Science Technician - Part-time, Permanent

Permanent, part-time (up to 0.6FTE during school term-time only), non-residential position, commencing September 2022.

An enthusiastic and highly professional Science Technician is sought to provide safe and effective support to classroom teachers, within a friendly prep. room and wider department team.

Our staff are inspiring and creative, supporting one another in transforming the futures of intelligent pupils with literacy and language-related additional challenges, by empowering them.

www.morehouseschool.co.uk

About the department:

The Science department is based close to Main House, in the centre of the School’s site, within a dedicated suite of seven fully-equipped laboratories and a further teaching space. Led by Mrs Susie Pickett, the department comprises nine specialist Science teachers, supported by a team of three technicians to deliver Science at Key Stages three, four and five, including GCSE, Level 2 BTEC, and A Level Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

The department is at an exciting stage; we are awaiting confirmation of planning permission to replace two of our existing laboratories with a larger, purpose-built suite comprising three new laboratories and new prep. room facilities.

Our team of technicians provide a vital service in managing the Science department’s stock of chemicals, equipment and other resources, ensuring proper storage and appropriate stock-levels, supporting teachers in the preparation and dismantling of resources for practical experiments, and promoting best-practice in health and safety.

The School:

Nationally celebrated, More House School provides an exceptional, mainstream education for intelligent boys with Specific Learning Difficulties and weakness in their developmental language skills. Providing a transformative education repeatedly recognised as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted over more than a decade, we offer a specialised learning environment for 490 day and boarding boys from Year 4 to Year 13. Our pupils are taught to recognise their strengths and develop their self-belief so that they achieve independence and extraordinary results at GCSE, BTEC and A Level, above the national averages. A majority progress to university. Class-sizes are small, with a maximum of 14 pupils.

About this post:

We are seeking to appoint a committed and highly-professional technician to provide prep. room support, as part of a team of technicians, to the teachers in the Science department and on occasion to Gard’ner House (the junior years’ department). Duties will include: 

• ensuring that a safe, effective and efficient laboratory technical service is provided, for use by students and teaching staff; 
• as appropriate, providing technical advice and assistance in the classroom to support students and to assist teaching staff with the provision of learning activities by helping to ensure the prep. room is well resourced, organised and developed with equipment kept in good working order; 
• ensuring that the health and safety requirements and other relevant regulations are in place and adhered to, including the completion and recording of necessary checks and risk-assessments, and by keeping up-to-date with current procedures and practices; 
• ensuring that the preparation areas, storerooms, glassware and equipment are in a safe, clean and orderly condition; 
• ensuring the safe treatment and disposal of used materials, including hazardous substances, and responding to actual or potential hazards; 
• supporting with stock control, compiling orders, liaising and/or negotiating with suppliers, organising the maintenance, repair, calibration and testing of equipment and maintaining appropriate records.

Essential Qualifications and Experience 

• GCSE or equivalent, including English and Mathematics, and Further Education qualifications. 
• Competence with basic Information Technology applications, including those within the Office 365 suite. 
• Confident standard of written English and attention to accuracy.

Desirable: 

• A degree or other higher qualification relating to science. 
• Experience of working in a relevant discipline within a laboratory or similar environment. 
• Experience of working within a child or young-person centred environment. 
• Working knowledge of putting in place and monitoring regulations/legislation relating to laboratories such as health and safety and COSHH requirements.

Hours:

Part time, working Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during term-time only. Although the School day runs from 8.30am to 4.20pm, shorter hours may be available. (Note: academic terms are typically shorter than those in the state-maintained sector, and School holidays are therefore significantly longer).

Attendance at School events outside these hours from time to time, as well as a few INSET days towards the beginning or end of School holidays.

Safeguarding:

This role is deemed to be one of working in regulated activity, meaning that the post-holder may expect to come into unsupervised contact with children and young people frequently in the discharge of their duties on-campus. As such, the expectations of conduct, required of all adults working at More House School, apply to this position, as does a full Safer-Recruitment vetting process of any appointee. A key responsibility of all adults working within the School is that of ensuring the effective safeguarding of all children and young people, through adherence to the School’s policies; full-training is given.

Shortlisted candidates will be required to attend a face-to-face interview at their own expense.

Closing date for applications: 28th June 2022

Interviews expected to be held on: TBC

The School reserves the right to interview appropriate candidates in advance of the above-named dates, and to appoint. Interested candidates are therefore strongly urged to submit their application as soon as possible.