Pastoral Support Mentor

Our Lady's Catholic High School is a highly successful oversubscribed 11-16 mixed High School of 900 pupils serving mainly the Catholic community in the north of Preston. We have an excellent reputation and are consistently ranked as a high performing school. We place an emphasis on helping each child reach their full potential and provide a safe, loving environment where our pupils can grow and develop to become One of Ours. Behaviour and relationships in our school are very strong and all teachers use our highly respected and successful system for managing behaviour and relationships called 'Behaviour 4 Learning'. This is supported by a sophisticated system for rewarding pupils for being fit to learn and for commitment to school life. An exciting opportunity has now arisen for the position of Pastoral Support Mentor to work directly with pupils to provide mentoring and/or support to overcome particular obstacles to learning in relation to behaviour or attendance; liaise with teaching staff to assess and provide support to targeted pupils to raise achievement and; identify the needs and assess those pupils requiring extra support and support the development of individual action plans., Our catchment has remained very stable for many, many years. In recent years we have been very heavily oversubscribed with around 240 first place choices for our 180 places and well over 700 applications overall. We therefore have a wonderfully diverse population with strong numbers of Muslim, Hindu and Sikh pupils and a variety of other Christian faiths. Our percentage of baptised Catholics is about 79%. None of our families ask for their children to opt out of any of our collective worship programme as they are all 'One of ours'. There is no academic selection of any kind nor social selection based on number of church attendances. Some of our wards are affluent and others are very disadvantaged indeed. We serve the absolute range of society with our overall population skewed slightly to more advantaged.,

• Liaise with teaching staff to assess and provide particular support to targeted pupils to raise achievement and
enable them to overcome barriers to learning
• Identify the needs and assess those pupils requiring extra support and support the development of individual
action plans for targeted pupils
• Work in a one-to-one relationship with targeted pupils to implement an action plan
• Assist in resolving relationship issues between pupils
• Work with parents / carers to help address poor performance/attendance/behaviour
• Undertake home visits to keep parents/carers informed and secure positive family support
• Monitor the implementation of plans and report on progress achieved, support the re-integration of pupils
excluded from school or following an alternative timetable
• Oversee the induction and support packages for new pupils to integrate them into school
• Support CLA in the year group through attending statutory meetings
• Provide extra support to pupils through knowledge of a range of activities and opportunities available to them
• Support pupil access to out of school facilities and study support through signposting activities
• Support the development of partnerships with external agencies/organisations to set up resources/initiatives
to help address barriers to learning
• Maintain accurate pupil records and prepare written reports and evaluations
• To work within school policies and procedures, Supervise pupils excluded from class or those following alternative timetables
• Contribute to the development of activities to encourage family involvement in the school
To support the school and its wider community:
• To play a full part in the life of the school community, to support its distinctive mission and Catholic ethos and
to encourage and ensure staff and students to follow this example.
• To assist in providing an atmosphere in which effective learning can take place.
• To support the promotion of positive relationships with parents, carers and outside agencies.
• To work within school policies and procedures.
• Demonstrate an awareness of confidentiality and abide by confidentiality requirements in relation to duties
undertaken in the role.
• To attend staff training as appropriate.
• To take care of their own and other people's health and safety.
• To be aware of the confidential nature of issues related to home/pupil/teacher/school work.
  
  The successful candidate will need to possess excellent written and oral communication skills and be a strong
team player and must have 5 A
• - C GCSE's including Mathematics and English or equivalent and have experience
of working with or caring for children of a relevant age., GCSE English Language and Maths Grade C or above (or equivalent)
• A
NVQ level 2 or above qualification -appropriate to the post (or equivalent)
• A
Skills, Knowledge and Experience and Abilities Experience of working with or caring for children of relevant age
• A, I, R
Experience of working in a relevant classroom/service environment
• A, I
Experience of administrative work
• A, I
Experience of supporting pupils with challenging behaviour
• A, I, R
Ability to relate to children
• A, I, R
Ability to supervise and assist pupils
• A, I
Ability to work in a team
• A, I
High standard of written communication
• A, I
Excellent organisational skills
• A, I
Time management skills
• A, I
Knowledge of classroom roles and responsibilities
• A, I
Good numeracy and literacy skills
• A
Ability to effectively use school IT systems including Microsoft Office
• A, I
Ability to maintain professional working relationships with staff in school and outside
• A, I
organisations. Ability to maintain a positive caring relationship with pupils, parents, outside agencies
• A, I
and visitors to the school. Ability to work calmly under pressure and have the ability to adapt quickly and effectively
• A, I
to changing circumstances/situations Ability to address sensitive matters whilst maintaining confidentiality at all times.
• A, I
Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, written and oral.
• A, I
Able to use initiative and work independently.
• A, I
Ability to drive
• I, Commitment to supporting the Catholic ethos of the school A, I
Commitment to Health & Safety
• A, I
Commitment to safeguarding and protecting the welfare of children and young people.
• A, I
Ability to demonstrate a commitment to Equal Opportunity policies in practical terms in
• , I
the context of service delivery, employment issues and a commitment to customer care Empathy and sensitivity to the needs of others
• A, I
Highly developed interpersonal skills including influencing skills
• A, I
Willingness to constructively challenge the work of self and others to continually
• A, I
improve own and team performance Acts with integrity, honesty, loyalty and fairness
• A, I
Able to use judgement to deal with daily, unforeseen problems with limited guidance,
• A, I
within established procedures Organised and confident
• A, I
Has a positive, flexible attitude to their work
• A, I
Willing to attend training / meetings as required
• A, I
Positive recommendation from all referees, including current employer
• R
Has a good attendance and punctuality record
• R
Be a positive role model at all times and a highly respected representative of Our Lady's
• A, I
Willing to participate in the life of the school and contribute to the extra-curricular
• A, I
programme

