School houseparent

As a school houseparent, you would:

• look after the welfare and personal development of students
•  supervise and co-ordinate activities
•  maintain discipline, standards of behaviour, manners and dress
•  work with parents, heads of year and teaching staff
•  help at events like concerts, sports fixtures and school functions
•  do administration tasks like organising rotas, updating attendance records and making travel arrangements for school outings

• sensitivity and understanding
• counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
• the ability to work well with others
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• the ability to use your initiative
• customer service skills
• the ability to think clearly using logic and reasoning
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a college course
• working towards this role
• applying directly

You could become a senior houseparent or head of boarding.

With experience and further training, you might move into related education roles, such as mentoring, teaching or school business support.