Personal Care and Support Assistants (PCSA’s)

Personal Care and Support Assistants (PCSA’s)

St Giles School, Pampisford Road, South Croydon, CR2 6DF

Start date: As soon as possible;
Contract type: Temporary;
Grade:  1- 2    Scale Point: 2- 5  FTE Salary: £25,854 – £27,030 (will be pro-rata);
Hours: Term time – see options A or B

Option A – Afternoon PCSA’s 3 hours 20 minutes a day / 17 hours, 10 minutes a week (12.10 pm – 3.30 pm (+ 30 minutes once a week for staff briefings on Wednesday morning from 11.40am to 12.10pm);
Or
Option B – Full day PCSA’s 28 hrs and 45 minutes per week from 9.00am to 3.30pm – lunch break of 45 minutes unpaid.

We are currently recruiting for:

Temporary Pupil Care and Support Assistants to join our hard working and supportive team at St Giles School.  We are a school for pupils with complex medical needs, physical disabilities and learning difficulties who are aged from 2 to 19 years. We are a happy and successful learning environment where we value creativity and celebrate everyone’s efforts to participate and contribute to the best of their ability.

Our Pupil Care and Support Assistants will support pupils’ personal care and personalised programmes at lunch time, in the classroom and in the swimming pool. This post is temporary, in the first instance, and will be reviewed on a regular basis in line with the requirements of the school.  The right candidate will be enthusiastic and willing to learn, preferably, with experience of working with children or in a care related environment. We will provide further training and support, fantastic colleagues and amazing children. This is a physically demanding role and all applicants must be willing to work across all age ranges within the school.

This is a temporary position from 25th November 2024 (or asap) to 31st August 2025. This role will be reviewed annually.

St Giles School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Please note these posts will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service, pre-employment health screening and Right to Work checks. We will be undertaking an online search on candidates shortlisted for a vacancy.

We value diversity in our workforce and positively welcome applications from all sections of the community.

Applications will only be considered with a completed application form, supporting statement, detailing your experience and suitability for the role and a covering letter. Please also complete the equal opportunities form.

Please ensure that any gaps in your work history are fully explained on the form, including any caring responsibilities / education.

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The school follows safer recruitment procedures. The successful applicant will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the Disclosure & Barring Service.

Please complete the application form showing your experience in relation to the job description and person specification which can be obtained from the Headteacher, Mr Stephen Hehir: office@st-gilesschool.co.uk

This post is subject to a successful probationary period.

Closing date: 12.00 pm on Friday 25th October 2024;
Shortlisting: Monday 28th October 2024;
Interviews: week beginning Monday 28th October 2024.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. If you are appointed, you will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. If you are shortlisted for interview, you will be required to declare any cautions, convictions, reprimands or final warnings which are not protected (i.e., that are not filtered out*), as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended).

You will also be required to disclose any other information that would suggest that you may be unsuitable to work with children. Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from taking up appointment; it will depend on the nature of the offence(s) and their relevance to the post you are applying for.

However, should you not declare any of the above and this is subsequently revealed, for example through the DBS check, then this may place your employment in jeopardy.

Any information given will be treated in the strictest confidence and with due regard to the ROA and data protection legislation. *Amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’ meaning that they are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account.

All guidance and criteria on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found in the DBS filtering collection on the Gov.uk website and further information on disclosing a criminal record can also be obtained from Nacro: www.nacro.org.uk. It is a criminal offence to apply for this role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

Online Searches following shortlisting:

In line with the statutory guidance document Keeping Children Safe in Education (2023), the school will conduct online searches after the shortlisting process for any candidates who accept an invitation to interview. The purpose of the online search is to uncover any information that may suggest the candidate is:

• a potential safeguarding risk;
• their appointment may damage the reputation of the school or;
• they are unqualified for the role they have applied for.

No recruitment decision will be made solely on the basis of an online search and all relevant information uncovered will be discussed with the applicant at interview. All online searches will be conducted by individuals who are not involved in any other aspect of the recruitment process. No irrelevant information uncovered will be provided to the staff responsible for interviewing the job applicant. All candidates will be treated consistently.

The same online search for all shortlisted candidates will be undertaken consisting of:

• A Google search of the candidate’s name linked to their current employer, previous employer, educational institutions attended, previous job titles and news articles