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Site Maintenance Operative

Site Maintenance Operative

Mary Hare School

West Berkshire

  • £25,584 - £28,163 per year
  • New
Salary:
NJC 7 £25,584 - NJC 13 £28,163
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
ASAP
Apply by:
31 January 2025

Job overview

​Hours: 37 hours per week (8am – 4pm and 10am - 6pm shift pattern - weekdays only. You would also be on-call one weekend a month.

​About Us:

Mary Hare educates 170 profoundly deaf children at its residential school in Berkshire, and we pride ourselves on our pupils’ achievements at GCSE, A-Level, BTEC and Vocational Courses. We teach highly motivated children in small classes, where you can help contribute to the real difference we make at this national centre of excellence for deaf education. No knowledge of sign language is required, as we follow an auditory/oral philosophy.


Mary Hare occupies 124 acres near Snelsmore Common comprising extensive grounds, playing fields, parkland and substantial woodlands. There is a complex built estate ranging from the 1859 Arlington Manor and outbuildings, through the 1950s secondary school, several residential buildings, swimming pool, arts centre, to the state-of-the-art primary school and boarding house completed in 2022.

The Role:

The Facilities & Estates team contributes to the smooth running of the school by delivering a range of duties and tasks to the highest standards, including preventative and reactive maintenance and small projects, grounds work and security, as well as supervision of the site and related equipment. You will help maintain a built and natural estate that provides a safe, secure, and well-maintained environment, encouraging learning and complying with all legal requirements and statutory responsibilities.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:


A wide variety of tasks will be required to be delivered in your core skills and associated areas; they will vary widely on a daily basis and from area to area depending on the season and need, and will be allocated by the Operations Supervisor on a routine basis, under strategic direction set by the Head of Operations. Typically tasks may include:


  • In response to reactive maintenance requests, as set by the Operations Supervisor, or nominated manager in their absence, to carry out repairs and maintenance to the buildings, facilities, and infrastructure within your competence, possibly including plumbing, glazing, joinery, painting, patch plastering, gardening, and general maintenance. Training can be provided to enhance skills in particular areas of interest and/or need.
  • Taking delivery of stores, materials and other goods and conveying them to their points of distribution.
  • Where necessary, dealing with enquiries from other workers and contractors, and assisting and overseeing contractors.
  • Undertaking grounds maintenance as needed depending on the season, possibly including the use of mowing and cutting equipment, line marking, ground works and small forestry work.
  • Ensuring that all tools, equipment and machinery are correctly maintained and serviced and that they are kept in good and safe working order
  • Where necessary, to act as a key holder, carrying out security procedures for the buildings and grounds, including locking up when rostered.
  • To be aware of, and comply with, the policies and procedures relating to child protection, health and safety, security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting all concerns to an appropriate person.
  • The role will involve using appropriate vehicles in discharge of duties, eg minibus, pickup, ride-on mowers and tractors.


This role requires the holder to be physically fit and able to carry out tasks appropriate to the role.

Person Specification:

Essential Qualifications

  • General Certificate of Secondary Education or equivalent (including English and Maths)
  • Clean Driving Licence Cat B

Desirable Qualifications

  • Formal Craft Qualifications at Level 2 or higher, or equivalent experience.


Knowledge and Experience

Essential:

  • Good craft skills; one or more of eg: painting, basic plumbing, carpentry, electrics, drains and sewerage systems, roofing and gutters.
  • Pasion for working within the maintenance industry

Desirable:

  • Experience of qualification in horticultural or arboricultural skills
  • Awareness of Safeguarding requirements and good practice within an education setting
  • First Aid Qualification
  • Cat D1 driving licence

Skills & Personal Qualities:

  • Excellent communication skills to enable effective dialogue with colleagues, staff, visitors, and where applicable, students
  • Organised and self-motivated, with a proven record for good time-keeping, meeting targets and deadlines.
  • Reliable and stable.
  • Pro-active approach and well-developed problem-solving skills.
  • Enthusiastic, with an eagerness to learn new skills and a commitment to personal continuous development.
  • Self-motivated and able to work alone without direction.
  • Adaptable and flexible with working patterns when required.
  • Committed to contributing toward the school community.
  • Practical and constructional.

Benefits:

As well as an inclusive and supportive work environment, and a stunning location benefits also include: a generous defined contribution pensions scheme, subsidised canteen, free on-site parking, 24/7 Employee Assistance Program for employee's and household members and much more…

 

How to Apply!:

To apply, please click the ‘Apply’ box at the foot of the page

For more information, please download the Job Description and Application Form.

