Mealtime Assistant

St James Church of England Primary and Nursery School, Okehampton, Devon, EX20 1GJ

7 days remaining to apply

Start date details
ASAP
Closing date
17 October 2025 at 1pm
Date listed
6 October 2025

Job details

Job role: Other support roles
Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern: Part time
Contract type: Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary: £4,318.00 Annually (Actual) NJC Grade B3 (7.5 hours per week for 38 weeks per year)

Mealtime Assistant job summary

St James is a growing school that opened in September 2018 for reception aged children. We will eventually have 420 pupils when we reach our capacity. We have a Nursery that currently caters for 2, 3 and 4 year olds. We are an inclusive Church of England school that seeks new and creative ways of engaging children in learning experiences. We provide a broad and balanced curriculum aimed at developing a lifelong love of learning which will allow children to flourish.

We are looking to recruit a Mealtime Assistant to ensure that the lunchtime supervision of children is adequately covered. The successful applicant will need to supervise, assist and encourage the children with the daily meals and undertake playground duty promoting positive relationships and play.

Our Trust comprises of 19 schools, 3 Colleges, 15 Primaries, and one All Through SEMH Special school. Established in 2018. We are situated in beautiful Devon on the out the outskirts of the stunning Dartmoor National Park. The schools vary in size and are all unique. Our schools are a large part of their local communities, and we value those relationships with families and locals.

The Trust was created to enable schools and staff to work closely together in providing the best education possible for our children. We achieve this through meaningful collaboration both within our schools and beyond our Trust to ensure schools are able to secure and sustain improvement.

Our work is built on our shared values and an unwavering belief that education improves the life chances for the children in our care. We aim for everyone in our organisation, staff and children, to be the best they can be and are relentless in our ambition to achieve this. We want our children to look back on their school experience with a sense of achievement and joy and we provide a wealth of additional curriculum experiences to enrich their learning.

We care deeply about the children in our schools and work with kindness, compassion, manners and respect. By modelling and expecting these behaviours from our children, we aim to grow future citizens who will positively contribute to society, creating a brighter future for our world.

Our vision and values are what we build our schools upon, with Ambition, Co-operation & Transformation being at the heart.

As an established Trust, DMAT can offer a wide range of benefits for our employees:

Cycle to work scheme
Tech Scheme
Eyecare Vouchers
Access to Discounts
CPD opportunities
Extensive Health & Wellbeing Package
Long Service Days
On site Parking - In some locations
Excellent Training Package
Employee Recognition Scheme

Why choose DMAT?

DMAT are an inclusive and forward-looking trust, who seek to nurture our children and employees to be the best they can be.

The attached job description is not a comprehensive definition of the post but gives a good idea of what your duties will entail. Discussions will take place on a regular basis to clarify individual responsibilities within the general framework and character of the post .

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

All schools in The Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

The successful candidate will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure Barring Service (DBS).

‘This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020). This means that certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974.’

Your application form will be processed by My New Term who act for DMAT as a data processor- please see our Privacy Notice for more information about how we process job applicant personal data.

The successful candidate will be required to come to DMAT HQ to complete mandatory training.

Training Details:

Location: Central Head Office (Wardhayes) 8 Simmons Way, Okehampton, EX20 1PY

Purpose: To provide comprehensive training on company policies, procedures, and systems necessary for successful integration into the role.

Training Schedule: Daily sessions from 9am to 4pm, with breaks provided.

Benefits of Training Week:
To gain valuable insights into our company culture and values.

Interact with key stakeholders and team members.

Acquire essential knowledge and skills to excel in your role.

Establish a strong foundation for your career growth within Dartmoor Multi Academy Trust.

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

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.