Pastoral Lead

Castleward Spencer Academy; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 18,000 - 21,000; Full time

Job summary

Castleward Spencer Academy in the United Kingdom seeks a caring and reflective teaching assistant to support children and families across two academies, Hilton and Derby City Centre. You will help strengthen attendance, wellbeing and learning, working with SENCO and safeguarding teams.

The role involves coordinating SEMH interventions, building strong relationships with families, and undertaking the Early Intervention Practitioner Apprenticeship to grow expertise in family support.

Qualifications

• Caring, inclusive teaching assistant focused on safety and learning.
• Reflective practitioner open to feedback and continual improvement.
• Handles sensitive information with discretion and maintains positive relationships.
• Collaborates with school, families and external agencies to support children.
• Committed to making a genuine difference in children’s lives.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Senior Leadership Team in both schools, particularly the SENCO, to support pupils and families effectively.
• Lead and coordinate SEMH interventions across the school, ensuring support is delivered in line with the graduated response.
• Build positive relationships with families through initiatives such as parenting programmes, drop-in sessions and targeted support.
• Contribute to both academy’s safeguarding teams, including attending safeguarding meetings, completing Early Help Assessments and supporting referrals to external agencies as required.
• Undertake the Early Intervention Practitioner Apprenticeship to further develop knowledge and expertise in family support and early intervention (unless already qualified).

Skills

Caring & inclusive

Reflective practitioner

Strong communication

Team player

Job description

The successful candidate will play a key role in supporting children and families to overcome barriers to learning, improve attendance, promote wellbeing and access appropriate services. Working closely with school staff, parents and external agencies, you will help ensure that every child has the best possible opportunity to thrive both in school and at home.

The role will be supporting both The Mease Spencer Academy (Hilton) and Castleward Spencer Academy (Derby City Centre). This is a unique opportunity to work across two schools, building strong relationships with families and making a meaningful difference within both communities.

You will:

• Work closely with the Senior Leadership Team in both schools, particularly the SENCO, to support pupils and families effectively.
• Lead and coordinate SEMH interventions across the school, ensuring support is delivered in line with the graduated response.
• Build positive relationships with families through initiatives such as parenting programmes, drop-in sessions and targeted support.
• Contribute to both academy’s safeguarding teams, including attending safeguarding meetings, completing Early Help Assessments and supporting referrals to external agencies as required.
• Undertake the Early Intervention Practitioner Apprenticeship to further develop knowledge and expertise in family support and early intervention (unless already qualified).

We are looking for:

• A caring and inclusive teaching assistant who is committed to ensuring all children are safe, thrive and develop a lifelong love of learning.
• A reflective, research-informed practitioner who responds positively to feedback and continually seeks to improve outcomes for pupils.
• Someone with high professional standards who handles sensitive information with discretion and maintains positive relationships with children, families and external agencies.
• A passionate and resilient team player who works collaboratively with school, home and other professionals to support the best outcomes for children.
• Someone who is committed to making a genuine difference to the lives of children and families within our school communities.

What can we offer you?

- Friendly, supportive, enthusiastic and hardworking colleagues

- Academies where you will feel valued for your hard work

- A growing learning community with opportunities to learn from others and through research

- Encouragement to develop new ideas and the opportunity to make a real difference

- Networking opportunities

The Trust and its member academies are committed to promoting equality and diversity in both employment and education provision. We aim to ensure that students, parents, governors, employees, contractors, partners, clients and other stakeholders within the Trust community are treated fairly, and with dignity and respect regardless of Protected Characteristics.

Spencer Academies Trust is a Disability Confident Committed Employer.