​Closing date: 31st January 2025

Please note that Mary Hare adheres to Safer Recruitment Standards and as such all applications must be made via the Mary Hare website and using the Mary Hare Application Form.

Applications will only be considered via a completed Application Form; CV’s cannot be accepted.


Mary Hare | Arlington Manor | Snelsmore Common | Newbury | Berkshire | RG14 3BQ

This School is committed to safeguarding children and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All shortlisted candidates will be asked to complete a criminal records self-disclosure form and successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks along with other relevant employment checks. We are committed to securing genuine equality of opportunity in all aspects of our activities as an employer and education provider. The role you are applying for is ‘exempt’ from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974

Attached documents

About Mary Hare School

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  • Mary Hare School
  • Arlington Manor, Snelsmore Common, Newbury
  • Berkshire
  • RG14 3BQ
  • United Kingdom
+44 1635 244200

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Our vision

That all deaf children should receive the education and support which will enable them to achieve their full potential at home, school and in their subsequent careers

Objectives

  • Achieve the highest possible standards of educating deaf children, from early learning to tertiary education 
  • Be a major influence of national policy, practice and guidance in relation to deaf children and their education 
  • Enable families to achieve their vision and aspirations for their deaf child 
  • Support deaf children and young people in their emotional and social well-being 
  • Be recognised as a key provider of the highest quality training for all practitioners working with deaf children and young people 
  • Provide consultancy, advisory support, assessment and technical services that support the vision

Our history

Towards the end of the 19th Century, a number of prominent women were beginning to influence events in ways which were to have a profound effect on developments in 20th Century society. One such woman was the educationalist Miss Mary Hare. Her vision was that deaf children were capable of realising the full potential of their intellect and that they had no need of shelter from the rigours of hearing society in the growing number of asylums for the deaf and dumb. Such shelter served only to deny them opportunities and fundamental rights. She set about overturning the short-sighted view that the deaf child's prime needs were for care and protection, by establishing a small school in London in 1883. By 1916 this centre of learning had blossomed into the Dene Hollow Oral School for the Deaf based in Sussex and widely regarded as one of the best schools for deaf children in the Kingdom. During these twenty or so years of growth and development, Mary Hare had been able to show that her vision was not only justified and realistic, but achievable. 

It was to honour the great contribution that this pioneer had made to the education of deaf children, that shortly after her death in 1945, Dene Hollow School was redesignated as the National Grammar School for the Deaf. Bearing her name, The Mary Hare Grammar School came to serve the needs of potentially able severely and profoundly deaf children throughout the United Kingdom. The rapid growth that this change brought necessitated a move to larger premises, and in 1948 the school acquired and occupied its present beautiful site close to Newbury in Berkshire. It is our hope that half a century after Mary Hare's death, the achievements of our pupils today still serve to honour her name and her vision. 

Local information and facilities 

Newbury is a market town located in West Berkshire in England in the UK with good bus, rail and road links and is located 50 miles south west of London. There are a wide selection of hotels in Newbury offering good hotel accommodation and bed and breakfast accommodation for visitors in and around Newbury. The Kennet and Avon Canal disects the town which has many historical buildings and places of interest including the Corn Exchange Theatre and the Museum by the Canal. The Newbury Racecourse is within 1 mile of the town centre and nearby are Highclere Castle, Donnington Castle, Snelsmore Countryside Park, the Ridgeway, the Downs and a host of other attractions. 

School Information

Mary Hare School is the largest school for profoundly and severely deaf children in the UK. Mary Hare teaches using an auditory oral approach, so that children learn though spoken and written English – no sign language is used in teaching. The school has maintained a high standard, with over 85% of pupils gaining 5 or more GCSEs for the last 5 years and 95 % pass rate at A level. Nearly all leavers go on to further education. 

The school is part of a large national charity and benefits from the additional activities of the Mary Hare Charity. An active fundraising department and various trading activities generate funds to support the development of the school. The Training Division provides opportunities for teachers to attend national and international conferences organised on site. The Training Division also offers post-graduate courses including the mandatory qualification for Teachers of the Deaf and the MSc in Educational Audiology and MA in Special Education (Hearing Impairment). 

Mary Hare also has an Arts Centre on site, which houses the school’s music and performing arts department, but also offers a programme of arts events including music, theatre dance and comedy. 

For further information please visit our website: www.maryhare.org.uk

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