Pastoral Care Officer at Highcliffe St Mark Primary School

Pastoral Care Officer

Do you have a passion for supporting children's mental health and wellbeing? Are you approachable, compassionate and dependable, whilst also being resilient and adaptable? If so, we would love to hear from you.

At the heart of our school is a commitment to ensuring that every child feels safe, valued and able to flourish. Our inclusive ethos is rooted in our Christian values of Courage, Compassion and Respect, which guide our relationships with children, families and colleagues every day.

We are seeking a caring and dedicated Pastoral Care Officer to join our established pastoral team. Working alongside two experienced colleagues and our teaching staff, you will provide an additional layer of support for children and families across the primary age range. Through nurturing relationships, you will help children develop emotional resilience, self-esteem and confidence, enabling them to overcome barriers and thrive both personally and academically. Working 15hrs per week, term-time only (38.6 weeks).

Our wonderful school grounds and outdoor spaces play an important role in supporting wellbeing, alongside our dedicated home-from-home wellbeing bases, The Den, The Burrow and The Hive. These spaces provide children with opportunities to feel calm, connected and supported, and are central to our nurturing approach.

You will work closely with children, families and staff, sharing strategies and resources that strengthen support for our most vulnerable pupils. As a compassionate listener and trusted adult, you will play a key role in promoting children's wellbeing, improving engagement and helping families access the support they need.

Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and is central to everything we do. As a member of our pastoral team, you will play a vital role in our safeguarding culture, helping to ensure that children are safe, heard and supported, and that concerns are identified and addressed promptly.

The work of our pastoral team has a significant impact on children's wellbeing, attendance, engagement and success. This is a wonderful opportunity to join a warm, supportive community where Courage, Compassion and Respect are lived out every day, and where you can make a real difference to the lives of children and their families.

Highcliffe St Mark Primary School values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people; this is a commitment which we expect all staff and volunteers to share. The successful candidate will be required to have a Disclosure and Barring Service check in line with the Governments safer recruitment guidelines.

The pro rata salary shown is based on the number of hours and weeks worked and includes appropriate paid annual leave and bank holiday entitlements.

The salary quoted is the annual salary for the position at the time of advert. The salary will be paid in equal monthly instalments and will be adjusted if leaving part way through the school year to ensure the correct salary is received for the work completed in an academic year.

This role is UK based and your Right to Work will need to be established as part of the appointment process.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The amendments to the ROA 1974 (Exceptions Order 1975, (2013 and 2020)) provide 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. The MOJ’s guidance on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

Keeping Children Safe in Education

Highcliffe St Mark Primary School will conduct online searches of shortlisted candidates. This check will be part of a safeguarding check, and the search will purely be based on whether an individual is suitable to work with children. All aspects of social media and internet searches will be conducted. As care must be taken to avoid unconscious bias and any risk of discrimination, a person who will not on the appointment panel will conduct the searches and will only share information if and when findings are relevant and of concern.