Casual Learning Officer

Salary: £14.67 per hour

Contract: Casual contract, zero hours

Hours: Variable hours per week, more hours available in spring and summer months.

Based: Nature Discovery Centre

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust has a vision for “more nature everywhere, for everyone”. We’re working hard to create an inclusive culture, where everyone feels they belong. This includes you being comfortable bringing your whole self to work, and us co-working with the diverse communities we serve to ensure we are meeting everyone’s needs.

The Casual Learning Officer will help nature recover by engaging local communities, thereby empowering people to take action for nature.   

You’ll be joining a small, friendly Learning Team who are passionate about environmental education based at the Nature Discovery Centre in Thatcham.

What you'll be doing

• Delivering inspiring education programmes through sessions delivered on our sites to school groups
• Managing education visits or activities including arrival and departure of school groups, volunteers and associated general administrative tasks
• Liaising closely with colleagues to ensure the smooth-running of the visitor centre
• Setting up and clearing away education equipment for sessions
• Supporting in the nurturing of BBOWT’s relationship with schools

What we’re looking for

• In-depth skills and ability to deliver educational activities to Early Years or curriculum-linked sessions to Primary-aged children
• An excellent knowledge of wildlife and habitats
• Skills and professionalism required to deliver outdoor, environmental education activities
• Able to work independently and take individual responsibility for sessions and communications

The Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust is committed to equal opportunities and maintaining a safe and secure environment for all children and young people. Therefore, the successful applicant for this position will be subject to pre-employment checks including an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Please note, it is an offence to apply for this position if barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

BBOWT is an inclusive and supportive employer that prioritises the wellbeing of its staff. We have a team of trained mental health first aiders across the trust, ensuring that employees have access to support whenever needed. The work culture at BBOWT is welcoming and friendly, with a strong emphasis on kindness and respect, making it a positive and enjoyable place to work.

How to apply
For full details, please read the job description and T&Cs below. To apply, please follow the application link.

The closing time and date for applications is 11.59pm on January 28^th 2025. Interviews will take place February 5^th or 6^th 2025 (multiple timeslots available).

BBOWT values diversity and inclusion and the benefits this brings. We want every candidate to have the best chance of success as part of this process. In order to do this, we know that some candidates will need reasonable adjustments. Contact us on recruitment@bbowt.org.uk if there are any reasonable adjustments we can provide during the recruitment process, including completing your application.

When applying for the role you can expect to answer a few questions online relating to the skills required and what you would be doing in the role. Your responses will be anonymised, randomised, and scored by a panel of reviewers. 

We don't use an application form, or CVs - your answers to our situational based questions will be scored against a review guide and scores from these will decide which candidates go through to the interview stage.  See here to find out why we do this.

Whilst we appreciate ChatGPT and other AI platforms can answer these questions, we know what they have to say (and generally the answer they generate isn't great). We want to hear your perspective written in your own words. If it is clear that any of your answers are not your own work, we reserve the right to reject your application on that basis. 

You’ll also be asked for information about your background, anything you feel comfortable sharing will be anonymised and will not be shared as part of the selection process, it will only be used to help us understand how we are performing against our equal opportunities metrics. All candidates will receive feedback on their application.

We want our people to be as diverse as nature, so we particularly encourage applications from people who are underserved within the communities in which we operate. This includes people from visible ethnic minority backgrounds, people with disabilities (including those who are neurodivergent), the LGBTQ+ community, those from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and younger people. We are committed to creating an organisation that recognises and truly values individual differences and identities. 

Berkshire, Buckinghamshire & Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust, The Lodge, 1 Armstrong Road, Littlemore, Oxford Oxon OX4 4XT

Registered Charity No. 204330 www.bbowt.org.uk