Learning Mentor - Sixth Form

Goffs Academy, Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, EN7 5QW

10 days remaining to apply

Start date details
Required for November 2024 or January 2025
Closing date
21 October 2024 at 9am
Date listed
7 October 2024

Job details

Job role: Other support roles
Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern: Full time
Contract type: Fixed term - 8 to 10 months
Full-time equivalent salary: £26,107 to £28,322

What skills and experience we're looking for

Job Description

Job Title:

Learning Mentor: Sixth Form

Fixed-term until August 2025, in the first instance

Grade:

H5 - £26,107 to £28,322 Actual salary range of £22,831 - £24,768 (inclusive of fringe)

Purpose of the Job:

To provide pastoral and mentoring support to Sixth Form students that enhances learning, attendance, motivation, participation and encourages students to reach their full potential.

Lead on the provision of high quality apprenticeship/work destination information and experiences for Sixth Form students.

Reports to:

Assistant Principal – Sixth Form

Staff Reporting to Job Holder:

None

Contacts within each School within the MAT:

All teaching and support staff, post-16 students

Contacts outside the MAT:

Parents of students, other schools, institutions and organisations, suppliers, UCAS

Mains Areas of Responsibility:

To maintain high visibility/profile with Sixth Form students throughout the school day, including through supervising independent study time to ensure this is being utilised effectively, and undertaking daily Sixth Form focused learning walks
To provide highly personalised coaching and mentoring to targeted Sixth Form students as agreed with the Sixth Form team
To support the monitoring of attendance of Sixth Form students, and work with targeted students (and their families) to encourage consistent attendance
To support the welfare, wellbeing and progress of Sixth Form students, offering additional 1-to-1 or small group sessions as appropriate, with targeted students
To liaise and meet with students, parents/carers and external agencies as required
To draw up and ensure success of individual action plans with specific targets for selected students, monitoring their implementation and impact
To feed back to staff at relevant meetings
To support Directors of Learning (DoLs) and senior link with Raising Achievement strategies
To analyse, interpret and effectively use student data to target students and support Directors of Learning/Senior link as appropriate
To monitor and review the effective use of independent study periods for targeted students. Monitoring will be via routine circulation of all Sixth Form areas and daily learning walks, undertaking your work in areas where students are working – private conversations aside - and regular mentoring conversations with students. This includes supporting Directors of Learning with following up any missed Study Plus or Personal Development lessons
To support key Sixth Form trips and events, including Into the Sixth evening
To support the Sixth Form Induction programme
To support targeted students through the university and college (UCAS) application period in liaison with DoLs
To encourage high levels of student participation in wider enrichment opportunities
Support with the development an Alumni Programme to fully support our community, helping student’s research destinations and supporting the provision of work experience links
Work effectively with relevant staff to develop partnerships with other schools, and/or Universities and employers, to support students academic development and preparation for life after 6th form
Make the most of extra opportunities offered to targeted students and promote additional support packages to support their chosen next steps. Monitor the impact this has and ensure that appropriate students take up the opportunities available to them
Develop a comprehensive programme of interview preparation and practice for students
Ensure good information, advice, guidance and support for targeted students throughout the Sixth Form, supporting aspirational destinations
Support targeted students in obtaining meaningful and relevant work experience placements
Organise key events relevant to the year group e.g Speakers Programme, Curriculum Enrichment Days, Career Preparation Workshops and undertake other duties commensurate with the post as directed by the Assistant Principal- Sixth Form
To attend fortnightly Vulnerable meetings with the Sixth Form team to discuss students of concern
To liaise with pastoral and teaching staff to monitor students on contract, and to ensure that appropriate paperwork is sent home to parents
To deal with enquiries from Sixth Form students and to direct them to the appropriate source of support within school
To keep accurate records of communications with students and parents, as per school systems
To be responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare and wellbeing of students
To support other members of the Sixth Form team in their absence, as appropriate
To perform other reasonable duties within scope of skills as directed by line manager

Knowledge, Experience and Training:

