Midday supervisor personal statement: what schools ask for

A midday supervisor personal statement answers the school's person specification line by line, with an example from your own life or work for each line. The National Careers Service calls the job "School lunchtime supervisor", gives "Lunchtime assistant" as another title, and lists typical hours of "10 to 18 term time" a week.

What the role is

The National Careers Service says "Lunchtime supervisors work in primary, secondary and special schools, looking after children during the lunch break." Its tasks include "encourage good behaviour and table manners", "supervise children in the playground, or indoors if the weather is bad", "deal with minor injuries like bumps, cuts and grazes" and "organise games and activities during breaks".

The service says "You can get into this job by applying directly." It adds "It could give you an advantage if you have experience working with children" and "A food hygiene certificate or first aid qualification may be helpful, though not essential." Its requirements are to "pass enhanced background checks" and "be over 18 years of age".

What the person specifications ask for

This guide reads three documents, as they stood on 3 November 2026: the person specification of Broughton Moor Primary School, the job description and personnel specification of Sandford Primary School (Wessex Learning Trust, job listed 16 October 2025) and the job description and person specification of Palterton Primary School (Redhill Academy Trust, job listed 2 July 2025). Teaching Vacancies shows the Sandford and Palterton jobs as expired, and any of the links may stop working. Where it has no line on a topic, the cell quotes Sandford's job description.

Line	Broughton Moor	Sandford	Palterton
Qualifications and training	Essential: "None required". Desirable: "Current First Aid qualification"	Desirable: "GCSE level in literacy and numeracy, or the equivalent Grade C or above", "Recent Paediatric First Aid certificate", "Basic Food Hygiene"	Essential: "Willingness to undertake relevant training". Desirable: "First Aid qualification"
Experience	Essential: "Supervising of children"	Essential: "Experience working with children"	Essential: "Experience of children or young people". Desirable: "Experience of lunchtime supervisory role or experience of working with children in a school environment"
Behaviour	Essential: "Managing the behaviour of groups of children"	Job description: "To be clear about the school's discipline policy and follow procedures as they relate to the lunch break."	Essential: "Settle disputes between children calmly and fairly"
Emergencies and safety	Essential: "Remain calm in a crisis"	Essential: "Awareness of health & safety and practical hygiene issues"	Essential: "React calmly and appropriately in an emergency, with the health and safety of both pupils and staff a prime concern"
Play	Essential: "Initiate games and activities appropriate to the age of the children"	Job description: "To develop play skills through introducing or promoting games and activities inside and outside."	Essential: "Ability to engage children in cooperative play"
Confidentiality	Essential: "Observe the boundaries of the role, and respect confidential information"	Job description: "To recognise the need for confidentiality and respect all that you see and hear while in school."	Essential: "Ability to maintain confidentiality"
Safeguarding	Desirable: "Recognise behaviour giving cause for concern, and inform teaching staff"	Job description: "To understand the processes concerning child protection and to support school policy and practice."	Desirable: "Knowledge of children's safeguarding"

All three documents list a first aid qualification as desirable. Sandford's job description also says the supervisor has "responsibility for basic first aid, dealing with accidents both in the school and playground during the lunchtime break and recording the actions taken".

Checks for every school role

The Department for Education's Keeping children safe in education (September 2026) says schools in England "must have regard to it". On checks, it says all schools and colleges must "obtain (via the applicant) an enhanced DBS check (including children's barred list information, for those who will be engaging in regulated activity with children)." Its list of regulated activity includes, as item a, "paid and unpaid work that involves teaching, training, instructing, caring for or supervising children" and, as item b, "any other type of paid work for a limited range of establishments (known as 'specified places', which include schools and colleges), with the opportunity for contact with children." It then says: "Work under (a) or (b) is regulated activity only if done frequently, on more than 3 days in a 30-day period or overnight." It goes on: "Some activities are always regulated activities, regardless of frequency", among them relevant personal care, which "includes helping a child with eating and drinking for reasons of illness or disability". It adds: "Most staff in a school and those in colleges working with children will be engaging in regulated activity relating to children, in which case an enhanced DBS check which includes children's barred list information, will be required."

Palterton's job description says: "This role involves working in regulated activity with children and an Enhanced DBS Clearance is required for this position."

On the application, the guidance says: "Schools and colleges should only accept copies of a curriculum vitae alongside an application form. A curriculum vitae on its own will not provide adequate information." It says "Shortlisted candidates should be asked to complete a self-declaration of their criminal record", and that this information "should not be requested in the application form to decide who should be shortlisted". On offers, it says: "All offers of appointment should be conditional until satisfactory completion of the mandatory pre-employment checks."

Where your evidence can come from

None of the three essential experience lines says the experience must be paid or gained in a school. Broughton Moor asks for "Supervising of children", Sandford for "Experience working with children" and Palterton for "Experience of children or young people". Palterton asks for school experience only in a desirable line. The teaching assistant guide for no experience has more places evidence can come from.

• Looking after a group of children at a club, a team or a party can answer "Supervising of children".
• Settling an argument between children, your own or other people's, can answer "Settle disputes between children calmly and fairly".
• A time at work when something went wrong, in a shop, a kitchen or a call centre, and you stayed calm can answer "Remain calm in a crisis".

The shape of one answer

The criterion below comes from the Palterton Primary School specification. The three lines are the structure. The lines after "Made up" are invented to show how much one line holds, so replace them with things that happened to you.

Criterion: "Settle disputes between children calmly and fairly"

• When and where: the setting and the dates. Made up: a library's Saturday craft session for children, 2025.
• What you did: one task you handled yourself. Made up: stopped two seven-year-olds arguing over the glue, let each one say what happened, and agreed whose turn it was next.
• What happened: what changed for the children or the adults. Made up: both went back to the craft table, and the librarian asked you to help at the next session.

Before you submit

Check that every essential line has an example, that no child is named and that your text is inside any limit the form shows. You can check your draft against the person specification to see which criteria still have no example.