Job Description

We are supporting a values-led secondary school to appoint an experienced and compassionate Pastoral Manager. This role is permanent to begin immediately. 

This is a senior pastoral leadership role for someone who is passionate about helping young people overcome barriers to learning, achieve their full potential and thrive both academically and personally.

The role

As Pastoral Manager, you will lead the school’s pastoral provision, providing guidance and line management to Heads of Year and pastoral staff. You will oversee strategies that improve attendance, punctuality, behaviour, wellbeing and student achievement across the school.

You will work closely with senior leaders, families, external agencies and teaching staff to ensure students receive timely, effective and personalised support.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading, managing and developing Heads of Year and the wider pastoral team.
• Monitoring whole-school attendance, punctuality, behaviour and achievement data, identifying trends and implementing effective interventions.
• Developing and overseeing support plans for students with attendance, behaviour, safeguarding or wellbeing concerns.
• Supporting Heads of Year with high-risk students, behaviour plans, reports, reintegration and parent communication.
• Maintaining accurate pastoral, safeguarding, attendance and behaviour records using the school’s management information system.
• Leading on transition arrangements for students joining the school, including induction and summer school provision.
• Working in partnership with parents, carers, local services and external agencies to secure positive outcomes for students.
• Supporting safeguarding processes under the direction of the Designated Safeguarding Lead, including recording, reporting and multi-agency working.
• Overseeing pastoral systems, including tutor time, rewards, sanctions, student voice, anti-bullying activity and celebration assemblies.
• Coordinating careers information, advice and guidance provision, ensuring statutory requirements are met.
• Supporting the wider life of the school through assemblies, enrichment, trips, parents’ events, student supervision and occasional classroom cover.

The ideal candidate

You will be an established pastoral professional with experience of supporting young people and families in a secondary school setting. You will be an effective leader who can balance empathy with high expectations and use data, systems and relationships to bring about meaningful improvement.

You will have:

• GCSE English and Maths at grade 4/C or above.
• A relevant degree or diploma in counselling, social care, careers guidance or a related discipline.
• Relevant safeguarding and child protection training.
• First-aid training, or willingness to undertake this.
• Experience delivering pastoral, counselling or careers support within a secondary school.
• Experience leading and managing staff, workloads and pastoral systems.
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding, child protection, attendance and behaviour processes.
• Confidence using student data and management information systems to monitor performance and plan interventions.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to manage sensitive matters with professionalism, care and confidentiality.
• Resilience, sound judgement, strong organisational skills and a genuine commitment to improving young people’s lives.

MAT Recruitment is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All appointments are subject to relevant pre-employment checks, including an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.