Pastoral Leader - Maternity Cover

Cheney School, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX3 7QH

13 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  29th June, 2026

• Closing date

  11 May 2026 at 8am

• Date listed

  28 April 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Pastoral, health and welfare
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Fixed term
• Full-time equivalent salary: £31,778.61 - £34,405.14 Annually (Actual) (FTE £34,434 - £37,280)

Pastoral Leader - Maternity Cover job summary

We are looking for a dedicated Pastoral Leader to join our friendly and hardworking pastoral team. Acting as the non-teaching deputy to the Head of Year, you will be the primary daily link between our students, their families, and the school. Your focus will be on ensuring that students are safe, present, and fully supported to meet our high expectations.

A vital part of this role involves providing a calm and consistent presence to help young people navigate social and emotional challenges. You will take the lead on daily pastoral matters, from supporting excellent attendance to resolving behaviour incidents and championing student welfare. The salary is based on 37 hours per week during term time, plus five additional INSET days.

Cheney School is a large secondary school based in Headington, Oxford. The school is thriving. There is a culture of collaboration, support and care throughout the school, leading to higher standards and greater job satisfaction every year. Our school motto is “think for yourself; act for others”; these are not just empty words, and are an essential part of the way Cheney runs. We couldn’t do what we do without our fantastic staff team.

We offer a positive workplace with an exceptionally supportive and open-minded staff body. Visitors always comment that people like each other at Cheney. We provide excellent opportunities for career progression, training and advancement; the range of Continuing Professional Development is second to none. You can read the outcome of our most recent Ofsted inspection here.

If you would like to have a confidential conversation with Bethany Hutson about the role, prior to application, then please email bhutson@cheneyschool.org or telephone 01865 765726.

The school reserves the right to consider and interview candidates ahead of the closing date if appropriate. An offer may be made to an exceptional candidate in this instance.

Cheney School is part of the River Learning Trust

RLT believes education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.

OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.

OUR ‘WHY?’ is that children and young people ‘only get one go’ in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible ‘go’ for our pupils.

OUR ‘HOW?’ is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.

Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our “Working in RLT” guide.

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

The River Learning Trust and Cheney School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. The Trust is required to conduct a variety of checks and online searches about you as part of their recruitment process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

For all RLT Safer Recruitment Documentation candidates should click on the following link RLT Safer Recruitment Documents for Candidates. Please see our website for up to date policies including our Child Protection and Behaviour Policies.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. For further guidance for applicants click on this link List of offences that are not filtered

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

Cheney School and The River Learning Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism; all staff must ensure that the highest priority is given to following the guidance and regulations to safeguard children and young people. The successful candidate will be required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and obtain any other statutorily required clearance. Employment will also be conditional on the receipt of at least two acceptable references (1 from current/latest employer) and evidence of the formal qualifications required for the role.

Applying for the job

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About Cheney School

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 1704 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Cheney School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/cheney-school-oxford

Cheney School is a popular, high-performing school located in the heart of Oxford serving a diverse community of students. We are what a comprehensive school was designed to be; we are very proud of our inclusive ethos and the fact that we provide a liberal, outward-looking education to students from all backgrounds, and a caring and supportive community for staff.

We are committed to continuous professional development and have wide-ranging training and development opportunities.

School location

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