Instructor

The Role:

As an Instructor in our London Team, you too can make a powerful contribution. Every child should have the opportunity to experience the great outdoors, to feel the wind in their hair and the squelch of mud underfoot. Without access to a traditional Forest School, our urban Forest School is an opportunity for inner city children to explore and be inspired by the limited green space that they do have.

As an Instructor, you will plan, lead and assist with Forest School programmes, outdoor learning workshops, afterschool clubs, holiday activities and birthday parties. You will monitor the success of sessions and think of innovative ways to improve them.

You will have a welcoming, open-minded approach. Children may be unfocused and over-excited, some may run straight in, while others might be cautious. It will be your responsibility to guide, reassure and think of learning techniques to engage all the children. It is very rewarding to see the children come to embrace the experience. By the end of a session, even the most hesitant child could be rolling logs to look for worms or busy building a den in the bushes.

The team is made up of three members of staff, working together to inspire the children of Westminster. They are part of the much larger Sayers team, which operates in a residential centre in Surrey. Occasionally, you may go there to receive training and/or to support staff.

Alongside your colleagues, you will manage communication and bookings with schools. You will ensure that paperwork is up to date and attend to any other additional admin work. You’ll participate in keeping classrooms clean and tidy; managing the edible garden; and ensuring that the site is safe every day, reporting concerns when needed.

For this role, you will need to undertake regular CPD courses, as well as keeping your Outdoor Paediatric First Aid certificate and enhanced DBS up to date.

The role is 3 days with additional occasional weekend work. Days to include Tuesdays, at least one of Monday and Friday and one other day. You will be working with our long term Home Educated Group one day a week. 

About You:

Ideally, you have at least one year’s experience of leading Forest Schools. We would like for you to have experience working in outdoor settings and natural habitats. This will be complemented by a qualification as a Forest School leader level 3 and paediatric first aid. It would be desirable if you had a degree in science, geography, environmental studies, outdoor education or a related field.

You have good communication skills, both written and verbal. In particular, you know how to be friendly and approachable to young children. You are comfortable adapting to teaching children of different ages in outdoor settings. You have a quick mind for managing risk and are organised. Working alone suits you, as does working alongside colleagues.