Short Break Outdoor Instructor - Nottinghamshire
The Adventure Service
Location: Mansfield Woodhouse, Chesterfield or TopValley
Salary: £446.04 - £510.48 per weekend
Closes: 20/4/25 (extended)
Outdoor Instructor for Short Breaks at The Adventure Service
The Adventure Service Ltd is an independent social care day and education service that specialises in delivering high-quality outdoor learning experiences for all, including adults with additional support needs. We do this through a variety of adventure-based activities. Each Adventurer is supported and encouraged to do as much as they can from preparing and setting up of activities and buying resources to enable the activity to happen, to pushing themselves to reach that little bit further up the climbing wall or taking their first canoe trip on the open water.
No matter what a person’s perceived abilities, we gently support and encourage them to challenge themselves throughout their time with The Adventure Service Ltd.
This post is based in our Short Break Service. We offer targeted personal development opportunities for adults with additional support needs. We support groups of Adventurers to take part in outdoor adventure activities and learning life skills throughout a Short Break weekend. Activities include mountain biking, rock climbing, abseiling, weaselling, bushcraft, canoeing, hill walking, archery and much more.
Terms:
36 hours per weekend. Start 4.15pm Friday and Finish 4.15pm Sunday. Contracts range between 6 and 24 weekends per year
Contracts range between 6 and 24 weekends per year.
Pay: £446.04 - £510.48 per weekend plus annual leave entitlement – depending on experience and qualifications.
Post Locations: Starting location at Mansfield Woodhouse, Chesterfield or Top Valley depending on the needs of the Short Break Service.
Responsible to: Short Break Manager
Responsible for: Delivering high quality outdoor education programmes to new and existing service users. Supporting service users with personal care needs and life skills throughout the weekend.
Job Outline
The postholder will be required to work with people with additional support needs in order to support the delivery of Short Break weekends and activities. The postholder will be happy to work in an outdoor environment and the delivery of outdoor activities.
The postholder will provide a range of personal and practical care duties for adults with additional support needs while following the support plan requirements for the individual and helping them to achieve their personal goals.
This post will require communication and liaison with service users, relatives and other staff members.
The post holder will need to work closely with other staff to support service users throughout the Short Break weekends. The post holder will be expected to work to an agreed programme of work.
Principal Responsibilities and Duties
1. Negotiate and deliver the care and social needs of service users with the support of The Adventure Service Ltd management team.
2. Plan and instruct outdoor adventurous activities to the highest and safest standards.
3. Comply with standards set by The Adventure Service Ltd
4. Carry out occasional out of hours paid work.
5. Contribute to the development of the service and service programme.
6. Ensure the safe operation of the service programme.
7. Ensure that relevant qualifications are held and revalidated as appropriate.
8. Keep up to date with current best practice in Social Care and outdoor education.
9. To be responsible for establishing good working relationships both internally and externally.
10. Compliance with The Adventure Service Ltd.’s Policies and Procedures and to make known to The Adventure Service Ltd management team any areas which are not adequately covered.
11. To participate actively in supporting The Adventure Service Ltd.’s principles and practices of equality of opportunity as laid down within the Equal Opportunities Policy.
12. To be responsible for the application of Health & Safety practices within the daily operations, sharing a common responsibility for Health and Safety across the service.
13. Employees will be required to give certain information relating to themselves in order that The Adventure Service Ltd may properly carry out its duties, rights and obligations as an employer. The Adventure Service Ltd will process and control such data principally for personnel, administrative and payroll purposes.
14. As a term of your employment and in order to maintain effective operations, you may be required to undertake any other reasonable task, commensurate with your role, as determined by your Line Manager or The Adventure Service Ltd management team.
15. Employees will be expected to drive service transport.
16. Employees will be qualified and confident in delivering first aid treatment, if required to do so or to undertake relevant training.
Qualifications
- Basic qualification in numeracy and literacy
- To hold these awards or be ready for assessments in two or more of the following qualifications -Climbing Wall Instructor, Archery Instructor, Rock Climbing Instructor, Horizontal or Vertical Cave and Mine Leader, Mountain Bike Leader, Paddle sport Leader, Hill and Moorland or Mountain Leader[MR1] .
- Willingness and ability to complete the Skills for Care “Care Certificate”.
Knowledge
- Must understand the need for confidentiality.
- Awareness of Equality and Diversity issues.
- Awareness of Safeguarding and of Health and Safety.
- An understanding of team management
Desirable
- Experience of supporting people with additional support needs either professionally or personally.
- Knowledge of health and safety relating to lone working, moving and handling and risk assessments.
- Ability to deal with conflict.
- Skills in behaviour management.
- Makaton/BSL/Other communication methods.
Skills
- Be sensitive to individual needs of disabled service users.
- Good verbal and written communication skills.
- Ability to identify key information and report it to line manager.
- Ability to accurately record information.
- Ability to communicate effectively with service users, parents and carers.
- Ability to work without direct supervision.
- Ability to work as part of a team.
Personal Attributes
- Willingness to provide personal and intimate care as appropriate.
- Must be flexible and reliable.
- Must be committed to personal development and training.
- Commitment to deliver the highest quality service within the regulatory framework.
- Maintaining relationships through periods of stress.
Essential
- To be 25 years old and above, hold a full driving licence and have a willingness to drive The Adventure Service Ltd transport.
- To complete internal and external courses as required. This will include but is not limited to The Adventure Service Induction process, Outdoor First Aid, Food Hygiene, Care Certificate, Safeguarding, Managing Actual and Potential Aggression.
The successful applicant will be required to undertake Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check, provide satisfactory references and complete a six-month probationary period.
Eligible employees will be auto enrolled in our workplace pension scheme.
To apply, CV's and a cover letter should be sent to [email protected]
The cover letter needs to address the following questions:
- What is your experience of working with people with additional support needs?
- What is your experience of the outdoors (personal or professional)?
- What qualities will you bring to the Short Breaks?