of working with outside agencies
• Trained in counselling/behaviour management and child protection
• Knowledge of basic Microsoft packages: Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint – supported by achievement of ECDL or similar

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

Why work for Acorn Education & Care?

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
• "You Wellbeing Matters" - access to a wide range of first-class mental 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 benefit
• 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 children and vulnerable young adults in our services at the heard of everything we do, so you'll wake every day in the knowledge that your role will have a significant positive impact on the lives of others.

We are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All successful applicants will be subject to a fully enhanced DBS.