Groundsperson Apprentice

Set across three nearby sites totalling almost 40 acres, the school’s grounds include a wide range of sports pitches, training areas and landscaped spaces used extensively throughout the year by pupils, staff, leisure centre members, alumni sporting associations and visiting teams. This is an excellent opportunity for someone who takes pride in their work and enjoys working outdoors in a varied and active role.

The successful candidate will play a key role in preparing and maintaining rugby, football and cricket pitches, and wider landscaped areas to a high standard, helping to support a busy and well-used sporting environment. The role offers varied, hands-on work throughout the seasons, alongside opportunities to develop practical skills and industry knowledge within a professional school environment.

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.

This position would suit someone who is reliable, proactive and keen to contribute to maintaining excellent sporting facilities for pupils, members and the wider School community.

Key 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 Earthquaking 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, Bursar or Director of Operations & Estates

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 7 penalty points and no endorsements for serious convictions (essential) Have a keen desire to improve standards (essential) A keen interest in sport (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)

Training:

Sports Turf Operative Level 2.

An apprenticeship includes regular training with Hadlow College. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

Training Outcome:

You will have a full qualification in Sport Turf Level 2. 

Employer Description:

For over 360 years we have educated the children of local families in south-east London. Life is co-educational and we believe school should be too. If you’re happy you will do well – we look after you to make sure you are, and you will.

Set in a leafy corner of south-east London, we have around 1300 pupils across both the senior and junior schools. With a reputation for academic excellence and outstanding pastoral care, our ethos is as a real-world school, grounded in its local community. We are proud of our history but not burdened or defined by it.

We understand that the journey to success in life beyond Colfe’s starts from the moment our pupils join us. Our mission is to inspire curiosity, ambition, enthusiasm and a love of learning that starts from a child’s very first day here. Colfe’s pupils are well-rounded, happy individuals who each contribute something unique to the school.

Academic standards are high. Pupils excel at both GCSE and A-level with outstanding results above the national average. Over 90% of Colfe’s leavers go on to their first-choice university.

We offer outstanding scholarship opportunities, including academic and co-curricular scholarships at Year 7 and Year 12. We are particularly proud to offer the groundbreaking Leatherseller Scholarship Programme, providing fully funded, means-tested Sixth Form scholarships awarded to talented pupils based on academic potential and economic need.

Our on-site resources are unique for a London day school. We are lucky to have such an abundance of green space on site as well as a performing arts centre, sports centre with full size swimming pool, two additional extensive sports grounds and a dedicated forest school for younger pupils nearby.

At Colfe’s you don’t just learn, you learn for life.

Working Hours :
Monday - Friday, 08:00 - 16:30 with a 1-hour unpaid lunch break. Regular overtime required at weekends for school matches.

Skills:
Communication skills,Attention to detail,Organisation skills,Problem solving skills,Presentation skills,Team working,Creative,Initiative,Physical fitness