Job title: Learning Facilitator

Salary: £19.32 p/hr (SCP 26), paid per workshop at £48.30 for a 2.5 hour session

Hours: Casual

Contract: Casual, usually term-time

Location: Leeds Discovery Centre (1 role), Leeds City Museum (1 role).

We are seeking two dynamic and skilled educators to join our highly successful casual school delivery team at Leeds Discovery Centre (1 role), and Leeds City Museum (1 role). You will deliver an established programme of curriculum-linked interactive workshops to school groups at one of the above venues. Please state which venue you are applying for at the start of your application as all Learning Facilitators have a ‘home’ venue.

About the venues

Leeds Discovery Centre (LS10) is our accessible museum store where we house around 1 million objects. The KS2 school workshops focus on ancient civilisations (Egypt and Prehistory) and natural science (Rocks and Fossils, Adaptations). Group management skills are useful as every school group has a store tour within the workshop. Transport is useful as there is the possibility of workshop delivery in schools (outreach) with this role.

Leeds City Museum (LS1) is a city centre museum with galleries based all the Leeds Museums and Galleries collections. The KS1 and KS2 programmes focus on ancient civilisations (Rome, Egypt and Greece) and natural science (Adaptations and Classification) and KS3 on social history. Knowledge of these areas of the curriculum would be useful.

About you

As the Learning Facilitator, you will be:

A skilled facilitator able to work with different ages of pupils from school settings.
Highly organised and be able to juggle the practicalities, differentiation and accessible requirements of a group visit to a museum
Able to work colleagues from the venue team and the Learning and Access Officer
Curious, responsive and adaptable to existing and new audience needs and interests.

About the role

As the Learning Facilitators you will deliver the popular KS1-4 school workshops at Leeds Discovery Centre (1 role) and Leeds City Museum (1 role). The workshops are high quality, creative, differentiated and accessible, collection and exhibition focused and interactive. You will set up the workshop, meet and greet the school group, lead the group through a child-centred 1.5– 2 hr workshop (teaching to the workshop plan developed by the Learning and Access Officer, whilst being responsive to the children and teacher’s needs), give out evaluation forms to the teachers and students, close down the activity and pack away. You will be qualified to degree-level, or similar vocational qualification, with hands-on teaching or museums experience. We provide full training on workshop content, venue collections, Health and Safety and Safeguarding.

Learning is at the heart of Leeds Museums and Galleries. We welcome, inspire and engage diverse audiences with collections and exhibitions and enable people to build their own interpretations. We are a strong Learning and Access team, who are leaders in the field of museum and gallery learning. We develop innovative ways of celebrating material culture using object and artwork learning and robust, research orientated practices. As a team, we focus on the three C’s: Curiosity, Creativity and Conversation.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

a competitive sessional rate and annual leave entitlement
flexible working arrangements subject to service requirements
a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities
a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

How to apply

Please complete the online application form. Please state which venue you are applying for within your application.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact:

Louise Calpin, Learning and Access Officer, Leeds Discovery Centre: calpin@leeds.gov.uk
Natalie Haigh, Learning and Access Officer, Leeds City Museum, Natalie.haigh@leeds.gov.uk

We welcome applications from everyone and actively seek a diverse range of applicants from all backgrounds and cultures. We particularly encourage applications from, but not limited to, women, carers, veterans as well as LGBT+, ethnically diverse, disabled and care experienced people.

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, you must consider your own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker visa route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the standard salary rate of at least £41,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. Ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job Description

Job Purpose

Leeds Museums and Galleries is the largest local authority museums service in the country with 1.3 million objects, and over 48,000 schoolchildren per year through our learning programmes. Our reach is local, regional, national and international.

The casual Learning Facilitators deliver the popular schools workshops at the busy sites. They deliver high quality, creative, differentiated and accessible, collection and exhibition focused interactive workshops on various topics to pre-booked school groups at a single Leeds Museums and Galleries venue. The postholder will set up the workshop, meet and greet the school group, lead the group through a child-centred 45 minute – 2 hr workshop (teaching to the workshop plan developed by the Learning and Access Officer, whilst being responsive to the children and teacher’s needs), give out evaluation forms to the teachers and students, close down the activity and pack away.

The post is term-time only and only booked based on school demand. The post is funded through the school workshop income.

Responsibilities for Grade:

We expect a Learning Facilitator to ensure, safe, pleasurable, rewarding, high quality school visits to a range of groups and individuals from across age and ability ranges.

