Whitgift is a leading independent day and boarding school for boys, with approximately 1500 pupils including over one hundred boarding pupils and flexi boarding pupils. It is set in an attractive 48-acre parkland site in South Croydon enjoying excellent links to London, Surrey and the south coast.
We are seeking to appoint an Assistant Matron to join a friendly and supportive team who is enthusiastic, flexible and organised individual to look after the boarding pupils. The position is available from September 2026.
Outline of the post:
The role of the Assistant Matron at Whitgift is to support the Matron; together they are incredibly important to the running and success of the House. The Assistant Matron is a component of the House team, and the role involves significant responsibility. The Assistant Matron has an important role supporting the Senior Housemaster and Matron maintaining a ‘home-from-home’ atmosphere and ensuring the health and happiness of the boarders. The success of the Assistant Matron’s appointment will depend on the strength and quality of the relationship with the Matron and the rest of the House team. The Assistant Matron will report directly to the Senior Housemaster.
The Assistant Matron’s role constitutes two different functions:
- Pastoral and Health Care
- Housekeeping or House Administration Competence in both areas will be equally important to the success of the role.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
It is difficult to exhaustively list all duties and responsibilities. However, these are the main responsibilities of each function:
Pastoral and Health Care:
- To monitor the health, diet and personal hygiene of boarders and to refer boys who are unwell, injured or who have health/medical problems to the Medical Team or the School doctor.
- To report actual or potential risks to the safety or welfare of children in the school to the Senior Housemaster or Child Protection Officer.
- In the event of emergencies, to accompany students to A&E and to communicate with parents, medical, and Senior House Staff during the process.
- To keep the Senior Housemaster and parents informed of all significant illnesses or injuries.
- To build and maintain close relationships with parents and to be available to parents at the start/end of terms.
To operate a number of surgeries each day and to administer medication, whether prescribed or non[1]prescribed in accordance with School policy, Patient Group Directives, MOSA guidelines and the National Minimum Satndards.
- To keep detailed records of all medication and first aid administered to boys in the house. The record should give name, date, medication/treatment, reason for administration (if not prescribed). A written record must also be kept of all illness, accidents and injuries to boys.
- To liaise with the Medical Team regarding the medical treatment of boarders and to advise the School of boarders with medical conditions.
- To look after boys who are sick in the house (in sick bay) and to take boys to hospital if injured or if they have other appointments.
- To ensure the cleanliness of sick bay.
- To ensure that medicine cabinets and first aid bags are regularly stock checked in accordance with the National Minimum Standards, MOSA guidelines and in liaison with the Medical Team.
- To ensure medical records and medicines are kept secure and that proper confidentiality is maintained.
- To issue off games notes as appropriate.
- To monitor the tidiness of boy’s bedrooms, common rooms and kitchenettes.
- To uphold the standards of dress expected at Whitgift.
- Whilst not a disciplinary role the Assistant Matron must uphold the authority of the Senior Housemaster, the School and the application of School rules. To this end the Assistant Matron needs to be conversant with the School’s rules/discipline structure.
- To eat meals with the boys when on duty.
Housekeeping:
- To liaise with the cleaning contractors regarding the recruitment and supervision of domestic staff (both cleaning and laundry). The Assistant Matron must be familiar with Child Protection and safeguarding procedures.
- To brief the cleaning staff on a regular (or daily) basis about any issues or special requests.
- To organise the boy’s laundry, dry cleaning and mending of clothes (laundry to be done within the house, dry cleaning and mending to be sent away) and to offer sufficient opportunity for boys to retrieve their laundered clothes.
- To assist with the laundry if the domestic House staff have been unable to complete it, or to offer an emergency laundry in special circumstances (particularly muddy games, sickness or bed wetting).
- To inform parents if it is felt any clothes need replacing or if the supply of name tapes is getting low.
- To liaise with the Senior Housemaster over issues pertaining to the fabric and fittings of the House, specifically repairs and renewal of furniture.
- To brief the maintenance department regarding minor repairs and to check that reported jobs have been completed.
- To advise the Senior Housemaster of any major repairs required
- To report to work sufficiently before the start of term to ensure the House is ready to receive boarders. If the House is not let over a particular holiday this preparation could be done at the end-of-term by arrangement.
- To liaise with cleaning contractors over a ‘deep clean’ of the House at the beginning and end of the Summer Holidays, or after any significant period of letting.
- To arrange taxis to airports or mainline train stations (from our approved firm) for boys at the beginning/end of terms – flights, trains, passports and visa etc are the responsibility of parents.
- To ensure door and pigeon-hole labels are up to date.