Microsoft Office Applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Publisher)
Knowledge/experience of working with Arbor
Full understanding of school events, activities and projects relevant to post
Ability to get on well with colleagues and to work under pressure
Ability to build positive supportive relationships with Sixth Form students
Confidentiality
Flexibility
Good organisational skills
Accuracy and attention to detail
To have a positive outlook regarding all aspects of the school
Evidence through DBS check and recruitment process of suitability for working with children

Working Environment:

Sixth Form office, Sixth Form Common Room, Sixth Form Silent Study Room, other relevant areas of the school

Additional Information:

The post holder will need to work effectively in a team whilst also being a self-starter and having high levels of individual motivation and positivity

Other Specific Duties:

To continue personal development as agreed at appraisal reviews
To engage actively in the appraisal review process
To address the appraisal targets set by the line manager each Autumn Term
To play a full part in the life of the school community, to support its distinctive aim and ethos and to encourage staff and students to follow this example
To support the school in meeting its legal requirements for worship
To promote actively the school’s corporate policies
To comply with the school’s Health and Safety policy and undertake risk assessments as appropriate
To show a record of excellent attendance and punctuality
To adhere to the school’s Dress Code
To undertake any other reasonable duty delegated by the Principal

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of the post, each individual task undertaken may not be identified.

Employees will be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a manager to undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this job description.

Employees are expected to be courteous to colleagues and provide a welcoming environment to visitors and telephone callers.

The school will endeavour to make any necessary reasonable adjustments to the job and the working environment to enable access to employment opportunities for disabled job applicants or continued employment for any employee who develops a disabling condition.

This job description is current at the date shown, but following consultation with you, may be changed by Governors to reflect or anticipate changes in the job which are commensurate with the salary and job title.

What the school offers its staff

Information about Goffs and the Generations Multi Academy Trust

Welcome to our information pack about Goffs and the Generations Multi Academy Trust. We are a mixed 11-18 comprehensive Academy with approximately 1,600 students on roll, including a thriving and successful Sixth Form. Our Academy is extremely popular in the local area, with an average of over 800 applications annually for the 240 places available, and significant waiting lists for places across the year groups. On intake our students are of a level of prior attainment significantly above that of the national average. We are, though, a true comprehensive school and welcome a mix of students of all levels of prior attainment.

The school has been awarded the International Schools Award twice, Investors in People status three times, and has Sportsmark Gold and Artsmark Silver. We also hold the Secondary Geography Quality Mark, as well as being a designated Leading Edge School, and chairing the national Leadership Partner School network.

Professional Working and Learning Environment

Our school was among those named as part of a £2billion Government scheme, the Priority Schools Building Programme. As a result, Goffs received a completely new build and facilities, and moved into them in January 2017. The school has further invested in an additional new building, which opened in April 2022, which includes 8 brand-new classrooms, as well as a state-of-the-art fitness centre run by Lifestyle Fitness, with whom we work in close partnership.

This significant investment of funds by the Department for Education is a further recognition of the outstanding work being undertaken by the school, and represents another fantastic opportunity for our community. Our school building provides a light, modern, professional and fit for purpose working environment for all.

The Generations Multi Academy Trust

GMAT is a cross-phase Multi Academy Trust based in Cheshunt, currently comprising two secondaries and one primary - Goffs, Goffs-Churchgate and Flamstead End School. It is our hope that a further primary, Andrews Lane School, will join our partnership from November 2024. Across the piece, GMAT currently has just under 3,000 students in its care and employs just under 400 staff. From Spring 2023, the MAT opened nursery provision on the Goffs-Churchgate site, with subsidised and term-time only places for staff. The nursery is run by Ashbourne Nurseries - https://ashbournedaynurseries.com/

The MAT is extremely clear about its daily purpose, reflected in its motto of “No Set Destiny for Any Child.” All of our schools, leaders and staff fiercely believe in the life-changing nature of education and work tirelessly to that end, day in and day out. There is no set destiny for any of the children in our care; rather, our daily work across the piece allows children to forge new futures and destinies.

