Pastoral Support Officer - Secondary School - Hillingdon

Start Date: As soon as possible
Contract: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: Paid to scale

Are you passionate about supporting young people and helping students overcome the personal, behavioural or organisational issues that can affect their education? A secondary school in Hillingdon is seeking a dedicated Pastoral Support Officer to join its student support team.

This is a practical role with a strong focus on student welfare, attendance, behaviour and engagement. You will work directly with students and alongside teachers, pastoral leaders, families and senior staff to provide appropriate support and ensure concerns are identified and addressed.

The school is looking for someone who can build trust with students without losing sight of professional boundaries and school expectations.

School Information

This is a well-established secondary school in Hillingdon serving students from a broad range of backgrounds. The school is committed to maintaining a safe and positive environment where students are encouraged to take responsibility for their behaviour, attendance and learning.

The pastoral team works closely with teaching staff to identify students who may require additional support. The school takes a proactive approach, aiming to address concerns before they develop into more significant barriers to learning.

The Pastoral Support Officer will therefore be involved in both preventative work and direct intervention. You may spend part of the day checking in with individual students and another part supporting a Head of Year with attendance or behaviour concerns.

Pastoral Support Officer - Key Responsibilities

Your responsibilities will include:

• Providing one-to-one pastoral support to identified students.

• Developing positive and professional relationships with pupils.

• Conducting regular student check-ins.

• Supporting students with attendance concerns.

• Monitoring students who are regularly late or absent.

• Supporting pupils returning after extended absence.

• Helping students improve organisation and school routines.

• Supporting behaviour interventions.

• Holding restorative conversations following incidents.

• Helping students understand school expectations.

• Supporting students who struggle to remain engaged in lessons.

• Maintaining accurate records of pastoral interventions.

• Recording agreed targets and reviewing progress.

• Communicating relevant information to teachers and pastoral leaders.

• Working closely with Heads of Year.

• Supporting student support meetings.

• Contacting parents and carers where appropriate.

• Contributing information to individual support plans.

• Monitoring agreed actions.

• Supporting transition for new or vulnerable students.

• Helping students access appropriate school-based support.

• Liaising with external professionals when directed by senior staff.

• Identifying concerns that may require safeguarding involvement.

• Escalating safeguarding issues promptly.

• Supporting school-wide attendance and behaviour initiatives.

• Contributing to the wider pastoral life of the school.

The role requires a flexible approach. Students will have different needs and will respond differently to support. You should therefore be able to adjust your communication style while remaining consistent with school expectations.

Building Relationships with Students

A successful Pastoral Support Officer needs to be someone students can approach.

You may work with pupils who are struggling with attendance, behaviour, confidence, organisation or their engagement with school. Your role will be to listen, provide appropriate guidance and help students identify practical steps they can take.

At the same time, you will need to maintain professional boundaries. You should not make promises you cannot keep or attempt to manage issues outside your responsibilities.

Attendance and Behaviour

Pastoral support will often overlap with attendance and behaviour.

You may be asked to monitor students with repeated lateness, poor attendance or behaviour concerns and work with them to identify achievable targets.

This could involve daily check-ins, behaviour targets, attendance monitoring or helping a student prepare for a difficult lesson or change in routine.

The emphasis should be on helping students make sustainable improvements rather than simply responding to individual incidents.

Working with Parents and Staff

You will communicate regularly with parents and carers. Some conversations may be straightforward, while others may involve concerns about attendance, behaviour or wellbeing.

The successful candidate should be able to communicate clearly and calmly, particularly when families may already be worried or frustrated.

You will also need to work closely with teaching staff and pastoral leaders. Accurate information sharing is essential, particularly where a student has an ongoing support plan.

Pastoral Support Officer - Experience and Requirements

The school would ideally like someone with previous experience working with young people.

This could include experience in a school, college, youth work, mentoring, pastoral support or another relevant environment.

Applicants should have:

• Experience supporting children or young people.

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

• Ability to build professional relationships with students.

• Confidence managing challenging conversations.

• Understanding of appropriate professional boundaries.

• Good organisation and record keeping.

• Ability to maintain confidentiality.

• Confidence communicating with parents and carers.

• Ability to work effectively with teachers and pastoral teams.

• Calm and patient approach.

• Good judgement.

• Ability to recognise when concerns require escalation.

• Basic IT skills.

• Commitment to inclusion and student wellbeing.

• Strong understanding of safeguarding.

Experience with school attendance, behaviour or pastoral systems would be advantageous.

Safeguarding

Safeguarding is central to pastoral work. Students may disclose information about their circumstances, and you must understand how to respond appropriately.

You will be expected to listen without making inappropriate promises, record concerns accurately and report them immediately through the school's safeguarding procedures.

Application

To apply for this Pastoral Support Officer position in Hillingdon, please send your CV as soon as possible. The school is keen to arrange interviews promptly and is looking for someone who can join the pastoral team for an ASAP start.