Outdoor Education Instructor/Assistant

OUTDOOR EDUCATION INSTRUCTOR/ASSISTANT

Dates: Monday 30 May at 8.00am.

Salary: Actual salary of £25,000-£30,000 per annum depending on qualifications, skills and experience

Responsible for: Director of Outdoor Education.

Location: Highgate, North London

Contract type: Permanent – term time only plus six weeks (to cover trips in the evening or at weekends).

To apply: Applications should be made via Highgate’s website https://www.highgateschool.org.uk/work-with-us/

Outdoor Education

Outdoor education plays a big role in all three of Highgate’s Schools, and over the last 5 years has become embedded into the curriculum and core values of the School. We value our rich and varied co-curricular programmes which, in addition to art, music and drama, include many activities, societies and clubs. Within the Senior School, specific examples of outdoor education include the following: provision of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme which involves well over 250 pupils each year; an outdoor education lunchtime activity for years 7 and 8; climbing, sailing and kayaking as senior afternoon sport options; orienteering and similar activities in lower school exercise lessons, and a range of year group activities and days that feature aspects of outdoor education. In the Junior School, outdoor education is fully embedded in the curriculum, with activities including: camp outs at School; an adventure week for Year 6 in June; an outdoor ed carousel delivering as part of the sport programme to all year groups, and a weekly outdoor education club which runs throughout the year. The Pre-Prep deliver the Forest Schools Programme under the supervision of a qualified member of staff, which is currently offered to all year groups.

The majority of these activities, societies and clubs are run by teachers, overseen by the Director of Outdoor Education. The School is keen to provide support to the teachers involved in outdoor type activities, societies and clubs and to enhance the provision on offer for students.  It is also keen to ensure the programme throughout the three Schools is cohesive and appropriately coordinated to help the development of pupils as they progress through the three Schools. Although the School is located in North London, widening access to the outdoor life and developing the associated skills and character attributes for pupils in this area is seen to be an important element of the education offered at Highgate. The School also has an increasing emphasis on mental health and wellbeing, sustainability and environmental awareness, which are all core themes in both the Outdoor Education and wider School Development Plans.

In addition Highgate owns the Cerrig Pryfaid bunkhouse in Snowdonia National Park. Highgate is keen to maximise the use of this asset, both within the School and externally (both commercially and as part of the School’s commitment to its public benefit), and the post-holder would be encouraged to investigate ways in which it can be used more for pupils’ benefit.

THE ROLE

This is an excellent opportunity to join an award-winning charity; working closely with the Director of Outdoor Education to help our ongoing commitment to grow the Outdoor Education Programme at our School.

If you are interested in further developing your outdoor education skills to pupils across an age range at one of the country's top independent schools where kindness is at the heart of what we do, then this is an ideal opportunity for you.  

The successful candidate will be supporting the delivery of a range of outdoor education sessions and to contribute to developing a standalone curriculum, as well as investigating avenues to integrate outdoor education into the academic curriculum. There will be opportunity for you to manage your own projects such as introducing a new programme to the Yr9s, therefore, enthusiasm for working with children and a passion for outdoor education is essential!

This role will offer you the opportunity to develop your teaching and communication skills to help you build a career within an outdoor industry and/or more School specific environments. We are looking for candidates who are looking to gain experience within Outdoor Education or candidates with prior experience to immediately begin leading on projects and be involved in further opportunities such as overseeing for DofE programme.

Please read our candidate information pack for further information.

THE SCHOOL

A culture of community, kindness and belonging

Highgate is a different kind of independent school. We are a school whose charitable ethos is an inextricable part of both staff and pupil DNA. Highgate doesn’t exist in a bubble, but is connected to, and part of, a community. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and, in 2017, Highgate co-founded the free sixth form school, The London Academy of Excellence Tottenham (LAET), with Tottenham Hotspur Football Club as principal business sponsor.

From the Pre-Prep right up to the Sixth Form, we are actively seeking to embed a real sense of belonging at Highgate. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of an environment that:

• welcomes them
• enables them to be themselves
•  understands them
• encourages questioning, self-knowledge, and self-expression
• helps them not just to manage, but to thrive, to discover and pursue their passions, and to develop as individuals and members of a community.

To do this, we are evaluating diversity in our professional, curricular and co-curricular life, exploring how to attract pupils and staff from all backgrounds to work and learn at Highgate and providing opportunities to share our own experiences as well as learning from alternative perspectives. Our work on inclusion at Highgate involves pupils, staff, alumni, parents and carers.

Award-winning success

Founded over 450 years ago in 1565 by Sir Roger Cholmeley, Highgate is one of the UK’s leading co-educational independent schools for pupils aged 4-18. There are currently in the region of 1,900 pupils split across our Pre-Preparatory School, Junior School and Senior School sites, in conjunction with approximately 600 teaching and support staff. We are proud to be able to claim some of the top academic results across the UK, as well as titles of Independent School of the Year 2019 and Independent School of the Year for Social Mobility 2019. Highgate has recently been named the Sunday Times London Independent School of the Decade by Parent Power, The Sunday Times Schools Guide. “Ranking in the top 25 independent schools in the UK for its results in the examination hall, Highgate achieves well for its children. But it also makes a difference for many more children beyond its own gates.” Alistair McCall, The Sunday Times.

Highgate School supports anonymous recruitment. This means we hide your personal, identifying information to remove bias from the hiring process. We encourage applications from candidates who experience barriers and inequity due to their ethnicity, gender identity, physical or mental health, sexuality, and/or socio-economic background.

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, overseas police check if necessary and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Please note that this role is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not ‘protected’ (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview.