Pastoral care worker
Pastoral care workers give practical and emotional support to children and young people in schools and colleges to help them thrive.
Also known as: Pastoral support assistant, pastoral officer
- Starter salary£24,000 a year
- Experienced£31,000 a year
- Typical hours30 to 37 a week
What you'll do
As a pastoral care worker, you could:
- work with individuals and small groups
- give students practical and emotional support
- act as a link between students, their families and teachers
- make sure safeguarding rules and procedures are followed
- help students learn how to manage difficult situations
- meet with parents and carers to discuss incidents and form action plans
- promote positive attendance, behaviour and participation in class
- help to develop initiatives like anti-bullying schemes
- collect data for reports and monitor students' progress
- work with outside agencies when required, such as social services
Working environment
You could work at a school, in a sixth form college, at a college or at a university.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.
Skills and knowledge you'll need
You'll need:
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- sensitivity and understanding
- the ability to understand people's reactions
- the ability to work well with others
- excellent verbal communication skills
- customer service skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be flexible and open to change
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become a pastoral care worker
You can get into this job through:
- working towards this role
- volunteering
- applying directly
Work
You may be able to start as a teaching assistant, learning mentor or volunteer in an educational setting and take on pastoral responsibilities as you gain experience. You could then apply for pastoral jobs as they become available.
Volunteering
You can get experience of working with children, families and young people, which will help when you apply for jobs. Examples include volunteering in schools, mentoring and youth work.
You can look for opportunities through organisations like:
- Volunteering Matters
- Do It
- NCVO
Direct application
You can apply directly for jobs if you have experience of working with children and young people, for example in:
- youth work
- learning support
- counselling
- advice work
- mental health support
- special educational needs
- social care
Employers will expect you to have some GCSEs, or equivalent qualifications , including English and maths.
Restrictions and requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks
Career path and progression
With experience and further training, you could become a:
- pastoral lead
- pastoral support manager
- education welfare officer
- non-teaching head of year
You might also train to be a teacher, or move into counselling or youth work.
Career tips
Pastoral care workers are normally employed term-time only. A working week can vary from a few hours up to full time.
Advertised pay rates are often listed as full-time equivalent (FTE) or pro rata. Actual pay will depend on the number of hours you work.
Guides for this industry
Related roles
- Job roleCounsellor
- Job roleFamily support worker
- Job roleEducation welfare officer
- Job roleYouth worker
- Job roleSocial work assistant
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