Pastoral Support Assistant at York Steiner School

Deadline for applications: Sunday, 16th June 2024  (Please also complete the separate application form on our website.)

At York Steiner School we believe that to enable our pupils to learn effectively, they need to feel safe in their environment and be both socially and emotionally ready to learn. We understand the importance of holistic development and offer therapeutic and enriching experiences to enable the whole child's development. We recognise that some of our pupils are not always emotionally ready to learn and require increased support for them to access our curriculum. 

We will offer you:

 • A friendly and supportive working environment

 • Amazing, welcoming and enthused children

 • An opportunity to develop your own skills further through focused professional development

 • A creative and engaging curriculum

Our pastoral aims: 

1. Encourage the development of positive social relationships with both peers and adults. 
2. Provide opportunities to understand emotions and develop pupil’s self-worth, confidence, motivation, trust, self-esteem, and adaptability. 
3. Provide a safe, calm, and therapeutic environment, alongside a programme of activities structured to each pupil's emotional, social, and intellectual needs. 
4. Support pupils to understand their behaviour and that behaviours generally have consequences.
5. To help pupils to develop strategies to self-regulate emotions and anxieties. 
6. Support the development of a whole-school nurturing ethos focused on inclusion. 

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

1. To work with individual children or in groups of children who are experiencing difficulties with emotional regulation or other  aspects of school or home life as identified by the SENDCo/class teacher or any other significant adult.
2. To establish supportive, caring, and secure relationships with children, and be available to offer individual support and someone for a child to talk to.
3. To develop knowledge of a range of learning and behavioural support needs and to plan, devise, and implement and review appropriate programmes to help develop children’s emotional literacy skills and emotional well-being.
4. To implement and review intervention programmes/targets designed by the SENDCo, teachers, and/or other professionals as required.
5. To create, develop and produce resources for use with intervention programmes, as appropriate and may include social skills, emotional skills, friendship and bereavement groups.
6. To ensure that all records are kept up to date, distributed, and filed following the school’s procedures and that appropriate levels of confidentiality are maintained.
7. To liaise, and maintain good working relationships with other staff, parents, outside agencies, etc. required.
8. To contribute to monitoring and recording pupils’ progress and providing relevant feedback to the SENDCo and teachers.
9. To liaise with the SENDCo and class teacher in the identification and targeting of children with emotional and behavioural difficulties.
10. To liaise with SENDCo and class teachers in the preparation of individual IEP’S (Plan Do and Review documents) as well as positive behaviour support plans for identified children.
11. To attend relevant in-service training as appropriate.

Supporting the School:

1. To understand and apply the school policies on learning and behaviour, and the statutory guidelines relating to disability discrimination and special educational needs. 
2. To work as part of the safeguarding team, to ensure that the wellbeing and personal development of the pupil enhances their learning opportunities and life skills. 

Person Specification

Holidays : 28 days (inclusive of bank holidays) pro rata in the first year to be taken during the school holidays, increasing to 33 days pro rata after 3 years.

This is a term time only position.

We implement safeguarding protocols in all aspects of our working practices and we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.  All successful applicants will be required to undertake an enhanced DBS check and this will include social media checks. 

York Steiner School is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring that every job applicant or employee receives equal treatment irrespective of sex, marital status, age, race, nationality, disability, sexuality or religious belief 

Closing Date: Sunday, 16th June 2024   

Start Date: September 2024

In order to apply for this role, please complete an application form, which can be downloaded at https://www.yorksteinerschool.org/job-opportunities/ and send to the School HR Manager at sarah.heaton@yorksteinerschool.org alongside a cover letter and up to date CV.