Caretaker

THE POSITION

We have an exciting opportunity for a dedicated and enthusiastic individual to join our existing caretaking team in providing a high quality and responsive custodial service for all the School’s facilities.

The School’s Caretaking Team is part of a multi-disciplined Facilities Team consisting of four Caretakers, two Maintenance Staff, three grounds staff and twenty-four Domestic Staff. The successful candidate will be required to provide custodial, security and first-line maintenance services for the whole School.

THE SCHOOL

In 1525, the Mayor of Newcastle, Thomas Horsley, wrote his will, in which he generously gifted his estate to fund a grammar school. Five centuries later, Horsley’s vision lives on in the Royal Grammar School Newcastle’s corridors and classrooms, and his philanthropic spirit drives the RGS’s commitment to education.

Few schools can claim a 500-year history. Over the years, the RGS, has continued to flourish as the premier independent school in the Northeast of England and as one of the country’s leading schools – consistently topping the regional table for academic excellence.

Today, RGS is a fully co-educational school with over 1,300 students aged 7-18 (Years 3 to 13). Its academically selective places are highly sought after. The school has more than 250 students in the Junior School, which shares the same outstanding site as the Senior School. Its Sixth Form is one of the largest in the independent sector, with more than 340 students.

While RGS prides itself on academic excellence, the school is also known for its emphasis on a holistic education. The school’s ‘There’s More to Life’ approach informs its holistic education, which is central to students’ success, health and happiness.

RGS is based in the heart of Newcastle, immediately opposite Jesmond Metro station. The school occupies over 30 acres of land and has state-of-the-art facilities, including five new art studios, a new library, a modern Sixth Form Centre, a 25m swimming pool, two Sports Halls, a Performing Arts Centre, outdoor football/rugby pitches at Mooracres, an artificial turf pitch for hockey and the former County Cricket Ground.

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Facilities Services Manager, the Caretaker’s responsibilities will include but are not limited to:

SAFEGUARDING

• All staff have a responsibility and duty of care to safeguard and promote the welfare of students.
• Staff must be aware of the systems within the School which support safeguarding and must act in accordance with the School’s Safeguarding & Child Protection policy and Code of Conduct.
• Staff will receive appropriate child protection training and online safety training which is regularly updated.

SECURITY & EMERGENCY

• Ensure the health and safety of pupils, staff and visitors wherever possible and contribute to the provision of a safe, secure and comfortable working environment for the whole school.
• Ensure that the buildings and school site are secure, particularly out of school hours. These duties are done on a rotational shift basis that allows for leave, training, sickness and such overtime as required to meet the school’s operational needs.
• Patrol and inspect the interior and exterior of the school’s facilities on foot. Challenging any stranger found on site and responding promptly and safely to calls for assistance and emergency calls throughout the School.
• Act as a nominated keyholder, responding to out of hours or weekend calls to deal with security or emergency issues and be the schools point of contact for Police or Fire Service callouts, alerting the Head of Facilities & Estates and the Facilities Services Manager to any risk or breach of security.
• Set and unset the school alarm system together with locking/unlocking gates and internal/external doors, ensuring all windows are closed and locked, that the school’s buildings and grounds are secure at the end of the day and that the alarm system is functioning properly.
• Responding to and resetting the school’s alarms and, in the absence of the Schools Facilities Services Manager, liaise with the police and alarm company.
• Check and secure the School premises following any out of hour’s intruder alarm activation, make emergency repairs or allow access to contractors who may be working on the site, in school holidays or weekends.
• Checking for damage/security every morning on arrival at the premises.

CAR PARK MANAGEMENT

• Prevent unauthorised parking and access past the road barrier and gates.
• Control the safety of pedestrians within the car park and temporary car parks when in operation.
• Give directional advice to visitors for parking and then onto their final destination within the School site.

