Pastoral Mentor

Full Job Description

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Job Title:  Pastoral Mentor
Location:  Manor House School, Slinfold, Horsham, RH13 0QX
Hours:      40 hours per week | Monday to Friday
Salary:      £26,680 per annum (depending on experience, not pro rata)
Contract:  Permanent | Term Time Only
Start:        October 2026
UK applicants only – no sponsorship available

About the Role

As a Pastoral Support professional, you’ll play a vital role in helping pupils with Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) needs feel safe, understood and ready to succeed.

Using a trauma-informed, relational and therapeutic approach, you’ll provide tailored pastoral support, mentor pupils with individual support plans and help those following personalised inclusion timetables. You’ll also build strong, trusting relationships with families, including supporting home visits where needed.

Your work will be key to promoting emotional wellbeing, strengthening engagement in learning and supporting positive behaviour through understanding, consistency and meaningful relationships. Most importantly, you’ll help pupils recognise their strengths, build confidence and develop the skills they need to achieve their full potential.

Key Responsibilities

• Build trusting, consistent and therapeutic relationships with pupils, helping them feel safe, understood and supported.
• Act as a key adult for identified pupils, providing daily emotional support, mentoring and advocacy.
• Deliver targeted interventions that develop emotional regulation, resilience, self-esteem, social skills and wellbeing.
• Plan, deliver and evaluate bespoke interventions for pupils with individual support plans, ensuring support is tailored to their needs and goals.
• Monitor pupil progress, regularly reviewing targets and adapting support to reflect changing needs.
• Work closely with families, teachers, therapists and external professionals to provide a consistent, joined-up approach.
• Maintain accurate records of interventions, engagement, progress and agreed next steps.
• Contribute to support plan review meetings, sharing evidence of impact and making recommendations for ongoing support.

About You

• A positive and patient approach to behaviour support and relationship building.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively as part of a multidisciplinary team.
• The ability to remain calm and adaptable in a fast-paced environment.
• GCSE in English and Maths, or equivalent
• A genuine desire to make a positive difference to the lives of children and young people.

About Us

Manor House School is an independent co-educational school for pupils with social, emotional, and mental health needs. We provide a small, supportive environment where personalised learning helps pupils rebuild confidence and engage with education. Our dedicated staff foster positive relationships, emotional wellbeing, and a calm, nurturing atmosphere. Through tailored support and a broad curriculum, we empower pupils to achieve success and prepare for life beyond school.

Acorn Education offers rewarding careers and meaningful challenges while making a real difference in young people’s lives. As a leading UK provider of specialist education for children and young people with special educational needs, and part of Outcomes First Group, we deliver innovative, evidence-based approaches that support measurable progress and lasting impact.

We are really proud to say that in 2025 Outcomes First Group were officially certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’ for the sixth year running.

Why Join Us?

We place pupils and vulnerable young adults at the heart of everything we do, so every day brings the satisfaction of making a real difference. We are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and young people. All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful applicants to a fully enhanced DBS.

• Life Assurance
• Pension scheme with options to increase contributions
• “Your Wellbeing Matters” – mental health support and physical health checks
• Flexible Benefits Platform (Vista), including:
  • Health, wellbeing and insurance benefits
  • Hundreds of UK and international discounts
  • Cycle to Work Scheme & Electric Car Purchase Scheme
  • Critical illness cover
  • Family Growth Support, including enhanced maternity/paternity leave and paid fertility treatment support

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

Outcomes First Group is committed to carrying out a fair, thorough and efficient recruitment process in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education. Whilst we aim to keep applicants informed throughout, Outcomes First Group does not accept liability for any loss of earnings or other associated costs incurred by applicants as a result of delays or changes in the compliance process. All stages of the compliance process are subject to necessary safeguarding checks and compliance with statutory requirements, which may affect timescales.

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