Work closely with the Student Support Coordinator and the Student Welfare Officers, expanding the provision of emotional wellbeing and mental health support for students, complying with relevant Safeguarding legislation and good practice.
Support Children in Care within the Virtual Schools Post 16 cohort of Year 12 &13’s, in order to make the best possible progress in learning, personal development and academic progress and achievement.
This role is 37 hours 40 weeks per year and is term time only. The salary advertised will be pro rata'd.
The following is an indication of the type and level of the main priorities expected of this role as directed by your line manager and is not intended to be a comprehensive list of duties or tasks:
1. Provide day-to-day welfare and pastoral support to students, including listening to and advising on personal issues, referring students to appropriate internal or external services where necessary, helping students access wellbeing and mental health support services, signposting to counselling, student support teams, or external agencies. This includes assisting with the maintenance of accurate student welfare records, including case notes.
2. Assist in safeguarding procedures, reporting any concerns related to student welfare to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL), and ensuring that safeguarding policies and procedures are followed.
3. Work with students facing barriers to learning (e.g., mental health, financial issues), providing tailored support where required.
4. Provide regular mentoring sessions for care experienced students, supporting learning and aspirations, monitoring progress in lessons, liaising with tutors, and identifying appropriate / additional support as required, including undertaking attendance checks in respect of punctuality and well-being.
5. Act as operational link with VSK Post 16 Educational Support Officer for each Kent / Medway child in care.
6. Understand the requirements of the Personal Educational Plan (PEP) and support the Post 16 Educational Support Officer with arranging these PEPs in a timely and purposeful fashion, ensuring the targets are “SMART” and tracking the achieving of them by students by the next PEP.
7. Attend the Personal Education Plan meetings alongside the allocated Welfare Officer and record discussion from the meeting on Kent Electronic Portal (EPEP) system and internal recording systems.
8. Build and maintain a working knowledge of each Child in Care within the cohort, recognising welfare and safeguarding concerns and flagging any concerns to the allocated College Welfare Officer.
9. Meet routinely with the College Care Experienced Coordinator and Virtual School Kent Education Support Officer to discuss progress, attainment and attendance.
To ensure compliance with safeguarding guidelines, all applicants must complete the application form in full. This includes providing:
- A full employment history from the time you left full-time education, with details of any gaps in employment explained.
- Information on all relevant education and qualifications.
Please note, incomplete applications will not be considered. Your co-operation helps us maintain the highest standards of safety and care for children and young people.
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A GOOD local College for Maidstone and Medway
Every year over 6000 students from Medway, Maidstone and beyond choose MidKent College to continue their studies and prepare for their future career.
Our sparkling campuses in Maidstone and Medway boast some of the best vocational training facilities in the country as well as staff and student social zones and more. Our University Centre Maidstone campus provides a valuable higher education and professional training centre for Maidstone, including South East Institute of Technology and the College's Home Energy Centre. Additionally, in September 2024 we proudly opened Medway School of Arts in Chatham's Historic Dockyard.
All of our campuses benefit from ongoing investment programmes so that we can provide fantastic learning environments for our students.
For over 100 years we've been providing high-quality technical training and apprenticeships in a range of subject areas.
In October 2024 Ofsted rated the College as 'Good'.
Commitment to Safeguarding
We are committed to the safeguarding of all our students and staff. This means everyone who works here is required to actively protect them from preventable harm. Our recruitment and selection process includes background checks which will be undertaken on the successful applicant, including an enhanced DBS, and in your application you are required to demonstrate how you meet the Colleges requirements on safeguarding.
The background checks will be carried-out in accordance with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice. The DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable people from working with vulnerable groups, including children. We operate in accordance with the DBS Code of Conduct and Privacy Policy. You can access both of these documents at https://www.midkent.ac.uk/about-us/policy-and-privacy-information
MidKent College is committed to safeguarding and the Prevent Agenda and to promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff to share this commitment. MKC complies fully with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Code of Practice regarding the correct handling, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure information, and undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a disclosure on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed.
Since the post for which you are applying may involve unsupervised access to children and vulnerable adults, it will be exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. It is an offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children or young people. Candidates who are preliminarily offered a position for such posts will be required to disclose details, cautions (including final warnings or reprimands), or convictions which are not "protected" as defined by the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020 or any other matters that may be relevant to their suitability to work for the College including sanctions relating to work with children in any country outside of the UK.
Please note that the College is unable to consider an application further if the candidate declines to complete the Disclosure form.
Commitment to Equal Opportunities
As a proud user of the disability confident scheme the College is committed to equal opportunities and celebrates the diversity of staff and students. As part of our commitment to the scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for a vacancy.
We welcome applications from anyone wishing to work flexibly and those considering a return to work from a career break.
