Home School Family Link Worker

Regional Home School Link Worker

Ark Portsmouth Primary Schools

The Ark Portsmouth Primaries are excited to offer a new regional opportunity: Regional Home School Link Worker. Thank you for your interest in joining our dedicated teams in the heart of Portsmouth.

We are proud of our schools, our values and our commitment to an inclusive culture—this underpins everything we do. We are dedicated to our wonderful communities and amazing children. We have high aspirations and expectations for all, supported by strong, passionate teams who are driven to ensure every child achieves their full potential and becomes a well-rounded, successful citizen, ready to embrace new adventures and challenges.

We know every child in depth and use this knowledge to plan effectively, maintaining high expectations while recognising that some children and families face additional challenges. These may require tailored support to help them access school and learning more successfully.

This is a new post at an exciting time for both schools as we enhance our support for children and families. A key focus is improving attendance and reducing persistent absence, particularly for children with medical or health-related needs. While not essential, we would particularly welcome applicants with experience or training in health, nursing, school nursing or medical fields, as this could bring valuable insight to our work. However, we also warmly welcome applicants with experience in education, social care or family support who share our commitment to inclusive, relational practice.

As the Home School Link Worker, you will work as part of the Pastoral Support Teams across both schools. You will play a vital role in providing high-quality support and advice to families of vulnerable children—helping to address barriers, raise aspirations, empower parents/carers and support great progress for our children.

We are looking for someone with extensive experience supporting children and families across education, health or social care sectors. Ideally, you will have a strong working knowledge of:

• ADHD, Autism, Attachment and Trauma-informed approaches
• Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
• Neurodiversity
• Medical conditions and parental engagement
• Working with parents on routines, rules, boundaries, behaviour management, device management etc
• Signposting to appropriate services

You will be committed to developing strong, trusted relationships with parents and carers, aligned with our relational culture and restorative practice approach.

We are seeking a motivated and nurturing individual who can build positive relationships quickly and work collaboratively with staff, children, families, and external agencies.

At Ark Portsmouth Primaries, leaders look after staff. We work collaboratively to ensure all colleagues receive high-quality support, training and feedback to help them grow as expert practitioners. We celebrate success regularly and hard work is always recognised and valued.

As part of the Ark network, we work closely with both the network and the Local Authority to serve the children of Portsmouth. We are committed to ensuring our pupils are well-equipped to take their next steps in education and become active, engaged citizens in their communities.

Ideal candidates will:

• Have a passion for supporting parents/carers, families and children
• Have experience building successful relationships with families, staff and partner agencies
• Demonstrate impact in removing barriers to learning for children
• Bring some medical knowledge or background (desirable but not essential)
• Have a positive attitude and a strong belief in inclusion
• Hold high expectations for all members of the school community
• Be committed to a relational and restorative approach
• Have a thorough understanding of safeguarding and confidentiality

By joining our region and the wider Ark team, you will have the opportunity to work with great colleagues and to develop your career through our professional development programme. You will be encouraged to become a reflective and open practitioner.

If you’d like further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the details below.

Please look at our websites to find out more about the schools – www.arkayrtonprimary.org www.arkdickensprimary.org.   If you’d like further information or an informal, confidential chat, please do get in touch. Please contact Lynda Miller @ Ark Ayrton 02392 824828 or Ann Dyson @ Ark Dickens 02392 826514 to make an appointment with the Executive Headteacher if you wish to discuss the role further.

Yours,

Anne Hibberd-Chapman

Executive Headteacher

Ark Ayrton Primary Academy and Ark Dickens Primary Academy

• Support and challenge to develop you further
• Salaries 2.5% higher than main pay scale.
• Twice as many training days as standard and comprehensive CPD.
• Generous pension scheme.
• Access to Ark rewards – a scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers
• Interest-free loans – up to £5,000 available for season ticket or to buy a bicycle.
• Gym discounts – offering up to 40%.
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme – providing free, confidential counselling, legal advice and a range of different support.

Ark Ayrton are a two form entry primary school and nursery, situated in the heart of Portsmouth, close to the sea. We have high expectations of our children and for our children of what they can achieve. Our priorities are to ensure all children are here, safe, happy and learning well at all times.

This means we also have high expectations of ourselves, our parents and carers and the other people who work with us in improving outcomes for our children. We work closely with our partners and challenge each other openly and honestly to be sure we never lose sight of the vision and the job to be done in achieving excellence for all.

We have a strong and dedicated staff team at Ayrton - all ready to provide the best education and environment for the children to thrive in every day. We have a bespoke ‘Horizons’ Curriculum, written by us for our children and we are passionate and relentless in ensuring that there is something for everyone ay Ark Ayrton.