Animal Care Tutor / Head of Animal Standards - Maternity

Woodpecker Court, Dover

• Ref:KCC886-7916-32T
• Posted:16/06/2025
• Pay:Main teacher pay scale
• Start Date:Sept 2025
• App Close Date:30/06/2025 at 20:00
• Interviews:TBC

Advert

Join our dynamic team at Woodpecker Court—an Ofsted Outstanding and truly unique educational provision—where passion for animal welfare meets innovative teaching.

Are you passionate about animal welfare and education? Do you have the skills to inspire young minds and lead a dedicated team in a unique learning environment? Woodpecker Court is seeking a dynamic and experienced Animal Care Tutor / Head of Animal Standards to join our team on a maternity cover basis.

This dual-role position combines teaching responsibilities with operational leadership of our community farm. You will:

• Deliver engaging lessons for Level 2 and Level 3 Animal Care students.
• Lead and manage daily farm operations, ensuring the highest standards of animal welfare.
• Support and mentor staff and students, fostering a positive and inclusive learning environment.
• Coordinate farm work experience placements and maintain accurate records and compliance documentation.

Requirements:

• Level 4+ qualification in Animal Care or related field.
• Strong knowledge of animal husbandry and welfare standards.
• Excellent communication, leadership, and organisational skills.
• Experience in education or working with young people is a plus.

Join a supportive team and make a real impact in a hands-on, inclusive learning environment.

“Woodpecker Court is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS Disclosure, satisfactory references and pre-employment health screening”

This role is for 40 hours a week, 39 weeks per year on a fixed term contract to cover maternity. 

If you are interested in joining the Team please email your application form and any other supporting documents to personnel@woodpeckercourt.com 

Information about the school

Woodpecker Court is a specialist education provider with specialist post 16 status. We are set in a rural location. We believe that every student is different and treated as an individual and therefore vary our practices to support them holistically. We aim to improve outcomes by providing all of our students with the necessary skills to equip them to sustain their onward destination after leaving us. We have a calm, safe and friendly environment that all of our students together as a community maintain.

We offer our post 16 courses in Land based studies, Animal Care, Catering, or Occupational studies, alongside functional skills English, Maths and Digital Skills.
Many post 16 vulnerable learner programmes fail because the delivery is formal in a classroom. This has not worked for the previous eleven years, so why repeat the process? Block by block, we will enable a young person to tolerate then work with others, show resilience to failure and bad weather. They can have the time and space to express their frustrations in the outdoors. They can fail safely, then learn to succeed. They can develop good peer and staff relationships, and maintain them over time. Then, and only then, do we deliver the formal learning because then students are ready to achieve. Our outdoor experiences are explicitly linked to formal learning objectives. For example, quantities of animal feed are linked to profit margins, having an impact upon Maths.

We provide engagement programmes for learners aged 11-16 by working collaboratively with local schools. Our programmes are run in the great outdoors from our 15 acre site that encompasses woodland, paddocks, classrooms, workshops and at the heart of our community our parachuted fire circles. These engagement programmes offer the chance for schools to prevent exclusion and promote re-engagement by changing the environment completely around the young person. We develop resilience, self-esteem and positivity through introducing routines.

Job Contact Information

• Name:Dawn Fisher
• Address:45 Wigmore Lane, Eythorne, Dover, Kent, CT15 4BF
• Telephone: 01304 830958
• Email: personnel@woodpeckercourt.com

Documents

Below are documents that have been added to this vacancy.

• Job description
• Job applicant privacy notice