Flamstead End School is a thriving primary school in Cheshunt with approximately 485 children on roll. It has a Preschool, 60-place nursery offering 30 hours provision and two classes per year group from Reception to Year 6. Flamstead End is a 'Therapeutic Thinking' school and seeks to understand and support children's behaviour so that they are able to learn and achieve to the best of their ability. The school is a tight knit community, with a well-established staff who care for one another and the children in their charge.

Goffs-Churchgate is a fully mixed comprehensive school for 11-16 year olds, with just over 600 students on roll. The school has rightly established a very strong reputation for both its academic outcomes and its close-knit, nurturing community, receiving over 600 applications for 120 places for 2024 admission. The decision to cap student numbers at 600 is entirely deliberate, enabling us to maintain a strong sense of community where everybody knows everybody else.

Goffs is a mixed 11-18 comprehensive Academy with approximately 1,600 students on roll, including a thriving and successful Sixth Form. The school is also extremely popular in the local area, with an average of over 800 applications annually for the 240 places available, and significant waiting lists for places across the year groups.

All of our schools enjoy extremely high levels of applications and are over-subscribed. The schools are within close proximity of each other and share many activities, including CPD for staff. One of the Trust’s fundamental principles is that no one school is in any way more important or successful than the other. As such, CPD and other events are rotated through schools in the Trust, with everyone learning from and sharing with each other. This collegiate and collaborative approach permeates our Trust.

Staff and students work in modern, professional environments, with all schools benefitting from recent building projects including a full, £20million rebuild at Goffs. The facilities provide light, modern, professional and a fit for purpose working environment for all.

Notwithstanding a highly challenging funding situation for schools generally, the MAT remains financially secure. Finances are overseen by a Chief Finance Officer with considerable financial expertise in the private sector. The Trust deliberately created an Income Generation function, and extensive lettings and business development work now takes place across all sites in the MAT. This additional income – now yielding in excess of £500k per annum – underpins generous levels of staffing at our schools, plus many “extras” that would otherwise be unaffordable in the current funding climate.

Our schools pride themselves on their sense of community – both within the school itself, and in the wider locality. Visitors to our schools unfailingly comment on a very real sense of community, coupled with warmth and pride. Our schools are members of Cheshunt Extended Services (ChExS), offering a variety of extended school and community-based activities for both students and parents. Our students actively support local charity work such as the Isabel Hospice and maintain strong links with our local primary schools.

Our schools are proud to be truly community-based schools, with students and staff from different religions and a number of languages spoken in each school. As a Trust we recognise and celebrate what makes us unique and different, and acknowledge that we are also part of one community. Our aim is for everybody to feel valued and respected and we strive hard to ensure we create a positive culture within the schools to enable this to happen.

We are looking forward to further widening our Trust and to working in partnership with both primary schools and further secondaries. Further information about GMAT can be found here: https://generationsmat.com/

Outcomes

Exam results in 2024 reflect another year of huge success for Goffs. The results reflect a 3 year upward trend and an impressive improvement on the excellent outcomes achieved across the headline measures last year.

GCSE highlights include:

Extremely strong progress scores across the headline measures with results considerably above the national average (Estimated progress 8 score: 0.24)
Particularly impressive outcomes in English and Maths; both subjects achieved a progress score significantly above the national average. English Language performed particularly strongly at grade 4+ and grade 5+ exceeding the national average of students achieving these grades by 20%. Maths performed particularly strongly at the top end with 28% of students achieving grade 7+. This is very comfortably above the national average of 17%.
72% of students achieved grade 4 or above in English and Maths (6% above the national average).
52% of students achieved grade 5 or above in English and Maths (6% above the national average).
21% of the GCSE grades were at grade 7 or above.
The percentage of students entering the full Ebacc was 64% which is significantly above the national average of 39%, and the Hertfordshire average of 47%.

