Biology Technician - Monday - Friday

Culford School are looking for a Biology Technician to join our team.

Permanent, Full-time (38 weeks pa)

Working hours:

Term time: 08.00 - 16.00 Monday to Friday, which includes a 30 minute unpaid lunch break. May Day is a working day. Term dates are shown on our website each year.

School holidays: You will be required to work 37.5 hours per week for 4 weeks of the Culford school holiday periods as follows: one week immediately before the start of each academic school year, 3 days in the October half-term, one week immediately before the start of the Summer Term, two weeks immediately after the end of the Summer Term and 2 other days to be agreed.

Salary: In the range of £20,601 per annum plus benefit package. This is divided into 12 equal parts to be paid monthly.

Holiday entitlement: You will not be entitled to holidays (ie time off), or any public holidays, within the working weeks defined above, as you will have non-working weeks each year. 5.6 weeks of holiday pay entitlement is included within your salary.

Start Date: November 2024

The role

As Biology technician, responsible to the Senior Laboratory Technician, working proactively alongside the science teachers to ensure that equipment is procured, maintained and utilised safely and effectively in the classroom. 

Training

Relevant training will be provided to allow you to carry out your role safely and effectively.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The following list is not exhaustive and assumes that from time to time other tasks not listed, may be required to ensure the efficient operation of the school.

General Laboratory Technician duties

• Provide materials (including making up of solutions to the required concentration, as well as standard solutions) and equipment required for practical lessons as specified by teaching staff, either as demonstration or class experiment. Demonstrate use of equipment when required.
• Ability to standardise laboratory reagents such as acids, alkalis and other bench reagents.
• Ability to assemble and/or check suitability and function of apparatus and experiments using appropriate teacher guides/ handbooks or laboratory manuals.
• Dismantle, clear away, repair, discard, dispose of residues, sterilise, wash and clean apparatus, glassware and all other equipment after practical sessions and return all equipment to its appropriate storage area, as the situation demands.
• Keep a check on safety regulations and risk assessments, and to advise others where there may be a problem. To keep up to date with CLEAPSS regulations.
• Provide a back-up service for lessons so that extras, deficiencies, faults or spare equipment may be available for lesson continuity.
• Record and maintain stock levels of consumable items, ordering replacements as necessary. Anticipate possible usage of less commonly used materials and perishable items and keep appropriate stock levels.
• Check delivery notes/invoices and date and rotate consumable items.
• Keep Laboratories, prep room and store areas in a clean, safe and workmanlike condition at all times, and deal with/report potential hazards, or residue/breakages etc.
• Keep a check and report on all text books: Deal with new text books, coordinate and keep records of all text books being issued and returned, to repair and report any damaged texts.
• Carry out routine maintenance and/or repair of equipment as is practicable.
• Provide information for students and teachers on the correct way to handle equipment and chemicals in order to avoid accidents and/or damage to equipment.
• Assist with laboratory demonstrations on how to use equipment and provide technical support to students and teachers, including health and safety advice to ensure that correct procedures are adhered to at all times.
• Annually deep clean, refurbish benches and restock the Laboratories and prep room area to ensure ‘working’ levels of equipment are maintained.

Additional responsibilities if supporting the Biology department (subject to discussions with senior technician):

• Trial new or modified experiments e.g. required practical experiments at GCSE and A Level.
• To budget for, order and keep records of orders and capital items as authorised by the Head of Department.
• To provide administrative support to the teachers in the chemistry department including photocopying, helping organise and collate internal exam papers.
• Organisation of all Biology equipment within the Biology prep room. This will include organisation of the stock, cupboards and shelves.
• To be responsible for the maintenance/ repair of all Biology equipment, including electrical and electronics equipment.
• To advise the Head of Biology/Science where appropriate as to the required replacement/ professional repair of electrical/electronic equipment.
• To de-mount all the fume cupboard linings, clean and reassemble.
• Empty, clean and restock equipment trays.
• Do an annual chemical stocktake and dispose/replace out of date stock.
• To carry out any reasonable request made by teachers and Head of Biology/Science
• To support in the teaching of dissection e.g. pig eyeball dissection

Please visit https://www.culford.co.uk/about-us/work-for-us to apply for this position. Please note applications will only be accepted where a Culford Application form has been completed.

Culford School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and we expect all staff to share this commitment. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974; pre-employment checks will be carried out, references will be sought and successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check and other relevant checks with statutory bodies.

We comply with the Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) code of practice and have a written policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, both of which are available on request. As you have been shortlisted, you are required to declare any relevant convictions, adult cautions or other matters which may affect your suitability to work with children. As a result of amendments to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (exceptions order 1975) in 2013 and 2020, some minor offences are now protected (filtered) and should not be disclosed to potential employers, and employers cannot take these offences into account.

If you are unsure whether you need to disclose criminal information, you should seek legal advice or you may wish to contact Nacro or Unlock for impartial advice. There is more information on filtering and protected offences on the Ministry of Justice website.

Nacro - https://www.nacro.org.uk/criminal-record-support-service/ or phone 0300 123 1999

Unlock – http://hub.unlock.org.uk/contact/ phone 01634 247350 text 07824 113848