Play Assistant, St John's RC Academy - Nursery Dept

Main Purpose of the Role

Working within Perth & Kinross Council is more than a job, it's about being part of something meaningful. It's about being part of an organisation that puts people at the heart of all we do and provides opportunities to make a real difference by enhancing every life we touch.

We currently have the following opportunity:

Play Assistant (PKC13431)
£9,608 - £9,851 (16 hours per week, term-time only)
St John’s RC Academy – Nursery Dept

We have a vacancy for a Play Assistant to support with play experiences for children in our nursery at St John's RC Academy. A caring, nurturing personality is required. The role will involve contributing to the development, planning and implementation of appropriate experiences within a play curriculum and during break times. The successful candidate will be able to think 'on their feet' and enjoy a varied role in order to support children's wellbeing and learning.

Set at the top of Perth’s North Inch and overlooking the River Tay, St John's RC Academy is at the heart of the North Inch Community Campus. The 2-18 all-through school provides education for over one thousand children and young people from nursery to S6. The campus is a hub of opportunities for the local community, utilising state of the art sports and cultural facilities, offering a wide range of services for all ages.

St John’s RC Academy’s success is built on respectful relationships, strong partnership working, a culture of self-evaluation for improvement and effective leadership at all levels. The school offers a wide range of excellent learning experiences for children and young people and achievement is significantly improving across the school year-on-year.

As a Catholic school, the school’s vision and values are rooted in the Gospel. St John’s RC Academy is also a Fairtrade School and the first all-through school in the UK to achieve UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Level 2 Award.

The successful applicants will have excellent communication skills and have the ability to build strong relationships with children, families and colleagues. We aim to recruit staff who are enthusiastic, able to work from initiative and genuinely enjoy working with young children. Some experience of working with children is desirable.

Working at Perth & Kinross Council

Our values and behaviours influence our work and support us in the delivery of our key priorities. In your application, and should you be invited to interview, you will be asked to describe situations that support the criteria required in the role and which also demonstrate our values and behaviours. Find out more about Perth & Kinross Council and you could soon be joining our team!

Here's what we can offer you:

• A generous annual leave package
• 6 days public holiday and an additional discretionary day
• Eligibility to join our pension scheme
• Family friendly and positive work/life balance policies such as Flexible Working, Maternity, Paternity & Adoption leave, time off for volunteering and our Wellbeing Framework
• Access to a range of benefits
• Paid SSSC annual membership for relevant positions 

We recognise there can be benefits to flexible working and where individual jobs allow, we seek to support this. You are encouraged to discuss potential options with the recruiting manager, if this is of interest to you. A healthy work life balance is important to us and we provide supportive management and, where possible, flexible working arrangements to help you achieve that balance. You will have access to training and support for continued professional development.

Next Steps

We would love to hear from you and would encourage you to get in touch with Jan Jack, Depute Head Teacher - Primary, via email - JJack@pkc.gov.uk to find out more.

Click “APPLY NOW”

External candidates are required to provide 2 references, including email addresses. One of these must be your current or most recent employer.

We welcome applications from everyone and as a Disability Confident employer, we guarantee to interview applicants who declare a disability and meet the essential requirements of the post. Please contact the the hiring manager above or the Recruitment Team on (01738) 475555 or recruitment@pkc.gov.uk to discuss any reasonable adjustments. Appointments are based on evidence supplied during the selection process.

Diversity is important to us and although some of our jobs may be perceived to be traditionally gender specific, we welcome applications from everyone and would encourage you to apply if you meet the job requirements. That includes welcoming applications from former armed forces personnel/reservists. Many of the skills picked up during your military career could be transferred directly into a role with local government.

Working with children and/or protected adults is regarded as a regulated role and under the Disclosure (Scotland) Act 2020 you will be required to join the PVG Scheme or undergo a PVG Scheme update check.

If you have lived overseas for a period of 12 months or more (continuous or total) within the last 10 years, an Overseas Criminal Record Check will be required. You will be required to provide this check.

A confirmed offer of employment and commencement in the post will be subject to the outcome of the above mentioned mandatory pre-employment checks (including references) and will also include eligibility to work in the UK, qualifications and fitness to undertake the post.