Groundsperson Apprentice

Job Title:                  Groundsperson Apprentice

Salary:                      £22,308

Hours:                      37.5 hours per week (Mon-Fri) throughout the year. Core working hours between 0800–1700 (Mon-Thu) and 0800–1600 (Fri) with 1-hour unpaid lunch break. Regular overtime required at weekends for school matches

Start                        ASAP

Key Relationships:    Head Groundsman, Groundspersons, Director of Operations & Estates, PE Staff, HPSG Staff

The Post:

Colfe’s School is looking for a reliable, hard-working and self-motivated Groundsperson Apprentice to join our in-house Grounds Team. The successful candidate will enjoy working in a busy and dynamic School; the estate comprises of three locations, all within close proximity, and contains various sports pitches, fields and garden/landscaped areas totalling nearly 40 acres. The role holder will be enrolled onto a Level 2 Sports Turf Operative apprenticeship training course at the North Kent College and will attend training one day per month at the Hadlow College campus.

Role Responsibilities:

•             Preparing and maintaining various multi-use sports pitches including rugby, football, cricket, athletics plus MUGA’s;

•             Setting up and removal of various sports and games related events, including manual handling of heavy equipment;

•             Grass cutting;

•             Verti drain;

•             Earthqauking;

•             Line Marking;

•             Pruning, strimming, weeding etc.;

•             Leaf collection;

•             Litter picking

•             Working closely with School Keeping and Maintenance staff and other colleagues within the Operations department on any areas of overlapping responsibility;

•             Any other task within capability as reasonably requested by the Headmaster or Bursar.

Personal Specification:

The ideal candidate has the following skills and attributes:

•              Able to work diligently and without supervision (essential);

•              Able to work with others in a small team (essential);

•              Proactive with a good eye for detail (essential);

•              Self-driven (essential);

•              Full driving licence valid for the UK, with fewer than 6 penalty points and no endorsements for serious convictions (essential)

•              Have a keen desire to improve standards (essential);

•              Sufficient fitness to carry out the manual handling aspects of the role;

•              Gardening and landscaping experience (desirable)

•              Cricket, football and rugby pitch preparation/repairs (desirable)

•              Experience in the use of various types of grounds machinery and equipment (desirable);

•              Experience in the preparation of good quality sports pitches and general grounds maintenance (desirable);

Qualifications desirable:

•       GCSE English & Maths Grade 4 (essential)

Application procedure  

The recruitment process will require all applicants to complete Colfe’s School application form, accompanied by a letter of application, current CV and details of two referees, who will be contacted prior to interview, in accordance with the School’s Safer Recruitment procedures. The application should be submitted electronically to: recruitment@colfes.com or by post to: Mrs A Ross, Human Resources, Colfe’s School, Horn Park Lane, London SE12 8AW 

Applications should be sent as soon as possible and by 9am, 25th October at the latest. Colfe’s reserves the right to appoint to this post before the closing date if necessary. 

Colfe’s School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure & Barring Service.