Application Form

Application Guidance Notes

We hope the following guidance is helpful in assisting you with your application and to explain the process that we will use to select the most suitable applicant for the post.

Data Protection

Please note that when managing an applicant’s recruitment, the information you provide will be used during the recruitment process in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations (2016/679 Eu).  This data is held securely and accessed by, and disclosed to, individuals only for the purposes of managing his/her recruitment.  If you are the successful candidate, the information that is collected will be stored and used as part of your personnel record.

Job Description and Person Specification

The job description will outline the main responsibilities of the role and the person specification will outline the kind of person we are looking to appoint.  It will detail the knowledge, experience and skills that an applicant will need to be able to do the job.  The person specification will also detail which criteria will be used to short list for interview, which criteria will be explored at interview and if applicable, which criteria will be explored through a range of possible assessments and ability testing.

Essential criteria in the person specification are those that you must have to carry out the responsibilities for the job.  Desirable criteria are those that are additional requirements and which we may use if we receive too many applications for the role, which meet the essential criteria.

When we short list for the role we will use:

• the job description and the person specification;
• the application form;
• supporting documents supplied by the applicant i.e. personal covering statement/letter.

One member of the shortlisting panel, when considering your application, will have been trained in respect of safer recruitment practices.  Safer recruitment practices will be followed at each stage of the recruitment process.

Application form – Teaching and Non-Teaching roles

Once applied, we will use this application form to help inform us of your suitability for the post.  Please therefore can you make sure that all sections of the application form are completed in full, giving as much information about yourself as possible and it is accurate and legible.  Please note that we are unable to accept CVs for all posts unless it is submitted as a supporting document with the fully completed application form.  You may wish to provide a supplementary covering letter to support your application.  Application forms that are not completed in full will be rejected at the short listing stage.

Before completing your application form, please refer to the job description and person specification for the role and ensure that you provide information that shows how you meet the requirements of the role and the criteria listed.  Please tell us anything that you feel is relevant to the role for which you are applying.  When we short list our candidates for interview it is this application form that we will rely on to inform us.  It is therefore important that you give us as much information and clarity as you can.

Please consider your most recent employment and your employment history when completing the application form, since leaving education, to ensure it is completed in full with no gaps in dates.  Please include within your application any experience gained in the community, through volunteering/charity work or leisure activities – again highlighting the period of time that you have done this.

It would be most helpful to indicate on the application form any dates that you would not be available to attend interview and we will do our utmost to ensure the interview dates do not clash.  Please note that should you not be able to attend an interview on the allocated date, we may not be able to offer another date or time.  Again, we would try to accommodate this for you but it is not always possible. 

The Schelwood Trust aims to inform all unsuccessful applicants as to the outcome of their application, however on some occasions this may not always be possible.  Once an application has been made and if you have not been contacted within three weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been successful on this occasion.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

The Trust is committed to equality of opportunity for all job candidates and aims to select people for employment on the basis of their individual skills, abilities, experience and knowledge and, where appropriate, qualifications and training.  The Trust school will not automatically refuse to employ a particular individual just because she/he has a previous criminal conviction.

All candidates are required to disclose all convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not ‘protected’ as defined by the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013) by IS 2013 1198.  If you have any past, present or pending convictions, cautions, prosecutions or bind overs, you are required to provide details of the offence(s) in a sealed envelope marked confidential and this should be attached to your application form.

Where a candidate who has a criminal conviction is selected for interview, at interview the panel will ask the candidate to provide details of any convictions, cautions, reprimands or final warnings that are not ‘protected’.

Safeguarding Children

The Schelwood Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to demonstrably share this commitment.

Offers of Employment

All offers of employment are conditional and subject to the following pre-employment clearances:

Eligibility to Work in the UK

The Schelwood Trust complies with the Asylum and Immigration Act 1196 (As Amended) (Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006).  All employers in the United Kingdom are required to make basic documentation checks on every person they intend to employ.

We will ask short listed candidates to provide proof that they can be legally employed in the UK.  This will be in the form of original documentation before we can confirm any offer of employment.  If we do not see satisfactory proof, an offer of employment will be withdrawn. 

Satisfactory References

Two references will be sought; one of which must be your current or most recent employer.  Referees must not be a family member, spouse or partner.  If you are a recent school or further education leaver, one of your references must be from your Headteacher or Lecturer.  On occasion there may be the need to obtain more than two references and if this is the case, we will inform you before we contact any former employers.

Disclosure and Barring Service Clearance

All candidates who are offered a role within The Schelwood Trust are required to undergo an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.  The successful candidate will not be able to take up the appointment until the clearance is received from the DBS.  Please be aware that the timescale for these checks is outside of the Trust’s control and can take some time to come through.  For candidates who have registered previously for the DBS update service they can provide these details in order for an Update Service check to be made.  This will confirm to the Trust whether there has been any activity since the original DBS application was made.

Individuals who have lived or worked outside the UK

Candidates who have lived or worked outside the UK must undergo the same checks as all other staff and overseas checks will be requested so that any relevant events that have occurred outside the UK can also be considered. These further checks will also include a check for information about any teacher sanction or restriction that an EEA professional regulating authority has imposed. 

Qualifications

If particular qualifications are listed as essential to the role on the Person Specification, evidence will need to be provided with original qualification certificates.  Originals must be brought to the interview for those candidates who are short listed for verification.  Copies will not be accepted. 

Child Protection Training – Level One

As part of our commitment to safeguarding the young people in our care all staff and volunteers are asked to undertake Level One Child Protection Training which will be valid for three years.  All new staff/volunteers are offered this training in an online format when they join us.

Staff Appearance

All staff are expected to dress appropriately for school including during interview and should be neat, smart and clean, wearing clothes which are commensurate with their position as a responsible and professional adult in the school environment.