Pastoral Support Assistant

St Albans Source: WhatJobs

£95-£120 per day

Pastoral Support Assistant - October Start St Albans, Hertfordshire | £95-£120 per day | Full-Time | Monday-Friday, 8:15am-3:30pm

Are you an experienced Teaching Assistant, HLTA, Behaviour Mentor or Learning Support professional looking for a rewarding new opportunity? Do you have the patience, confidence and behaviour management skills to support young people who may need a different approach to education?

Tradewind Recruitment is recruiting for a Pastoral Support Assistant to join a supportive specialist setting in St Albans from 5th October 2026.

This role would suit someone who enjoys building positive relationships with young people, encouraging engagement and helping pupils overcome barriers that may be affecting their education.

The Role

Working as part of a dedicated team, you will provide day-to-day pastoral and practical support to pupils, helping them feel settled, understood and ready to learn.

Your responsibilities will include:

Supporting pupils as they arrive and settle into the school day
Helping pupils transition successfully between lessons and activities
Encouraging positive behaviour, attendance and engagement
Providing one-to-one and small-group support when required
Helping pupils manage emotions and regulate their behaviour
Responding calmly and confidently to challenging situations
Using appropriate behaviour management and de-escalation strategies
Building positive relationships while maintaining clear boundaries
Identifying barriers to learning and helping pupils overcome them
Monitoring behaviour, engagement and general wellbeing
Working closely with teachers and other staff to ensure consistent support
Contributing to safeguarding and promoting pupil welfare

Who we're looking for

This opportunity would suit an experienced TA, HLTA, LSA, Behaviour Mentor or pastoral support professional who is confident working with young people who may display challenging behaviour or have additional needs.

You should be:

Calm, patient and resilient
Confident managing challenging behaviour
Able to build rapport and establish trust quickly
Consistent when setting boundaries and expectations
Encouraging and able to motivate reluctant learners
Flexible, proactive and confident using your initiative
A strong communicator and team player
Passionate about helping young people make positive progress
Experience supporting pupils with SEMH, SEND, challenging behaviour or other additional needs would be highly desirable

Primary Experience Welcome

You do not need extensive secondary-school experience to be considered.

The school would be particularly interested in hearing from experienced primary TAs and HLTAs with strong behaviour management and relationship-building skills.

The ability to adapt your approach to individual pupils is more important than simply having previous secondary experience.

About the Setting

The role is based within a specialist educational setting in St Albans, supporting young people aged 11-16 across KS3 and KS4
The setting works with pupils who have experienced difficulties accessing mainstream education
Pupils may present with SEMH needs, challenging behaviour, attendance difficulties or other barriers to learning
Small class groups allow staff to build strong relationships with individual pupils and provide a more personalised approach to support
This is an opportunity to use your existing education and behaviour management experience while developing valuable pastoral and specialist education experience