Who is InvestIN?
InvestIN's mission is to bridge the gap between school and the workplace. Our 1 - 2 week immersive experiences provide 'the ultimate work experience' for 15 - 18 year olds through a combination of interactive simulations, site visits, seminars, networking sessions and career coaching to build an understanding of their dream career.
We have a global reach with over 70,000 students from 100+ countries and 4,000+ schools attend our Summer programmes, with 50% of our students joining us from countries abroad. Around half of our students stay with us in our central London accommodation, enjoying our exciting social programme of evening and weekend activities and additional opportunities to network with their peers.
Why work with us?
InvestIN is an exciting, fast-paced and supportive environment, and working with us as a Pastoral and Activity Leader (PAL) offers fantastic opportunities to develop your experience working with young people.
Our comprehensive training programme will teach you valuable skills in:
* Supporting young people's well-being and pastoral care
* Leading social activities
* Organisation, multi-tasking and problem solving
* Safeguarding training, including e-learning modules through TES
* First Aid Training
We also support our team throughout summer with regular check ins with the wider pastoral team and staff socials, along with access to our Employee Assistance Programme.
The Role
Our Pastoral and Activity Leaders are key in ensuring our students are happy, healthy and engaged throughout their time with InvestIN. Acting as the equivalent of Camp Counsellors and Activity Instructors, PALs will be at the heart of the residential student experience, taking a lead in their social activities and supporting the Senior Centre Team with the day-to-day care of our students.
Key Duties:
Pastoral Well-being and Safeguarding:
* Take overall responsibility for a group of 25 students, taking care of them outside of programme hours and supporting their well-being throughout their stay
* Be the friendly face, inspirational role-model and go-to point of contact for the students under your care
* Be responsible for the health, safety and well-being of students for the duration of their stay, monitoring and reporting on them where appropriate, including escalating concerns to appropriate senior staff members
* Conduct daily morning, evening and curfew registration, communicating any absences or illnesses with the wider InvestIN team
* Escort students to their programme site in the morning and collect them in the evening
* Being responsible for signing students out and in for free time
Social Programme Management:
* Take charge of our exciting social programme for the students, delivering a variety of activities from movie nights to craft nights and cultural activities
* Bring an enthusiastic, proactive and can-do attitude to a variety of evening activities, driving student engagement and improving overall student experience
* Supervise your students, making sure every member of the group is in attendance, engaged and having fun
Behaviour Management:
* Manage students' behaviour against our Behaviour Matrix, delivering warnings where appropriate and escalating to senior staff
* Track students' warnings on Reach (our Student Management Platform)
* Ensure students in your care follow their individual behaviour plans
Admin and compliance:
* Attend daily full-team meetings for relevant updates
* Deliver handovers twice daily to Programme Management Interns
* Maintain regular communication with Senior Centre Staff throughout your time on shift, informing them of any issues as they arise
* Maintain up-to-date and clear records on all InvestIN's reporting platforms
* Understand and act in accordance with InvestIN's ethos and cultural values
* Adhere to InvestIN's safeguarding policy and staff/student Code of Conduct procedures and practices.
* Undertake mandatory safeguarding and child protection training other professional development activities to ensure that you remain compliant in meeting InvestIN's duty of care in safeguarding practice. (KCSIE 2024)
Please note this list is indicative rather than exhaustive, and you may be required to take on additional responsibilities to ensure the well-being of students in your care.
What does this look like in practice?
You will be working on a split shift schedule, meaning you have lots of flexibility to fit this job around your other interests and commitments, such as university projects and enjoying the stunning location of Central London.
On weekdays this will involve our 'Morning' and 'Evening' shifts, while on weekends you would work on a more flexible schedule to support the running of our weekend activities. You will always have one full day off per week.
Morning Shift (9am - 11am)
* Greeting and registering the students for a morning check-in, accompanying them to breakfast
* Checking in on any students who are late for morning registration including door knocks for absent students
* Accompanying your students to their programme venue alongside programme delivery team
Evening Shift (4pm - 10:30pm)
* Collecting students from their programme venue to return to accommodation
* Reminding relevant students to attend Nurse's office to collect prescribed medication
* Attending a daily full team meeting for your centre
* Running an activity from our exciting social programme, such as board games night, film night or karaoke
* Monitoring student behaviour throughout the evening and ensuring students meet their evening curfew
* Doing floor checks to monitor behaviour during bedtime curfew
Weekend Shifts
* Running weekend activities for the students, including cultural activities around London such as museum visits, park trips, scavenger hunts and trips
* Oversee free time for students, ensuring students sign in and out when going for free time or on approved leave from accommodation
* Supporting with check in and check out of students
Person specification
Our ideal candidate is enthusiastic, organised and resilient, with a passion for working with teenagers and dedication to their well-being. We're looking for fast learners who are proactive and thrive under pressure, and strong communicators who can inspire large groups as well as building strong 1:1 pastoral relationships. To thrive in this role, you would be expected to demonstrate a high level of ownership, positivity and professionalism.
