Job Overview
The role of the Houseparent is to provide a safe, caring boarding environment that enriches the lives of the students in the care of the College.
Under the direction of the Head of Boarding and Senior Houseparents, Houseparents are responsible for the pastoral care, safeguarding, welfare, discipline, and day-to-day supervision of pupils within a boarding house. The role helps to create a safe, supportive, structured, and nurturing environment that promotes wellbeing, personal development, and academic success.
Houseparents must be flexible, able to prioritise and be prepared to carry out additional responsibilities and duties, as directed by the Senior Houseparents.
By nature of the role, the following list is not exhaustive but is a guideline as to the main requirements of the role. The Houseparent must be flexible, able to prioritise and be prepared to carry out reasonable tasks not necessarily covered within this Job Description.
All employees are committed to their own professional development and to continuous school improvement. As such, they will actively participate in the Professional Development & Appraisal (PDA) process.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
Pastoral Care & Student Welfare
- Provide high-quality pastoral care and emotional support to boarders.
- Foster a warm, inclusive, and supportive boarding environment.
- Build positive relationships with students and act as a trusted adult.
- Monitor students’ wellbeing, behaviour, and emotional development.
- Support students who are experiencing homesickness, anxiety, or personal difficulties.
- Encourage independence, resilience, and personal responsibility.
- Support unwell students, administering medications as per college policies, making sure that all medications are recorded and logged as per NICE guidelines
Boarding House Management
- Assist in the smooth running of the boarding house.
- Maintain routines, structure, and expectations.
- Ensure students adhere to rules and policies.
- Supervise evening routines and weekend activities.
- Conduct regular room checks and ensure standards of cleanliness.
Supervision
- Provide supervision during evenings, overnight, mornings and weekends, as per the duty rota.
- Manage behaviour in line with the Behaviour, Rewards & Sanctions Policy.
- Promote mutual respect and community standards within the house.
- Handle minor disciplinary issues and escalate serious concerns appropriately.
- Ensure a working knowledge of all college polices and how these impact students.
Communication & Liaison
- Maintain effective communication with parents, guardians, and staff.
- Liaise with colleagues, as required.
- Attend pastoral/boarding meetings as required and contribute to discussions.
- Keep accurate boarding records and incident logs.
Health & Wellbeing
- Support students’ physical health and wellbeing.
- Administer or oversee medication in line with school procedures.
- Respond appropriately to illness, accidents, or emergencies.
- Ensure pupils attend medical appointments where required.
Activities & Enrichment
- Organise or support evening and weekend activities, including off site activities and Enrichment Week activities.
- Encourage participation in school life, and co/super-curricular activities.
- Promote a positive boarding community atmosphere.
Administration
- Maintain accurate records, attendance registers, and reports.
- Administer leave requests in line with college policies.
- Ensure compliance with health and safety regulations.
- Support inspections and regulatory requirements with a working understanding of the NMS and KCSIE.
Typical Additional Responsibilities
- Overnight on-call duties or resident accommodation requirements.
- Participation in school events and open days.
- Holiday supervision or occasional travel duties.
- Support with arrivals, departures, and airport transfers.
- Contribute to school reports, as required.
- Attend INSET training days/events and any other calendared events where full staff attendance is required.
Health & Safety:
- Comply with all health and safety procedures as required by the college on all sites;
- Report any concerns, issues and near misses;
- Keep up to date with all relevant training;
- Act as a Fire Marshal if asked to do so and trained appropriately.
Safeguarding Responsibilities:
Cardiff Sixth Form College Cambridge is committed to its responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare or its students in line with government recommendations and policies. Due to this, all staff at the college have a responsibility for safeguarding and reporting any concerns regarding students to the DSL or a Deputy Safeguarding Lead. Your safeguarding responsibilities mean that you will need to:
- Demonstrate a commitment to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons in line with College Policy and procedure.
- Respond and deal with incidents in a sensitive, empathetic and supportive manner, reporting any incidents to the accommodation manager and pastoral team.
- Undertake initial and regular safeguarding training and be willing to undertake additional safeguarding training to enhance professional development.
- Maintain a strong understanding of safeguarding responsibilities.
- Ensure compliance with safeguarding policies and National Minimum Standards (NMS).
- Promote a safe environment for all.
Skills & Requirements:
Essential
- Experience working with children or young people, preferably in a boarding/residential environment.
- Strong pastoral and interpersonal skills.
- Strong communication and organisational ability.
- Understanding of safeguarding and child protection responsibilities.
- Ability to work flexibly, including evenings and weekends.
- IT competency.
Desirable
- Boarding school experience.
- Teaching, youth work, counselling, or residential care background.
- First Aid qualification.
- Experience in behaviour management.
- Qualifications relevant to the role.
Person Specification:
- Be adaptable and show good judgement;
- Be committed to continuing professional development;
- Have excellent organisational skills and an ability to complete task without supervision, whilst also functioning as part of a team and as a leader;
- Work effectively with other people by being self-aware, treating people equally and sensitively, whilst ensuring all aspects of confidentiality are maintained;
- Develop good working relationships with colleagues, working as part of the college and not just within boarding;
- Communicate clearly at all times;
- Maintain a strong working knowledge of all college policies and procedures, including local and national inspectorate requirements including NMS and ISI guidelines.
- Be self-aware; treating people equally and sensitively and respecting confidentiality, when appropriate
- Be an outstanding ambassador for Cardiff Sixth Form College Cambridge and Dukes Education.
Pay: £26,806.00 per year
Work Location: In person
