Learning & Engagement Mentor (Ark Blacklands Primary Academy)

Job introduction

Salary: £23,723 pro rata, £12.64 per hour (Actual Salary £17,855)

Contract type: Permanent, Term-Time Only
Working pattern: Part-Time

Closing date: 21 April 2025
Interview date: 28 April 2025

How to apply:

Please select the role you are applying for on www.arkblacklandsprimary.org/vacancies and submit your application by the deadline.

Who to contact if you have a query:

Interested in this exciting opportunity? Please contact Joe Coleman by email at info@arkblacklandsprimary.org to arrange a visit to the school or an informal chat.

About the role

Start date: May 2025

About the role:

We are seeking to appoint a Learning & Engagement Mentor. This is a permanent position for 31.5 hours per week, term time only to start in May 2025.

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a real difference for our most vulnerable children? Do you have the motivation and commitment to change children’s lives by ensuring they reach their educational potential?

The role involves working with individual and small groups of children with challenging social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. These pupils may have complex emotional and behavioural needs that need to be carefully managed, and experience of working with these kinds of learners would be desirable. As a Learning & Engagement Mentor, you will be working with and supporting children with a wide range of needs across the school.

Some of the work with these pupils is delivered via an ‘Alternative Provision’ programme and will involve working alongside a successful and supportive Inclusion Team to provide a range of activities that not only support the children’s academic learning, but also allow them to build their own resilience and abilities to self-manage their emotional state and behaviour, with the ultimate goal being full time reintegration into their mainstream classroom setting.

Many of these pupils also benefit from accessing our Outdoor Learning Area and so experience of or a genuine interest in working and running this type of setting, or any similar ‘Forest School’ style provision is desirable.

The work the successful candidate will carry out can be challenging and complex at times but is also highly rewarding and you will be well supported.

The successful candidate will:

• demonstrate an ability to be flexible in their approaches,
• be able to establish meaningful positive relationships quickly,
• have a well-established range of strategies for coping with sometimes challenging situations,
• guide the pupils’ learning towards independence,
• be committed to Ark Blacklands’ ethos of high expectations,
• have the resolve to make a real difference to the lives of pupils.

View the full job description and person specification here.

 Ark Blacklands Primary Academy is Hastings' fastest-improving primary school. Located near the 109-acre Alexandra Park, we recently celebrated having the most improved SATs results in the area.

We are a large school with a new intake each year of 3 forms, with 90 pupils in each year group, from reception through to year 6. Despite this, our staff make a tremendous effort to get to know each pupil and provide them with the very best care.

As part of the Ark schools’ network, we are committed to making sure that every child has access to a great education and real choices in life. We know that great schools need great staff, which is why we offer you the very best training and support at every stage of your career.

Find out more by visiting www.arkblacklandsprimary.org/.

We offer:

• Comprehensive CPD – we offer twice as many training days as standard.
• Access to health packages, discounts at major retailers, travel loans and other benefits, through the Ark Rewards scheme.
• Opportunity to apply for international exchanges and other scholarship prospects.

 Find out more about the benefits by visiting www.arkonline.org/the-best-support.

 Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.  

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link. 

Additional information

Your starting salary will be pro rata if the above position is part-time or term-time only.