At A-Level, continuing the upward trend of recent years, students achieved another excellent set of exam results, including an overall 100% pass rate. 64% of Year 13 students secured a university or college place to start in autumn 2024. The wide range of university or further education courses onto which students have progressed include Law, History, Geography, Maths, Finance, Physics and Biomedical Science, other students have gained places on fiercely competitive apprenticeships in areas such as Civil Engineering and within the NHS. Our Sixth Form has an excellent reputation in the local area, over the past three years the numbers of students applying to join our Sixth Form has continued to increase, such that we now have approximately 400 Sixth Formers within our school community.

Community

Goffs prides itself on its sense of community – both within the school itself, and in the wider locality. Visitors to our school unfailingly comment on a very real sense of community, coupled with warmth and pride. We are members of Cheshunt Extended Services (ChExS), offering a variety of extended school and community based activities for both students and parents. Our students actively support local charity work such as the Isabel Hospice and the Rainbow Trust, and maintain strong links with our local primary schools. In addition, our young Sports Leaders regularly work in primary schools. Goffs runs a ‘G-Involved’ Volunteering programme, where every Sixth Form student completes 20 hours volunteering during the course of the academic year. Students are rewarded through our annual Pride of Goffs Awards evening.

We firmly believe in every student feeling a strong sense of community and on entering the school, each student is placed in one of four Houses: Eagle, Falcon, Hawk and Phoenix. Each House is led by a team of student House Captains and has a clear sense of identity. Regular competitions and assemblies strengthen this sense of community. Each year the House Captains decide on a possible group of charities to support; students in every year then vote on their chosen school charity.Students within eachHouse then arrange a variety of fund raising events throughout the schoolyear. The House which raises the most money in the year for our school charity is awarded the Charity House Shield. Such work is indicative of Goffs students’ ability to empathise with the needs of others, and further develops their capacity to work successfully in a variety of social settings.

We regularly bring visitors from the community into school to work with students, and maintain strong links with our local secondary schools as a partner school in the Broxbourne Partnership. The school building is used for evening, weekend and holiday classes, providing opportunities for a diverse range of users including the Greek School, and local dance and sports groups.

The Goffs Student Leadership Academy actively encourages leadership development through a series of student led groups. We currently have students enrolled in the Leadership Academy from Year 7 to Year 13, with groups including:

Student Parliament
Community and Charity Leaders
House Leaders
Sports Leaders
Top Team

The student groupseach have a member of Student Parliament who is responsible for coordinating the group and their projects. Students regularly report back on theirwork and theimpact that it is havingboth in and outside our school community.

A variety of annual school trips give students the opportunities to sample different cultures, whilst an extensive programme of off-site visits provides opportunities for students to experience the diversity that exists within the UK including theatre, galleries and museum visits. Our overseas trips have included Germany, Spain, USA, Czech Republic, Paris, Berlin and Reykjavik, in addition to a student exchange with a school in Beijing, and annual ski trips to countries such as Italy, Andorra or Austria. In addition, we regularly host students from Spain as part of our specialism work.

Goffs is proud to be a truly comprehensive school, with students and staff from different religions and a number of languages spoken in the school. We recognise and celebrate what makes us unique and different, and acknowledge that we are also part of one community. Our aim is for everybody to feel valued and respected and we strive hard to ensure we create a positive culture within the school to enable this to happen.

Care, Guidance and Support

Successful learning takes place when students feel safe, confident, respected and valued, and are engaged. Goffs believes in supporting and nurturing all students in their quest to become successful learners. As such, we place a high value on pastoral care as an integral part of the life of the school.

We promote positive attitudes towards learning and provide a caring and supportive environment within our community. We were delighted to see Ofsted’s comments that “students’ behaviour and attitudes are outstanding” and that “students feel very safe, because bullying is extremely rare and they are very confident that any incidents that concern them will be dealt with swiftly and effectively.” Continuously nurturing, supporting and developing our students is hugely important to us and significant investment is made in the school’s pastoral structures, including our investing in dedicated Learning Mentors for the school.

Staff Development

The Trust has an extremely strong reputation for staff development, for both teaching and support staff. Developing the next generation of school leaders, both middle and senior, plus future Headteachers for those who wish to pursue this, is a responsibility that we take very seriously. We have a full suite of staff leadership development which staff can join be they an ECT or highly experienced colleague.

