Pastoral lead

[fleapriest]

I've just applied for a role as assistant pastoral manager in a secondary. I currently work part time as a dsl in a primary.

Would I be mad to be considering this? It's full time, and I have two primary aged children and one secondary.

Realistically what would my working hours be, I'm thinking 8-4, or am I being optimistic with this?
In any current role I hardly ever have to work late or bring work home, as anyone got experience of this type of role?

Pastoral stuff is never ending. With all the safeguarding meetings etc. I wouldn't want to do it

Teaching or non teaching?

Non teaching role

Oh, OK. I actually think it is unlikely you will work outside those hours.

All our non teaching pastoral staff come in about 8 and leave at 4. They take no work (other than their worries!) home with them. Their contracts tend to mean they can't work beyond contracted hours or can build up overtime or TOIL.

The ones I know love their jobs. Pay is often rubbish!

Thank you for replying, so thats reassuring to hear. I know I'll be expected at parents evening and presentation evenings but that's fine. I didn't want to end up in a role where I'd left the house at 7am and wasn't home until 6pm.
Money isn't great but it would be a good stepping stone

I'm in by 7.30 (for an 8am start) and despite my contract saying I finish at 4 I can't remember ever leaving at 4. More often 5, 6pm. Plus evening work.

But I love the job...

I left my role as PM last year. It was in a secondary school and myself and other pastoral staff were treated horrendously by certain SLT. We were looked down upon. I’ve since moved to further education and the culture is much different. We are all from pastoral secondary environments and we have all had similar experiences. We all feel much more valued now.

The kids were great though. I miss them. Good luck.

I'm a Pastoral Manager and DSL in a secondary school. Officially, my working hours are 8-4. I generally get into school for 7.30 and leave around 4.30/5ish. I don't usually take work home with me during the week but I do have to catch up on admin at weekends regularly. I am on a term-time only contract but I usually end up doing quite a bit of work over the holidays. I love my job and certainly haven't felt 'looked down on' like pp have stated. I know that my colleagues, and LT in particular really value the work that I do. I have a lot of autonomy in my role and have been able to implement a lot of positive changes. I think making sure it's the right school for you is absolutely key- it would be a nightmare trying to fulfill this role in an organisation where you didn't feel supported.

@welcometohell

Agreed, in the right school it would be amazing, and I’m not saying those schools don’t exist. Me and my colleagues have had similar experiences from secondary, and now feel much more supported and valued in FE. That’s just our experience though. If we were valued like you are, we would have stayed.

Hello. I'm a full time DSL/Pastoral lead. I work 8-4ish and only stay late once a week for SLT meetings. However I do check my emails at weekends and evenings and deal with issues as they come up, not often but every few weeks. It can be very draining and an intense job but I love it. Ask any questions, I'm happy to help.

Oh and I definitely feel valued. There are times when I need to work late and I do work in the holidays too (CP meetings etc still need attending).