Pastoral Support Officer and Sixth Form Administrator

A lovely secondary school where the students say, “Good Morning”, and actually mean it. Check out our school via our video.

“I am passionate about three things:

1. Leading staff to become happy, successful, highly trained professionals who stay in the game and don’t burn out or lose their way.
2. Creating a fulfilling secondary experience for students where they can grow to become well-rounded, ambitious and successful young adults ready to put a ding in the universe.
3. My life outside work.

Being great at number 1 and number 2 should not mean we can’t do number 3!”

- George McMillan, Executive Principal and National Leader of Education.

We are an 11-18 academy with a thriving Sixth Form and a lovely building. It is a school where we are as passionate about developing our staff as we are about developing our students.

Our location just outside the M25 means we attract staff not only from Essex but from London. Indeed, over half our staff live in Kent/Surrey/South East and Central London. Some of our team even travel from West London because they like the school so much.

Our role here is to help students and staff dream bigger than they ever thought possible, and to make that dream come true through our culture of “work hard, be kind, take responsibility” which beats at the heart of our school.

The Executive Principal is George McMillan. Originally from Glasgow, he graduated from the University of Aberdeen with an MA (hons) degree in English Literature and a burning desire to teach. After teaching in Edinburgh, then moving to senior management in Chafford (Essex), George took over Harris Academy Greenwich in 2011 and led its transformation to hitting the top 15% of schools in the country for progress 7 years in a row. Harris Greenwich is one of only a handful of schools in London to retain its Outstanding status (2014 then 2022) under the new Ofsted framework, and the World Class School status twice in a row.

The Principal is Ms Jo Rainey. Originally from Belfast, she graduated from the University of Ulster with a first class degree in History and Geography. Over the past 21 years, she has taught history and led in schools across London and Essex with most of her senior leadership career being spent in Hackney. Jo has been Principal at Ockendon since 2018. She is highly respected for her strong sense of integrity, her passion for student life chances, and loyalty to the school.

The Harris Federation is a highly successful group of schools who serve many of the most deprived areas of London and Essex. We are collaborative, enterprising and share a passion for turning lives around, yet each school is autonomous and free to set its own vision and strategy for how it does that.

Each Harris school feels completely different in terms of culture and ethos. Perhaps this is the school you’ve been looking for.

The majority of your role will be supporting students with their pastoral and academic challenges through mentoring, coaching and liaising with other staff.

In your role you will:

• Induct students into the operational systems of the school
• Identify those children who would benefit most from academic mentoring and, working with others, to ensure the support is in place
• Support the Head of Sixth Form in achieving the target attendance for the year groups by creating and implementing strategies aimed to improve attendance, punctuality for all students, particularly those with an attendance below 96%
• Respond rapidly to students with persistent absence and implement appropriate strategies and interventions
• Support the Head of Sixth Form / Achievement Leader with rewarding and celebrating the success of students publicly, in assemblies and planning celebration events. This includes communicating this success with families
• Incidents: Support all staff and students with investigating incidents, finding solutions to build positive relationships and communicating and meeting with families
• Contribute to the Sixth Form enrichment programme
• Support students and families explore the next steps in their child’s education e.g. UCAS applications, internships and apprenticeships
• Work closely with the DSL and relevant agencies to support Child Protection and Safeguarding the children in the Year Groups
• Facilitate the sharing of information between school staff and partner agencies
• Provide administrative support to the Head of Sixth Form e.g. Admissions, recruitment and results days
• Comply with all relevant legislation and school policies and procedures
• Be committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people
• Engage with, and participate in, any relevant whole Academy CPD
• Engage with, and participate in, the Academy’s Performance Management process

The successful candidate will:

• Enjoy working with teenagers and helping them succeed
• Believe in our shared values: work hard, be kind, take responsibility
• Understand the importance of high expectations and equality of access for all students
• Be able to work as part of a team and to develop and maintain positive relationships with all staff
• Be able to create a motivating and safe learning environment for all students
• Be able to communicate positively with parents, carers and other external agencies where necessary
• Have good written and spoken communication skills
• Be able to lead and manage your own work effectively
• Be able to motivate students and raise their aspirations through a range of strategies

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.