In addition to whole staff training days, we disaggregate a number of hours for training every year. This allows staff development to be highly personalised as staff can opt for the training which best meets their needs, including the opportunity to do a research project in partnership with Cambridge University. Many use their disaggregated time to coach others or to receive coaching. Moreover, there are specific training sessions for ECTs and other interested staff which run each week after school.

We also place a lot of emphasis on ‘on the job’ training and support. A thorough induction scheme is available to all new staff, and mentors/buddies are assigned to guide you through those new routines. Finally, external courses can of course be booked if, on very rare occasions, we cannot cater for a particular training need in house.

Leadership Development

The Trust’s Leadership Academy encompasses both staff and student leadership development through a series of student led groups and staff leadership pathways. The staff programme specifically provides opportunities for:

Aspiring Middle Leaders
Aspiring Senior Leaders

All pathways are personalised for the individual and staff receive one to one support from a mentor alongside working on a whole school project. Both support staff and teaching staff are welcome to join the Leadership Academy at any point in their career.

A full suite of leadership training is offered with a range of sessions including:

Communicating vision and values
Developing your leadership approach
Building a high performing team
Supporting your team
Leading your team day to day
Quality assuring effective teaching
Observation for improvement
Using data for impact
Fostering positive behaviour for learning
Leading and managing innovation and change

Attendance to all training sessions leads to certification by the SSAT. In addition, we encourage aspirant Senior Leaders to take part in the SSAT ‘Stepping Up to Senior Leadership’ training programme, which includes four external sessions throughout the year. As part of the Trust’s commitment to developing future leaders, a number of the existing Senior Leadership Team across both secondary schools gained experience through an ‘Associate’ SLT position before gaining substantive leadership posts.

Staff Benefits

Alongside our very strong focus on outstanding professional development and promotion opportunities, we also offer a range of benefits including:

Competitive base salary with a tailor made development plan aimed at enhancing your future [earnings] potential through:

High quality, personalised CPD
Bespoke leadership development programmes
Subsidies for Masters and Degree courses
Secondment and shadowing opportunities
As part of our Multi Academy Trust, “Generations”, potential to work across more than one school to develop career enhancing skills and knowledge.
Supported Nursery provision with Ashbourne at any of their nurseries in the Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire, and Bedfordshire area:

15% discount for all Trust staff
Term time only places are available.
A school day would be 9.00am – 3.00pm
“Sundries” would be applied to a child taking up a funded only space (e.g. 30 hours funding only). This covers the cost of: meals, snacks, nursery resources

All staff have access to a wide range of health and wellbeing resources which includes an Employee Assistance Programme via Spectrum.Life who offer a wide range of health and wellbeing resources, plus access to counselling for staff and their immediate family. The EAP service is accessible 24/7, 365 days a year and is a completely free and confidential service
The MAT adheres to the STPCD for its teaching staff
Cycle to work scheme
Onsite car valeting at a reduced price for Trust staff
Substantially discounted membership to Lifestyle Fitness’s state of the art purpose built gym, at Goffs Academy

Additional financial incentives and tax efficient benefits, including:

Exam marker payment of £400 plus 2 days paid leave to do the marking (1styear)
Payments for staff taking weekend sporting fixtures: staff paid £200 for leading a minimum of six Saturday fixtures plus 6 weekly training sessions.
A daily allowance of £50 for school trips taken over a weekend or any school holiday.
A £1,000 Employee Referral Scheme (i.e. finder’s fee) for anyqualifying positionsthat you refer the successful candidate for: £500 on the person starting, and £500 if the person is still at the school 12 months later.

Access to a wide range of health and well-being resources including:

New, professional, and fit for purpose working environments
Free use of a range of sports and leisure facilities including a fully equipped gym and swimming pool.
Occupational Health & counselling support
Free flu jabs
Subsidised social events
Free tea, coffee, and milk for staff

Mark Ellis

Principal

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.

Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.

Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children

You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.