SURREY DOCKS FARM

EDUCATION& Youth assistant

Contract:Three month fixed term maternity cover for 2 days/week finishing on 17th December. Plus potential for additional school sessional work on weekday mornings.

Days: 7 hours/day (+1 unpaid lunch hour) per week on Fridays and Saturdays

Salary: £150 per week. Any additional sessional work will be paid £15/hour.

Notes: Ideally we are looking to recruit one person for this role, however if two exceptional candidates applied, we would consider splitting into two separate Youth Assistant and Education Officer posts.

The Youth Assistant role (Saturday) will continue after Christmas and the successful candidate would not need to reapply for this post if they wished to continue.

Youth Assistant Job Description

We are recruiting for aYouth Assistant to support ourYoung Farmers Club. The Club runs on Saturdays at Surrey Docks Farm and is free for local children aged 10 to 13 years old. Members get involved with all aspects of farming - including animal care, gardening, rural crafts, conservation, bushcraft and cooking. The Club is split into two sessions with members attending either the morning (10am-12:30pm) or afternoon (2pm-4:30pm).

The post will support the Youth Programmes Coordinator with the planning, preparation and delivery of the Young Farmers Club. This post is ideal for someone looking to progress into a career into environmental education. Where possible the post holder will receive training.

Key Tasks:

-Supervise and support groups of young people to carry out animal care activities, gardening tasks, cooking and crafts activities

-Progressing to independently plan and deliver activities with the support of the Youth Programmes Coordinator

-Set up for activities including preparing resources for sessions

-Ensure tools and equipment are used in a safe manner

-Ensurework spaces are tidy

-Interact with the general public visiting the Farm

-Work with people from a wide range of economic, social and cultural backgrounds

-Behavioural management of groups

Education Officer Job Description

The Education Officerwill be responsible for the administration of all school bookings including self-led visits and guided visits via email and telephone.

They will then be responsible for delivering the guided visits which include general tours and focused workshops covering topics such as apple pressing, bee keeping, composting etc. See our website for full details of the workshops we offer: The successful candidate will be given lesson plans and training.

Person Specification

Experience:

-Proven experience of teaching, youth work or informal education with 8-13 year olds

-Knowledge of the early years national curriculum

-Ability to deal with challenging behaviour in young people

-Experienceand confidence working with farm animals would be beneficial

-Interest and enthusiasm for growing food and cooking with it

-Knowledge of Health and Safety, particularly safe tool use (farm and gardening tools)

-IT literate, capable of handling emails and using a simple database

Personal Qualities:

-Passionate about engaging children and young people to learn about where their food comes from, the natural environment and practical life skills

-A willingness to work out of doors in a variety of conditions

-Reliable, enthusiastic and hardworking

-A creative thinker with a ‘can do’ attitude

-Enjoys working with people from a wide range of economic, social and cultural backgrounds

-Good team worker, building strong links with others

-Able to work unsupervised to meet deadlines

-Willingness to work additional paid teaching shifts depending on demand

Application Process

  1. To apply please send your CV and one A4 page cover letter explaining why you are suitable for the role and how you meet the job description and person specification, to Gemma Hooper (Farm Manager) before 5pm on Saturday 8thOctober

Email:

Address: Surrey Docks Farm, Rotherhithe Street, London SE16 5ET

  1. Applicants will be notified if they are through to the interview stage by 5pm on Monday 10th October
  1. Interviews anticipated to be held the week commencing 17th October

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