Overview
How you’ll make a difference
Vinney Green Secure Children’s Home offers young people a safe, caring environment, where they will experience quality care, education, vocational and life skills training. As an Instructor, you will work closely with our Education team to create, find and deliver engaging lessons which help support young people in their present circumstances and equip them for a future beyond Vinney Green.
What you will be doing
- Supporting the educational and developmental needs of our young people, you will lead, design and implement an engaging and relevant subject curriculum, including schemes of work for up to 24 young people in groups of 2-4.
- You will lead on a subject area such as technology, digital technology, business and employability, physical education, food tech, art or vocational subjects such as DIY, motor vehicle or multi-trade subjects.
- It will be your responsibility to assess, monitor and record the progress and achievements of assigned pupils, reporting information back to the Head or Deputy Head of Education.
- Daily, you will educate, support and empower children in our trauma-informed environment, maintaining daily logs, development and behaviour management records.
- It is key that you consider the learning environment when planning resources so you can deliver specified learning, developmental or welfare activities to individuals or groups of pupils within an agreed system of supervision.
- You will build effective and positive relationships with our children and young people, many of whom have experienced complex trauma, and you will contribute positively to developing their social skills and self-esteem.
What we need from you
- It is essential that you hold an NVQ Level 2, GCSE, Functional Skills Level 2 or equivalent qualification in maths and English and have a good standard of general education.
- We require you to have considerable experience of working with young people in an educational context, with evidence of relevant training in the appropriate age range or curriculum learning area.
- Given the nature of the role, you must have good interpersonal skills with both adults and young people and the ability to effectively de-escalate conflict between young people and communicate concerns with relevant managers.
- Ideally, you will have a teaching or training qualification or teaching, coaching or training experience with young people aged 11-18, however, this is not essential.
- It would be beneficial to have previous experience in a specialist setting such as SEND in mainstream, special school, special unit, particularly with pupils who present with SEMH, with knowledge of relevant legislation for child protection and safeguarding.
What you need to know
- Please note that due to the nature of this role it is a requirement of employment that an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check is obtained for this post.
- This role is subject to a Disqualification from Working with Children declaration.
- The salary is plus a Secure Unit allowance of £2,903.04 per annum, pro rated to hours worked.
- Please note that school holiday closures at Vinney Green are at variance with local authority school closures. In most cases teachers will be unable to take more than 2 consecutive weeks annual leave at any one time.
- Young people can present physically threatening behaviour and the environment can become tense and anxiety provoking, so for everybody’s safety surveillance cameras are in use in most areas of the building.
- Vinney Green operates a full non-smoking environment, and there is no provision to facilitate smoking anywhere on site. Staff’s personal belongings are required to be left in a provided locker on entry into the building and we may require you to undertake a further physical fitness check.
- This role is demanding and there will be some physically active aspects to the job, including ‘Restrictive Physical Intervention’. You will be expected to complete 2 days of training prior to commencing your role – but we can assure you that this will be one of the most rewarding jobs that you will ever do!
We anticipate interviews will be held week commencing 20th October 2025.
How a career at South Gloucestershire Council is different
- We value our staff as individuals, investing in their careers and we are recognised for the quality, breadth and depth of our training and development offer, which helps make the greatest long-term difference in work.
- What’s special here is the strength of the team ethos, the support and the training.
- We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the safety and welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. Ensuring all our staff are given right skills, knowledge and support to recognise and respond effectively to potential abuse or neglect.
- As part of our benefits package you will receive generous annual leave (pro rata), employee wellbeing support and you will have access to a range of staff discounts, including eye tests, travel, shopping and leisure activities
- We recognise that our diverse team of skilled and dedicated people make us a great place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and ensure that individuals are selected, promoted and developed on the basis of their merits and abilities.
Our teams at South Gloucestershire Council are making a real difference to the lives of people who live, work and learn here.
- We’re building and shaping communities which people are proud of
- We’re working with the most vulnerable in our community to help them achieve what they want in life
- We’re investing in our schools to ensure every child and young person in South Gloucestershire achieves their full potential.
We’ve achieved a great deal, but we need talented and dedicated people to ensure we continue to make a difference.
We’re making a difference, be part of it!
To view the full job description, please click this link: Instructor VGSCH – Job Description