We anticipate that due to the age bracket of the students in our care, our PALS would be in their third year of university, mature students or recent graduates.
You have, and can demonstrate, the following skills and interests:
* Experience and enjoyment of working with students aged between 15-18, ideally in large group settings
* Experience of delivering activities to large groups, such as coaching, teaching or running workshops
* Experience and enjoyment of working in fast paced environments, such as summer camps, hospitality or retail
* Experience and genuine passion for supporting the well-being and safeguarding of young people
* A high level of vigilance when working with young or vulnerable people and working knowledge of safeguarding for 15 - 18 year olds
* Experience of working with a team
* Ability to thrive under pressure
* Outstanding written and oral communication skills including strong skills communicating with groups
* A desire to work in education, childcare or a related field
* A deeply-entrenched sense of personal pride in your work, and a commitment to giving students a 5* experience in every interaction
* A deeply-invested belief in InvestIN's sense of purpose and our programmes
* You feel a sense of passion and belonging when you read our cultural values (set out below)
Details of role
Location: In and around Bloomsbury, Central London
Hours: 53 hours per week on average (you will be asked to 'opt out' of the 48-hour Working Time Directive)
You will accrue Annual Leave throughout your contract at a standard rate (25 days per year pro-rated)
Salary: £575 per week, plus 2 meals per day and accommodation
Contract details: Fixed term contracts available between 30th June and 30th August:
Full summer contract employment dates 30th June - 19th July, 24th July - 9th August, 15th August - 30th August.
Medium-term contract employment dates 30th June - 19th July & 24th July - 9th August
Short term contract employment dates 21st July - 9th August
Additional: International students on visas which allow them to work full-time over university holidays will be able to apply for this position. Please note that we are unable to sponsor visas.
Please note that offers will be subject to successful completion of Enhanced DBS checks, Right to Work checks, and statutory Safeguarding training modules. InvestIN reserves the right to terminate contracts in the event of non-completion before contract start date.
InvestIN's Cultural Values
Experience is Truth:
We believe that to learn is to experience. Our mission is to deliver professional experiences to young people that they would otherwise consider a far-flung fantasy. This 'experiential learning' appeals to all the senses and requires live in-person interaction; providing a welcome counterpoint to the restrictive and atomised environment of cyberspace.
Empowerment and Ownership:
We treat all of our students as young professionals, not simply older schoolchildren. InvestIN empowers students by thrusting them into a whirlwind of professional-life simulation, and asking them to stand up and be counted. Along with that empowerment comes the valuable lessons of responsibility. Students are expected to take ownership of their careers immediately, as we give them detailed advice about how to plant the seeds for a successful future; starting now.
Action and Urgency:
InvestIN believes that success requires both action and urgency. We have been able to grow at an exponential rate because we move ideas quickly into tangible steps forward and we execute them. InvestIN's students refuse to be left behind and want to be able to cut through abstract procrastination; becoming empowered to act with decisiveness and urgency.
Ambition:
InvestIN is a fervent supporter of determined ambition. We believe that young people - and whole organisations - must continue to 'think big' in order to achieve their potential. We therefore coach our students to believe that there are no limits to their career ambitions, and give them the tools they need to thrive.
Imagination:
InvestIN is not an ordinary organisation. We create interactive simulations of professional life, which requires a commitment to using our imagination to deliver extraordinary experiences for our students. At the same time, we encourage our students to imagine themselves as young professionals now, not at some distant point in the future. We have discovered that tomorrow's achievements are born from today's visualisation.
Integrity:
At InvestIN, we understand the great responsibility that we take on in coaching students. Sometimes the simplest sentence or action can have a lasting impact on a young person's life. We insist on running our operation with the highest level of integrity: from promoting the value of hard work and satisfaction over shortcuts and monetary rewards, to constantly looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint.
Safer Recruitment, Safeguarding and EDI statement
InvestIN is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, seasonal workers, and external professionals to share this commitment.
InvestIN are committed to making our recruitment processes as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values difference, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to InvestIN's culture.
This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to work with InvestIN will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of Police records via the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The Disclosure and barring Service helps employers make safer recruitment decisions and prevent unsuitable candidates gaining access to minors or vulnerable adults.
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