£23,960 pro-rata per annum (FTE £30,687)

Full Time, Fixed Term

1st September 2025

6 November 2024

The Role

Magdalen College School is seeking to appoint three enthusiastic and versatile classroom assistants for the Junior School on a 1-year Fixed-Term Contract (FTC) for the academic year 2025-2026.
There will be an emphasis on helping in the classrooms with our younger year groups but the list below will offer an idea of what else is to be expected, although it is not exhaustive:

• Work closely with the JS staff in assisting in the day-to-day running of a busy Junior School.
• Take a keen interest in the welfare of all Junior School pupils and contribute to the pastoral wellbeing of boys throughout each day.
• Work with small groups of boys on reinforcement and enrichment tasks.
• Assist in the planning and preparation of specific resources for these groups together with the relevant subject teacher.
• set clear expectations for pupil behaviour within an encouraging classroom environment.
• Provide supervisory support during lunch and break time, and before and after school until 5.30pm; specifically overseeing boys who catch the school buses home.
• Help with sporting fixtures including the occasional Saturday (typically two per term)
• Accompany the J4 residential trip during the Hilary Term (during school week)

The Candidate

The successful candidates will enjoy a varied daily routine as part of a close team in the Junior School. They will have excellent written and spoken communication skills, and sound IT skills. They will have the ability to work collaboratively and display a high level of attention to detail. The successful candidates will also be friendly, enthusiastic, motivated and caring individuals who enjoy ‘mucking in’ and thrive in the company of children. This role would best suit graduates or someone with some prior experience of working with children.
The successful candidate will also be able to show a clear commitment to safeguarding children.
This is a fabulous opportunity for those considering a future career in teaching with the majority of candidates that join us deciding that this is the route they would like to take.

Application Process

• MCS Application Form for Teaching and Support Staff
• CV (Curriculum Vitae)

All documentation should be sent no later than Wednesday 6th November, at midday. The school’s preferred method of communication is by email and it will not be necessary to send a hard copy of the documents by post.
References may be taken up in advance. If you do not wish for your references to be called for at this stage, please make that clear on the reference section of the application form.
We anticipate holding interviews on Monday 11th November, which will include an observed session with a small group of boys. We will be in contact with shortlisted candidates by telephone.
Please be aware that all shortlisted candidates will be requested to complete a ‘Self-Disclosure’ form before attending their interview.
We reserve the right to interview and appoint before the above dates.

Remuneration and other benefits

This is a 1 year fixed-term position from between September 2025 – August 2026, full-time, term-time only with one week for INSET (35 weeks in total); with the standard working hours from 8.00am to 5.30pm Monday to Friday and half an hour for lunch. Salary will be £23,960 pro-rata per annum (FTE £30,687).
Non-teaching staff are automatically enrolled in the school’s contributory Group Pension Scheme. This is a defined contribution pension scheme into which the employee contributes 5% of gross salary and the employer contributes 10%.
To learn more about the opportunities and advantages of working at MCS, please refer to the attached ‘Recruitment Pack (Junior School Classroom Assistant)’.

MCS has a rich and distinctive history. The school was founded in 1480 by William Waynflete who believed in education as a facilitator of social mobility, and as such wanted to found a school of an entirely new kind. MCS quickly flourished as a school which firmly connected school education with a newly emerging university education and it soon became one of the country’s leading schools.
Today MCS provides a first-class education for boys aged 7-18 and sixth form girls. The school is small enough to develop every young person’s character and talents, yet large enough to provide a wide range of subjects and activities. MCS encourages a respect for learning whilst developing in every pupil a close interest in a wide range of extra-curricular interests.
MCS pupils enjoy a stimulating curriculum which is designed both to provide academic stretch and challenge, and to equip pupils with the skills for success beyond school.
In the early years, the emphasis is on exposing pupils to a wide range of subjects in order to discover their interests and talents. Pupils are put in sets by ability in French at 11 and in Mathematics at 12, no other subjects are set. There is an additional intake of pupils from prep and maintained schools at 13 and it is at this stage that boys make their first subject choices. Almost all pupils take ten (I)GCSEs, an increasing number of which are now reformed 9-1 (I)GCSEs.
Although MCS consistently secures outstanding public examination results, the real priority in the Sixth Form is on teaching beyond the syllabus, and the formation of habits of mind for life. In the Lower Sixth all pupils study at least four subjects, research and write their Waynflete Project (a 5000 word essay on a subject of their choice), undertake a community service or CCF placement, and participate in Games. From September 2017 all A Level (or Pre-U) courses will be linear; MCS pupils will no longer sit AS Levels. In the Upper Sixth, between one third and one half of Sixth Formers gain four or more A Levels, and there is a programme of lectures from visiting speakers, as well as UCAS applications and Games.
Magdalen College School is committed to the safeguarding of pupils, and any offer of employment will be subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure, the receipt of satisfactory references, the school’s pre-employment medical questionnaire, plus sight of relevant ID documentation and degree certificate(s). The enhanced DBS check is due to this role being exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.