Our Lady's Catholic High School is a highly successful, oversubscribed, 11-16 mixed High School of 900 pupils serving mainly the Catholic community in the north and west of Preston. As a Voluntary Aided high school, we are part of the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster. The Rt Rev. Paul Swarbrick is our Bishop. History of Our Lady's Catholic High School Our school was founded in 1988 as the result of a lengthy consultation process within the Diocese of Lancaster. The then five Catholic secondary schools were reduced to three. The two schools which amalgamated to form Our Lady's were: St Edmund Campion in Lea and St Cuthbert Mayne, which already occupied the current site of Our Lady's in Fulwood. Our school's identity is very much defined by the parishes and the ten primary schools which form our family, and these have ensured a clear continuity from the two former high schools. Our Ethos and Mission Our Lady's is first and foremost a Catholic School. It follows from this that the ethos of our school should reflect the values proclaimed by Christ in the Gospels and recognises the unique value of each individual. Our Mission is to be a Faith Community which, through following Gospel Principles, acts as a positive example, both within our own and our extended community. Core Principles Everyone at Our Lady's has the right to: Develop their faith in a supportive context At Our Lady's this means we remain true to the teachings of the Holy Catholic Church while respecting the traditions of all faiths. We look to support all people in developing a love of God and their fellow people both within and outside of our school community. Work and learn to the best of their abilities At Our Lady's this means that pupils should be well prepared for lessons by bringing the correct books and equipment. In class pupils should help others to learn by trying hard, listening well and being aware of the learning needs of others. Staff should be well prepared by planning appropriate, challenging lessons and providing regular feedback on progress. Everyone should value their gifts given by God and contribute to the life of our school. Be treated with respect at all times At Our Lady's this means that we should speak in a way that supports others and helps each individual to grow and feel a welcome part of our school community. Opportunities, help and support will be given to all pupils and staff regardless of their gender, faith, race or background. Feel safe At Our Lady's this means that disagreement should always be resolved through discussion. The behaviour of everyone should contribute toward creating a calm and peaceful community. People who have worries about bullying behaviour should be taken seriously, their concerns investigated and appropriate action taken. Everyone should look out for others and report any concerns., Catholic Teaching Alliance In 2014 we were awarded the status of National Teaching School. Our plan was to create the Catholic Teaching Alliance (CTA), an association of Catholic schools, mostly within the Diocese of Lancaster, where the Catholic teachers and educational leaders of the future are trained. In part, this was a response to one of our objectives from our 2012 Ofsted report which was to 'Share more widely outstanding practice evident in school, for the benefit of students and teachers, including the use of digital history to aid learning.' It was also an expression of our belief in working in partnership with other schools for the greater good of Catholic education and to develop succession planning. The core business of the CTA is initial teacher training which we do in partnership with the University of Cumbria. The CTA base is here at Our Lady's in the Training Centre, a bespoke building from which both administration and many taught elements take place. To date we have trained approaching 250 people as potential teachers within our Catholic schools. In 2021 the government changed the Teaching School system to one that is led by far fewer Teaching School Hubs. We did not meet the criteria to apply as our Ebacc figure was too low. We are therefore no longer a Teaching School as of September 2021, but the work of the CTA continues with strength through ITT (Initial Teacher Training). Abacus Maths Hub In 2018, following a competitive selection process, we became a pilot Maths Hub school with a view to becoming a lead school of a Maths Hub two years later. At the end of the first year of the pilot we were asked to become the joint lead school with Cardinal Newman School and so was created the Maths Hub, Abacus North West, which serves over 600 schools. Cardinal Newman School is the outstanding Catholic VI Form school in Preston and the significant majority of our pupils' progress there. Behaviour & Relationships We are very proactive about bullying and discrimination of any kind. We teach about such matters in our Personal Development programme; we research regularly with our pupils and staff to discover instances and we deal robustly with all examples. Behaviour and relationships in our school are outstanding. Our teachers use our highly respected and successful system for managing behaviour and relationships called, 'Behaviour 4 Learning'. This is supported by a sophisticated system for rewarding pupils for being fit to learn and for commitment to school life. Our reward system is valued greatly as exemplified by how our pupils, from years 7 to 11, all wear their badges every day on their school jumper with pride. Our uniform is simple, affordable and is worn consistently by everyone. When you put on our uniform, you put on our school, because you are One of Ours. "Behaviour is consistently outstanding"

This position is for 27.67 hours per week, term time only, with working times 8.50am to 3.10pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and 8.50am to 14.55pm on a Tuesday. If successful, the salary received based on the hours and weeks specified will be between £16,428 and £19,346 per annum (plus pay award pending).