Job purpose:
To contribute to the development of a strong, effective school, that has national and international influence, where, through effective teamwork, everyone is empowered to realise their potential within a safe and secure environment.
Specifically
- Be a highly visible presence around the school site, being accessible to and engaging directly with students.
- Secure the highest standards of student engagement in the school by supporting the implementation of Behaviour Policy both to celebrate and promote positive choices and to challenge unacceptable conduct.
- Support the improvement of pupil punctuality, attendance and behaviour and assist the school in reducing disruption and raising pupil achievement and progress.
- Have direct oversight and responsibility for the engagement and welfare of children within their assigned year group.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Ensure and deliver effective pastoral support so that individual students and groups of students are supported to actively participate in learning and reach their full potential.
- Support the raising of standards in the school by leading and delivering pastoral support to a year group of students; and within that year group by providing support to individual students and their families.
- Be responsible for managing and addressing the needs of students who need help to overcome barriers to learning in order to achieve their full potential.
- Be responsible for supporting the improvement of student punctuality, attendance and behaviour and assist the school’s pastoral programme in reducing disruption and raising student achievement and progress.
- Contribute to effective transition from other schools ensuring the student well-being on entry.
- Undertake site walks during scheduled learning time as directed by their line-manager (as part of a rota of activity) to support learning activity.
- Undertake supervision for their year group during social times.
- Monitor and celebrate students through half termly, termly and yearly celebrations appropriate to their year group.
Securing Accountability
- Be accountable for the pastoral performance of students within the year group.
- Support with the analysis of student-tracking data, identify underperformance, and contribute to planning appropriate interventions and monitor their impact.
Strengthening the Community
- Contribute to stakeholder engagement and communication with parents, carers and families within the year group.
- Work effectively in partnership with external agencies including the school nursing services and other health services – organise drop-ins, vaccinations, presentations to year groups and whole school as needed.
- Arrange and promote activities within the year group e.g. identify links to year charities and co-ordinate fund-raising activities.
- Contribute to strategies for developing student leadership and student voice within the year group and the school.
- Contribute to the pastoral development of pupils through activities linked to the schools Character development programme.
- Be a professional advocate for the school in all contexts.
Year Team
- Lead and co-ordinate the work of a year team including keeping the Year7/Transition or Key Stage Lead, other Heads of Year (or equivalent), form tutors and members of the senior leadership team informed of important information on individual students or year team issues/developments.
- Contribute to developing the year group identity, creating relationships within, across and outside the school.
- Plan, run and keep minutes of half termly year team meetings – agenda items to include discussion of each high-risk students and agreeing further action (if needed); sharing performance information relating to attendance, punctuality, behaviour; feedback of issues emerging from quality assurance of morning registration; and information about key pastoral events affecting that year group team.
- Monitor and quality assure the morning registration programme/Tutorial Programme for each class in year group of responsibility at least half termly and provide appropriate feedback to individual form tutors and to the team – ensure the programme is delivered to a high standard and form tutors run their tutor group sessions effectively.
- Support the professional development of form tutors and others relating to your team and the delivery of the morning registration/tutorial programme including, where needed, working alongside form teachers to model effective delivery.
- Provide detailed termly reports on the quality assurance of morning registration/tutorial programme to their line-manger and the senior leadership team.
Attendance and Punctuality
- Monitor attendance and punctuality.
- Liaise with the attendance team in order to produce weekly and half termly class and year group attendance and punctuality reports.
- Work with the year team to display class and year group performance in each class and on year team display boards.
- Monitor punctuality (morning and lessons) daily and run detentions (break, lunch and after school) for year team – any students in accordance with the whole school lates policy/procedure.
- Make daily follow-up phone calls to parents of absent students who have been identified as at-risk of failing to achieve academically, to challenge absences and encourage early return to school.
- Monitor attendance using weekly and half termly reports (above) – contact all parents by phone and/or letter where attendance is below agreed target at the end of subsequent half-terms.
