Pastoral and Cover Administrator

Provide efficient, proactive administrative and operational support for pastoral systems, cover and supply teacher allocation, behaviour interventions (including suspensions and reintegration), detentions and other forms of pastoral tracking as required, so that students are safe, in lessons and learning effectively. Act as the administrative link between pastoral teams, staff, parents/carers, and external agencies, ensuring accurate records and timely communication that support Whitstone's values of Ambition, Respect and Excellence., Cover and supply teacher management

• Allocate daily cover and short-term supply teachers using the school's cover system; keep up-to-date availability lists and ensure lessons are covered quickly and appropriately.
• Maintain and update the central cover timetable, daily staff absence log and supply bookings; liaise with teaching staff and SLT about urgent gaps.
• Track staff absence and oversee support for absent staff, as required.
• Coordinate supply agency bookings and reconcile timesheets/invoices with the Finance team.
• Provide daily cover briefing packs (on-site or digitally) for supply staff including lesson plans, seating plans, behaviour expectations and safeguarding information.
Pastoral administration and behaviour support
• Maintain accurate pastoral records in the school information system (SIMS) for behaviour incidents, sanctions, pastoral support plans, suspensions/exclusions and reintegration plans.
• Administer suspensions and fixed-term exclusions: prepare letters, log incidents according to statutory and school policy timelines, arrange work for excluded students and coordinate reintegration meetings.
• Track and report patterns of behaviour at individual, year-group and whole-school levels; provide weekly/monthly data summaries to Heads of Year and SLT to inform interventions.
• Support detention administration: schedule detentions, contact parents/carers, monitor completion and produce follow-up records.
Attendance & safeguarding support
• Work closely with the Attendance Officer and Compass Lead to log daily registers, monitor absence and behavioural trends and escalate persistent absence or safeguarding concerns promptly to DSL/Attendance Lead.
• Analyse and supply information about behavioural patterns to middle and senior leaders, informing, for example, the English or Maths lead of patterns of poor behaviour with a particular class//teacher, and supporting any intervention they plan
• Ensure all pastoral and cover records adhere to data protection and safeguarding requirements; pass urgent safeguarding concerns immediately to the Designated Safeguarding Lead.
Systems, communication & admin
• Act as first point of contact for supply staff and pastoral queries; maintain a clear, responsive school inbox/phone rota.
• Keep pastoral paperwork, reintegration documents, parental consent forms and agency paperwork up-to-date and filed both electronically and in line with the school's Records Management Policy.
• Produce management information for SLT: daily cover shortfalls, overseeing weekly behaviour dashboards, detention compliance and attendance trend reports.
• Support the Compass Lead to administer and track attendance initiatives, rewards and penalty notice referrals.
Student-facing & pastoral support
• Provide brief, empathetic one-to-one pastoral contacts where required (within boundaries of role and referral pathways).
• Support Heads of Year with transition arrangements, parent meetings and attendance/sanction follow-ups.
• Escort and supervise students as needed for reintegration meetings, internal isolation or awaiting collection after suspension.
Working pattern & environment
• Role requires early availability from 07:00 each day to manage pre-school cover tasks; these tasks may be scheduled flexibly and include home-based administrative work where appropriate and agreed.
  
  Proven experience of school or similar administrative systems; familiarity with cover management and MIS (SIMS) desirable.
• Strong organisational skills with ability to prioritise daily last-minute requests and manage competing deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, calm under pressure and able to liaise professionally with students, staff and parents.
• Confident with basic data analysis and producing concise MI reports.
• Good IT skills (MS Office, school MIS, email, online forms).
• Understanding of safeguarding requirements; willingness to undertake relevant training.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality, work with sensitivity and exercise professional judgement.
Person specification (desirable)
• Experience working in pastoral, attendance or cover roles in a school.
• Knowledge of exclusions and reintegration statutory processes.
• Experience of working with external agencies (e.g. social care).
• First aid training or mental health awareness training.
Safeguarding, inclusion and statutory duties
• Commitment to the school's vision (Ambition, Respect, Excellence) and to treating every student as valued.
• Adhere to Keeping Children Safe in Education statutory guidance and Whitstone School safeguarding procedures; immediate reporting of any safeguarding concerns to the DSL.
• Enhanced DBS clearance, right to work in UK and satisfactory references required.
  
  Hours: 35 hours per week, (30 minute unpaid lunch). Term time plus 5 additional days.
Must be available to start cover duty from 7am each day (flexible allocation of daily hours, some work may be completed remotely/home-based). Typical on site presence expected between 9am to 3pm (final pattern to be agreed). Start Date: 1st September, 2026 Salary Scale: Grade 14 £20,399 - £21,051 actual (FTE £25,185 - £25,989) Pay award pending.