Farleigh School - Head of Junior Boarding

Summary

Farleigh School is seeking a confident, approachable, and organised individual to lead Junior Boarding, creating a warm, supportive environment for young boarders and working closely with pupils, parents, and staff across the school community.

Detail

Farleigh School is seeking a confident, approachable, and highly organised individual with excellent interpersonal skills to lead our Junior Boarding provision. This is a dynamic role open to individuals with teaching or non-teaching experience, offering the opportunity to create a warm, supportive environment for our youngest boarders while working collaboratively with pupils, parents, and staff across the school community.

As Head of Junior Boarding, you will take overall responsibility for the smooth running of the junior boarding house, ensuring it is a safe, welcoming, and nurturing environment for pupils. You will provide strong leadership and management for both staff and pupils, overseeing day-to-day operations, pastoral care, and the wellbeing of all junior boarders. This includes fostering a positive boarding culture, maintaining high standards of care, and working closely with parents and colleagues to support each child’s personal and academic development.

The ideal candidate will have:

Essential:

• Previous experience working in a boarding environment or pastoral care setting
• Proven leadership and management experience, ideally within a school or residential setting
• Strong background in safeguarding and welfare responsibilities
• Understanding of safeguarding and welfare responsibilities
• Willingness to undertake relevant courses
• IT literacy for managing records and communication effectively

Desirable:

• First Aid qualification
• Familiarity with boarding regulations and compliance

Particular Tasks & Responsibilities:

Leadership & Management

• Provide strategic and day-to-day leadership of the junior boarding house.
• Manage and support boarding staff, ensuring high standards of care and professionalism.
• Maintain a positive, inclusive, and respectful house culture.
• Ensure compliance with safeguarding and boarding regulations (e.g., NMS for Boarding Schools).
• Oversee boarding staff duty rotas.
• Work proactively to align junior boarding with the school’s wider strategic aims, including inclusion, pupil wellbeing, and family engagement.
• Promote the school’s Catholic values and ethos.

Pastoral Care

• Foster a warm, caring, and supportive environment for all boarders.
• Monitor the wellbeing of pupils and respond to pastoral concerns promptly and effectively.
• Liaise with the school’s pastoral team, counsellors, and medical staff as needed.
• Promote positive behaviour, routines, and personal development.

Communication & Relationships

• Build strong relationships with pupils, parents, and guardians.
• Communicate regularly with parents regarding their child’s progress and wellbeing, ensuring they know what their children are doing in boarding and reassuring them that boarding is the best place for their child.
• Collaborate with academic staff to support pupils’ learning and development.
• Act as an ambassador for Farleigh’s Catholic ethos, supporting the spiritual, moral and intellectual development of children in a Catholic community which welcomes all faiths.

House Administration

• Work with the Office Manager to support all boarding administration.
• Oversee daily and weekend routines, including wake-up, meals, prep, activities and bedtime.
• Maintain accurate records (e.g., attendance, medical, behavioural).
• Organise house events, trips, and activities that enrich the boarding experience.
• Ensure the boarding house is well-maintained, safe, and welcoming.

Promotion of Boarding

• Develop initiatives to raise the profile of boarding in and out of school.
• Encourage non-boarders to try boarding at Farleigh and for it to be an exciting and viable option for parents.
• Actively engage with local, military, civil service, and overseas families to broaden the appeal and accessibility of Farleigh’s boarding offer, including exeat in-weekends.
• Work with Admissions, Marketing and Communications departments to communicate the distinctive benefits of Farleigh’s junior boarding provision.
• Gather and share success stories that showcase the value of boarding for pupils of all backgrounds.
• Support and promote residential holiday courses.
• Promote Farleigh as the full boarding prep school option in Hampshire.
• Any other duties which may be assigned commensurate with the post and in keeping with the nature of the prep school environment

Farleigh School reserves the right to appoint at any time in the recruitment process.

Safeguarding:

Farleigh School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant must be willing to undergo appropriate Child Protection Screening, including references from past employers and an enhanced DBS disclosure.

Documents

• Head of Junior Boarding - Candidate Information Pack PDF Document
• Farleigh Support Staff Application Form DOCX Document