Dean of Pastoral Care

Carey Baptist College; Campus (IL); On-site; USD 63,000 - 94,000; Full time

Job summary

Carey Baptist College in Forrestdale seeks an experienced educational leader to become Dean of Pastoral Care, commencing 1 January 2027. This role shapes the culture and systems that support student wellbeing, belonging, behaviour, learning and character across the Secondary School.

You'll lead the pastoral care framework, develop the team, collaborate with counselling, inclusive education, chaplaincy, teachers and families, and work with College leadership to foster a relational, accountable

Qualifications

• Significant teaching experience and demonstrated educational leadership capability.
• Current registration with the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia.
• Sophisticated understanding of adolescent development and social-emotional needs.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for pastoral care across the Secondary School.
• Develop and strengthen Carey’s pastoral care framework, programs, practices and systems.
• Lead Year Managers and other pastoral and wellbeing team members.
• Coach staff through professional learning and practical support.
• Coordinate support for students with complex needs in collaboration with specialists.
• Engage families when students experience learning, wellbeing or behavioural challenges.
• Contribute to College leadership discussions and align pastoral work with teaching and learning.

Skills

Relational leadership

Pastoral care

Educational leadership

Collaboration with specialists

Education

Teacher Registration WA

Tools

Counselling collaboration

Professional learning

Job description

What if your next leadership role wasn't simply about supporting students, but shaping the culture and systems that help an entire school community flourish?

The Opportunity

Carey Baptist College, Forrestdale, is seeking an experienced and deeply relational educational leader to become our Dean of Pastoral Care, commencing 1 January 2027.

This is a significant leadership opportunity for someone who believes student wellbeing, belonging, behaviour, learning and character aren't separate conversations. They are all connected.

As Dean of Pastoral Care, you'll help shape the environment in which our Secondary students grow. You'll lead the College's approach to pastoral care, develop the people responsible for delivering it, and work alongside school leaders, teachers, families and specialist professionals to create a culture where students are both supported and challenged to become increasingly responsible for themselves and others.

You’ll join the College Leadership Team and have the opportunity to influence not simply how we respond when students struggle, but how we intentionally build a school culture that helps young people thrive.

The Opportunity to Shape Something

Great pastoral care doesn't begin with a policy or a behaviour incident. It begins much earlier.

It lives in the quality of relationships between students and adults, in whether expectations are clear, in whether teachers feel equipped to respond when something isn't right, in whether students experience belonging, and in whether our systems help us notice the young person who might otherwise quietly disappear into the crowd.

As Dean, you'll have the opportunity to bring those pieces together. You'll lead Year Managers and work closely with Counselling, Inclusive Education, Chaplaincy, teaching staff and College leadership to strengthen a coherent approach to student care. You'll also help our staff grow their own pastoral capability, because sustainable student wellbeing can't sit with one person or one department. It has to become part of how a community works.

What You’ll Be Leading

• Providing strategic leadership for pastoral care across the Secondary School.
• Developing and continually strengthening Carey's pastoral care framework, programs, practices and systems.
• Leading and developing Year Managers and other members of the pastoral and wellbeing team.
• Building staff capability through coaching, professional learning and practical support.
• Helping create consistent, relational approaches to student behaviour, attendance, engagement and wellbeing.
• Working alongside Counselling, Inclusive Education and other specialists to coordinate support around students with more complex needs.
• Supporting staff to understand what's happening beneath student behaviour while maintaining appropriate expectations and accountability.
• Partnering with families when students experience significant learning, wellbeing or behavioural challenges.
• Using student information, patterns and emerging issues to identify where preventative support may be needed.
• Creating meaningful opportunities for student voice, leadership, service and responsibility.
• Contributing to College leadership discussions and helping ensure student wellbeing remains connected to teaching, learning and the broader strategic direction of the school.
• Leading year-group experiences, parent engagement and significant pastoral initiatives across the Secondary School.

What You’ll Gain

• This is an opportunity to move beyond managing individual student matters and influence how an entire Secondary School thinks about pastoral care.
• You’ll have the scope to develop people, strengthen systems and shape culture. You'll work alongside senior educational leaders and multidisciplinary professionals, gaining exposure to complex decision-making across student wellbeing, learning, safeguarding, family engagement and school operations. You'll also have the opportunity to leave something behind. Not simply programs that ran while you were here, but stronger leaders, more capable staff and pastoral systems that continue helping students long after individual situations have passed.

What Matters Most

• We're looking for someone who can hold two things at the same time. High care and high expectations.
• You’ll understand that behaviour communicates something, but that understanding behaviour doesn't mean removing accountability. You'll know that supporting a young person sometimes means listening, sometimes means advocating, sometimes means setting a boundary, and sometimes means bringing the right people around the table because no single person has the whole picture. You'll be comfortable with complexity. You'll listen before concluding. You'll remain steady when situations become emotionally charged. And you'll help other adults develop the confidence and judgement to do the same.
• This isn't a role for someone who wants to personally solve every student problem. It's for a leader who can build a community increasingly capable of responding well.

What You Will Bring

• A committed Christian faith and the ability to actively contribute to the Christian ethos, mission and culture of Carey.
• Current registration with the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia.
• Significant teaching experience and demonstrated educational leadership capability.
• A sophisticated understanding of adolescent development and the social and emotional needs of young people.
• Experience leading pastoral care, student wellbeing, behaviour, year-level leadership or a closely related area.
• The ability to develop and lead other educators, including facilitating professional learning and building consistent practice.
• Strong relational judgement and the ability to navigate complex student and family situations with empathy, clarity and discretion.
• Demonstrated conflict resolution capability and confidence engaging in challenging conversations.
• The ability to collaborate effectively with school psychologists, counsellors, Inclusive Education professionals, teachers, leaders, families and external services.
• Strong organisational capability and the ability to move between strategic leadership and the realities of individual student situations.
• A willingness to question existing approaches, learn from evidence and continually strengthen how we support young people.

About Carey

Carey is a community of people who long to see a world transformed by the love of God. At our Forrestdale Campus, we are committed to providing a Christ-centred education where students are known, valued and encouraged to discover their unique strengths and purpose.

Our values of Kindness, Courage, Respect, Humility and Integrity shape everything we do. They guide how we lead, teach, support and serve one another, creating a culture where people are encouraged to grow professionally, contribute meaningfully and make a lasting difference in the lives of young people.

At Carey, pastoral care isn't an intervention that begins when a student reaches crisis. It is part of how we build relationships, create belonging, establish expectations and help young people develop the character and confidence to navigate life beyond school.