The School

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a leading co-educational school located in the historic heart of Portsmouth. We are very much a family school known for excellent teaching, superb pastoral care and wide-ranging co-curricular opportunities and we offer an education across the age range from Pre-School to Sixth Form.

The Role

We have a full time vacancy for a Groundsperson to join our team at Hilsea Playing Fields. Our Grounds team provide high quality and well maintained sports facilities to support the school’s busy sporting programme and lettings programme. They also support a programme of planned work throughout the year and tasks in support of future development and improvement of the site. We welcome applications from candidates who are either developing their career in groundskeeping and who are looking for a new role in which they can upskill and develop their specialism, or from more experienced grounds staff who can bring relevant qualifications and specialist skills to the role.

The hours of work will be 37.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday, with some Saturdays during school terms. Where Saturday working is required, it is expected that a day off during the week will be taken in lieu. The normal school hours of work are 8.30am to 4.30pm, inclusive of a 30 minute unpaid lunch break each day, however the role holder will be required to work flexibly on a regular basis as required by our Head Groundsperson to cover some mornings and evenings in support of the sports and lettings programmes and on these days the hours of work would be adjusted accordingly.

The start date will be as soon as possible.

Main Responsibilities

• To maintain, manage and improve all sports pitches and grounds
• To monitor the condition of the grounds and facilities, report defects and take appropriate action to put in good order
• To liaise on a daily basis with the Head Groundsperson regarding work to be carried out
• To maintain all hand tools, hand power tools and associated equipment
• To ensure all Grounds equipment is serviced as per the maintenance schedule
• To ensure security of the site following events

The Ideal Candidate

• A good standard of education, with excellent spoken and written English (essential)
• A full clean driving licence and a willingness to undertake minibus driver training (essential)
• To hold, or be willing to complete, relevant Emergency First Aid at Work qualification (essential)
• Experience of working in a team and experience and ability to communicate verbally across all levels (essential)
• Grounds maintenance experience (essential)
• Relevant professional qualification in grounds maintenance or equivalent experience and evidence of CPD (desirable)
• A team player with good organisational skills who is able to prioritise tasks and work well with, and take tasks from, our Head Groundsperson, as part of a small professional team

Benefits

• NEST or Aviva pension scheme
• Free use of the school’s Sports facilities which include a well-equipped Fitness Centre
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Free staff car park
• The school is a strong supporter of Continuing Professional Development (CPD)

How to apply:

Please click “Apply” and apply using the online form linked to our advert.

Any enquires about the role or how to apply are welcome at recruitment@pgs.org.uk

The closing date is midday on Monday 4th November 2024 and interviews will be scheduled to take place on the school site in the week commencing 11th November 2024.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The School may carry out online searches on shortlisted applicants and applicants may be required to provide details of their online profile, including social media account names/handles, as part of their application.

The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The School is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions on a self-declaration form in advance of attending an interview (including those which are ‘spent’ unless they are ‘protected’ under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.