- Meet with any parents where attendance is below agreed target at the end of subsequent half-terms.
- For any students where overall attendance falls significantly below target, liaise with the parents to agree an action plan detailing attendance targets, monitoring arrangements and actions to be taken if targets are not met, including the use of formal sanctions such as a fixed penalty notice.
- Work with the attendance team to maintain an up-to-date risk register of high-risk students in designated year group i.e. those students whose attendance or punctuality is of concern and those who are at-risk of under-achieving academically where actions taken so far have been ineffective – discuss these weekly with SLT link and agree action plan for each. Ensure all information relating to above is recorded electronically in SIMS or other agreed whole school system.
- Support the timely movement of learners from lesson to lesson through presence on the corridors between each lesson.
Student Behaviour
- Supervise after-school detentions with a member of the senior leadership team (as part of a rota of activity).
- Monitor the behaviour of students in the designated team and keep detailed electronic records of student behaviour including detentions, those on Form Tutor, Head of Year, Key Stage or Senior Leadership Team report using SIMS or other agreed whole school system.
- Ensure Form Tutors, and the Year7/Transition or Key Stage Lead receive regular detailed information and reports (according to their level of need and involvement) on all students in the form class and year team.
- Work with SLT to identify students in year team who may need further pastoral input because their behaviour in lessons, around school or outside of school is causing concern (potential high need students).
- Produce detailed action plans for each high-risk behaviour student (those already on report) and those at risk of being high risk (potential) in their year group.
- Meet daily with all students on Head of Year, Key Stage or SLT reports – make sure they have the report each morning and that it is signed by appropriate staff member at the end of each day.
- Ensure effective communication with parents – make regular contact with parents to discuss student behaviour for all students on report – meet with parents at the end of each report and agree plan for monitoring behaviour going forward.
- Undertake regular checks on uniform, equipment and school bag contents to ensure that students adhere to school policies.
Student Guidance and Support
- Maintain and review a single risk register of students who are designated as being concerns relating to attendance, punctuality, or behaviour
- Meet fortnightly with ‘key students’ collectively (at lunchtime) to encourage high levels of attendance, punctuality and behaviour.
- Contribute to comprehensive assessments of students to determine those in need of help.
- Ensure students who are absent due to a prolonged illness, injury or incapacity are provided with adequate resources for learning at home.
- Manage, plan and oversee suitable support packages, including risk assessment, for students in their reintegration to school following a period of exclusion/absence.
- Keep in contact with parents of students in the year group, and in particular, with those needing more careful monitoring relating to attendance and punctuality, behaviour, bullying or medical needs - ensuring positive family support and involvement.
- Take steps to prevent bullying and support victims of bullying – keep records using SIMS of all bullying incidents and actions taken.
- Where children have medical needs – ensure this is recorded on SIMS and ensure appropriate information is shared with Year team and subject teachers as needed.
- Meet regularly with student ambassadors and student council – feedback from students about quality of pastoral programmes, any issues particularly relevant to that year group.
- Work with year team to ensure effective use of rewards and sanctions – keep detailed records using SIMS or other agreed whole school system.
- Organise, co-ordinate and run termly celebration of achievement assemblies – including the administration and collection of information from subject teachers, the buying and distribution of certificates and prizes; and organising assembly input including (if required) external speakers.
Other Responsibilities
- Champion the Trust’s principles of ‘Lead’, ‘Empower’, ‘Achieve’ and ‘Drive’.
- Contribute to the wider life of the Trust and the L.E.A.D. community.
- Comply with policies relating to safeguarding and child protection, health and safety, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to a nominated person.
- Help organise, and attend, parents' evenings for designated year team and support the running of open evenings, induction days and events for students and parents.
- Undertake additional responsibilities for break and lunch, afterschool sessions including detention, intervention and any other sessions as required; cover library during school and afterschool, as required.
- Participate in appraisal, training and professional development opportunities as required to fulfil the role.
- To act as a First Aider.
- Fire Marshall duties in the case of fire and/or emergency evacuation where applicable.