To do this, the post holder will:

Audiences:

Have a good understanding of the National Curriculum for England, and how the workshop / teacher expectations fit with the National Curriculum
Be a skilled facilitator and actively deliver engaging, differentiated, accessible 45 min-2 hr workshops for schools to the workshop plan developed by the Learning and Access Officer, fulfilling the teaching objectives
Be responsive and adaptable to pupil needs and interests

Access:

Working alongside the Learning and Access Officer, ensure accessibility and inclusivity within our spaces and workshops (including intellectual, physical and sensory, attitudinal and emotional, cultural and financial access)

Management:

Set up and clear away the workshop resources and the workshop space (tables, chairs, art materials, museum objects) as required for the workshop
To meet and greet the school group, and sign them into the building (for safety and performance data)
Comply with venue risk assessments to ensure the safety of the young people and adults participating in the workshops and convey H&S information to the school group
Manage the learning environment (classroom and resource management) for a safe and high quality experience
Capture performance / evaluative information through evaluation forms to pupils and teachers, or through other mechanisms as appropriate, and give completed evaluation forms to the Learning and Access Officer at the end of each workshop
Feedback developmental comments or changes regarding the workshop to the Learning and Access Officer
Deliver accurate and timely time sheets for casual payments

Relationships:

Liaise with the Learning and Access Officer, site management team and with regards to bookings and availability

Personal development:

Attend training relating to H&S, safeguarding, the venue, object and collection handling, and the delivery of school workshops
Be curious. Be open to new experiences, working creatively and being reflective. Be passionate about the power of object learning, and innovative in its uses with audiences. Be resilient and proactive.
Develop excellence in object learning through programmes, projects, action research and training

Leeds City Council:

Promote an outward looking, positive image of the service at all times
It’s everyone’s responsibility to keep people safe. Promote, adhere to and apply consistently, the Leeds Safeguarding Boards and Leeds City Council Safeguarding, Equality and Diversity and Health and Safety policies and procedures with colleagues, partners and members of the public. Be responsible for your own H&S at work
Champion Leeds as a Child and Age Friendly City
Leeds wants to have a strong economy and to be a compassionate city. Promote and adhere to the Leeds City Council values of: working as a team; being open, honest and trusted; working with communities; treating people fairly and spending money wisely
To undertake any other duties as commensurate with the grade

Qualifications:

Educated to degree level or professional vocational qualification within a relevant subject/area, or equivalent teaching experience

Essential requirements Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the following essential requirements.

Skills Required

Communication:

Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written and verbal)

Interpersonal:

Track record of facilitating a range of learning audiences, individually and in groups (differentiation and accessibility) using object or artwork based learning
Maintenance of excellent working relationships with colleagues and partners (eg, teachers and school staff)

Time management:

Track record of delivering work programmes (eg. workshops, learning programmes or projects) to specific deadlines

Teamwork:

Ability to work effectively as part of a team
Ability to manage, motivate and develop teams and individuals

Digital:

Track record of using Microsoft Office, Outlook

Knowledge Required

Audiences:

Working knowledge of the primary National Curriculum for England

Experience Required

Audiences:

Experience of delivering learning activities to a range of audiences, or teaching, within in a heritage or education context

Relationships:

Experience of maintaining relationships and direct contact with customers / stakeholders (eg. teachers, pupils, schools)

Management:

Experience of managing a learning environment (eg. workshop setting)

Behavioural & other Characteristics required

Personal development:

Commitment to own CPD and personal development
Willing to work creatively and innovatively, and open to new ideas
Passionate about the power of learning using museum collections
Self-motivated, independent learner, with the ability to use own initiative
Demonstrate a strong interest in the work of Leeds Museums and Galleries
Flexible approach to working hours

Essential behavioural and other characteristics

Understand and embrace Leeds City Council values and behaviours and codes of conduct
Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Leeds Ambitions of health and wellbeing, inclusive growth, thriving strong communities, and a resilient sustainable city
Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures
Carry out duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills
Be aware of and support difference and ensure equality for all working in an anti-discriminatory manner, upholding equality and diversity of Leeds City Council
Recognise and appropriately challenge any incidents of racism, bullying, harassment, victimisation, and any form of abuse, reporting any concerns to the appropriate person
Flexible and adaptable to change to assist other services as required commensurate to grade.
The Council has adopted a flexibility protocol and the role will be expected to work within these parameters

Desirable requirementsCandidates are not required to meet all the following desirable requirements however these may be used to distinguish between candidates.

Knowledge required

Audiences

Knowledge of current theory, policy and practice in museum / gallery learning, and of best practice in object based learning
Knowledge of learning styles and theories in a museum / gallery learning

Access:

Understanding of what accessibility means in a museum / gallery environment