Pastoral Care Assistant

Witherslack Group; Hemel Hempstead; On-site; GBP 27,000 - 32,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Training

Holiday

Progression

Flexible benefits

Wellbeing

Medical cover

Beautiful work environment

Refer a friend bonus

Pension

Job summary

Witherslack Group in Hemel Hempstead is seeking a dedicated Pastoral Support Assistant to support pupils with complex emotional and behavioural needs. You’ll work closely with families to develop tailored programmes that help each child thrive within a positive learning environment.

Experience with BESD or ASD in school or care settings, plus excellent listening, motivational and teamwork skills, will help you succeed. NVQ 3 in Care or Level 2 Teaching Assistant is preferred.

Qualifications

• Experience working with BESD or ASD in a school or care setting.
• A good listener who can motivate and work in a team and inspire young people to achieve.
• Flexibility and good organisational skills are essential.

Responsibilities

• Support pupils with emotional and behavioural needs to ensure they access learning.
• Develop and implement individualised programmes for each pupil.
• Create a positive and safe learning environment where every pupil can thrive.
• Work with families and teams to monitor progress and adapt plans.

Skills

Empathy

Active listening

Teamwork

Organizational skills

Education

NVQ 3 in Care / Level 2 Teaching Assistant qualification

Job description

£27,096 - £31,594 + excellent benefits

Those Huge Small Victories

For children with complex, challenging needs, the level of care and education must go above and beyond. 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 and market leading OFSTED ratings.

Get out what you put in

As a Pastoral Support Assistant you'll help us meet our young peoples' emotional needs. Our young people have challenging complex emotional and behavioural needs [Autistic Spectrum Disorder/Social, Emotional and Mental Health] and need more support than most. You'll make sure they get it by applying high standards of care. It means working with families and developing programs for each individual young person. With careful assessment and planning, you'll create a positive learning environment where every young person can thrive.

With experience working with young people with BESD or ASD in a school or care setting you will understand our young peoples developmental needs and what pastoral care entails. A good listener who can motivate and work in a team, you inspire young people to achieve. Flexibility and good organizational skills mean you'll be an asset to the Witherslack Group.

One of the best environments in SEND

Opened in Spring 2026, Felden Hall School is a purpose built, brand new, state of the art school for up to 115 pupils. The school provides education for pupils aged 5 - 16 and caters to children with a wide range of needs including autism and social, emotional and mental health needs. This new exciting opportunity serves Hemel Hempstead and the wider communities, you are at the heart of its development. Our aim is to ensure that every pupil has an outstanding educational experience with individual pupil progress and care at the heart of what is offered.

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
• Progression: If career development is your thing, most of our head teachers and leaders have been promoted from within our group
• 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 £1,000 bonus every time
• Contributory pension scheme - matched up to 5%

Bring your whole-self to work

Our young people 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. You'll be more than a Pastoral Assistant, you'll be able to connect with our pupils because of:

• Previous experience with ASC, ADHD or SEMH pupils and with working with families in challenging circumstances and expertise to support and resolve difficulties
• Experience of multi-agency work with an understanding of legislation, policies and guidance around safeguarding and child protection
• Ideally - NVQ 3 in Care/Level 2 Teaching Assistant Qualification

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.