- To check whether the boys are collecting food for the kitchenettes and to monitor the consumption.
- To answer the House telephone and to take messages for the Senior Housemaster.
Personal Resonsibilities:
To carry out the duties and responsibilities of the post, in accordance with the School’s Health and Safety Policy and relevant Health and Safety Legislation. The John Whitgift Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young and elderly people in their care and expects all staff to share this commitment. To comply with the Whitgift Equal Opportunities policy and to ensure positive relationships are upheld within the school community, through effective communication, in line with professional norms.
Performance Standards
To ensure that all services within the areas of responsibility are provided in accordance with the School’s commitment to high quality service provision. This job description will usually be reviewed annually and may be subject to amendment or modification at any time after consultation with the post holder. It is not a comprehensive statement of procedures and tasks but sets out the main expectations of the School in relation to the post holder’s professional responsibilities and duties.
Person Specification:
We are looking for a person with significant experience of the role of Assistant Matron to develop the exciting boarding provision at Whitgift.
Essential Criteria:
- Educated to GCSE level or equivalent.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to form positive relationships with pupils and parents.
- Ability to build warm and professional relationships with colleagues and work effectively as partof a team.
- Flexible, understanding, compassionate and caring approach
- Ability to manage a busy, varied and often unpredictable workload.
- Effective administrative and organisational skills.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications and willing to develop IT skills further.
- Knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and child protection.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive information appropriately.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience working with children or young people.
- Experience in a boarding school, educational, residential or pastoral care setting.
- Experience administering medication and maintaining accurate records.
- Experience managing or supervising cleaning, laundry or domestic staff.
- First Aid qualification or willingness to undertake First Aid training.
- Experience liaising with parents and healthcare professionals.
- Understanding of boarding school regulations and pastoral care requirements.
Further information:
All of our staff benefit from a competitive remuneration package, including:
- A Pension Scheme (with Life Assurance cover)
- Free access to an Employee discount Club
- Access to our onsite gym (available at select hours) and our swimming pool (when available,access is extended to staff)
- Discounted school fees for the Foundation Schools (permanent posts only)
- Membership with BUPA
- Onsite parking, when available
- Lunch is available onsite, during term time only.
Conditions of service:
This position is offered as a part-time, term-time only, permanent contract. The Assistant Matron will work Monday to Friday – 6 hours per weekday, 9 hours every third Saturday and 7 hours every third Sunday in agreement with the Senior Housemaster and Head of Boarding. The hours workedfor this role will show as annualised hours. These hours also include bank holidays, inset days and another mutually agreeable day preceding & following each new term. However, there will be a requirement for flexibility with start and finish times to cover emergencies and occasional staff absences. This will be mutually agreed in advance with your line manager as far as possible and time off in lieu granted.Weekend hours – every third weekend term time only:
Saturday: 8.30am – 6.30pm
Sunday: 10.30am – 6.30pm
Your salary is at Point 15 of the Whitgift Foundation Support Staff Salary Scale which is currently £29,968gross per annum (full-time equivalent). Salaries are paid in 12 equal instalments
Application Information:
We welcome applications from all parts of our community as we aspire to attract staff that match the social and cultural diversity of our student intake.
For any general queries, please telephone 020 8688 9222 and ask for the Human Resources Departmentor email SchoolHR@whitgift.co.uk. For any specific queries, please e-mail Jae Chang, Boarding Senior Housemaster at jjc@whitgift.co.uk.
We invite interested candidates to apply as soon as possible as applications will be reviewed on a dailybasis, and interviews may take place at any time. This vacancy may close earlier than the stated deadlineif sufficient applications are received, so early submission is encouraged.
In line with Home Office requirements under the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, all successful applicants will be required to demonstrate their right to work in the UK by presenting original documents evidencing their identity and eligibility to work in person. Right to work checks may also be completed usingthe Home Office online right to work checking service (share code).
The School also requires sight of original qualification and professional membership documents as detailed in the application.
Whitgift School (part of the John Whitgift Foundation) is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Where applicable, applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service, online media checks and overseas checks. It is an offence to apply for a role at the school if you know that you are barred from regulated activity with children.
All roles within the school involve contact with children and are therefore classed as regulated activity. Child protection and safeguarding are the responsibility of everyone who works or volunteers in our school. All staff must be committed to providing a safe environment for children and supporting the school’s safeguarding ethos.
The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Applicants are required to declare all convictions and cautions, even those that are “spent” unless they are “protected” under the DBS filtering rules, to assess suitability to work with children. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to disclose information relevant to safeguarding prior to interview