REPORTING

• Report incidents to the Head of Facilities & Estates and Facilities Services Manager and record these in relevant log(s).
• Report serious hazards and occurrences to the Facilities Services Manager immediately, making safe any hazards where possible and ensuring the area is cordoned off.
• Identify and report maintenance and repair jobs to the Maintenance Department (verbally, helpdesk etc.)
• Identify and report Health and Safety incidents (near misses), accidents and hazards to The Head of Facilities and Estates, Facilities Services Manager and other relevant parties.

GENERAL DUTIES

• Assist the Facilities Services Manager in providing a safe environment for the School community and its visitors.
• Perform duties in accordance with health and safety procedures and policies, taking remedial action where hazards are identified.
• Report serious hazards and occurrences to the Facilities Services Manager immediately, making safe any hazards where possible and ensuring the area is cordoned off.
• Undertaking custodial duties across the School estate, cover absences and provide additional help to other teams when required.
• General porterage duties including movement of furniture and equipment within the School and delivering parcels.
• Receive and check goods and supplies, taking them to departments and addressees.
• Support the setting up for events and clearing away afterwards to ensure the School is ready for pupils the following day as directed by the Facilities Services Manager.
• Carryout safety monitoring activities including emergency lights, portable firefighting equipment checks and weekly fire alarm tests, record findings and reporting as necessary.
• Ensure that clear passage is maintained on fire escape routes and that the site is safe and tidy e.g. moving boxes, replacing moved furniture.
• Ensure plant rooms are tidy and that no flammable material is stored there.
• Ensure all custodial materials, tools and equipment are in a safe condition at all times.
• Any other duties associated with the role of a caretaker as may from time to time be required.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES

• Provide escorts to parents, contractors, visitors and relevant others throughout the day as required.
• Provide agreed support for events and activities as required.
• Minor joinery and plumbing repairs, including dosing water systems.
• Operation, daily monitoring and routine maintenance of the swimming pool including removing and replacing the pool cover in collaboration with Sports Centre staff.
• Monitor water quality in domestic hot water systems.
• Driving the van and minibuses as required.
• Regular checks, cleaning and basic maintenance of the School’s van and three minibuses.
• Deliveries to the Post Office, bank and other local addresses.
• If required, covering for grounds staff for litter picking and emptying waste bins and for basic grounds maintenance tasks.
• Maintaining stocks of copying paper, other stationery and loading of photocopier paper stock in copier rooms.
• Checking for damage and faults to the building fabric, furniture and equipment and instigating repair/replacement as necessary.
• Routine operation of heating and ventilation and lighting systems, including effective energy management.
• Front line maintenance of heating and ventilation systems, including replacement of filters.
• Front line maintenance and clearing of drains, roof gutters and down pipes (where safe access is available), and gulleys.
• In the absence of the Facilities Services Manager, the other three caretakers will have specific responsibility for keeping statutory records relating to:

– Fire alarm systems and firefighting equipment

– Heating and ventilation plant maintenance

– Swimming pool water quality

– Domestic water quality; and

– Minibus checks and maintenance

• Undertake any other reasonable duties.

SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Essential

• A commitment to supporting the School’s ethos by assisting in providing and maintaining excellent facilities;
• A good knowledge and understanding of the caretaking role.
• A strong appreciation of the health and safety issues associated with building and custodial work.
• A clean valid driving licence (preferably including Class D1).
• Customer focused with an ability to be flexible and sensitive to the needs of a wide range of school users.
• A commitment to undertake training and professional development.
• A professional, positive and enthusiastic approach to work including:

– Good timekeeping.

– Tidy appearance.

– Confident and courteous in dealing with all stakeholders.

– Good verbal and written skills.

– A flexible and adaptive approach to new and often competing demands.

SKILLS, EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

Continued

Desirable

• Experience of working in a school or similar environment.
• First Aid training or willingness to undertake it.
• Manual Handling experience and training.
• Working at heights experience and training.
• Basic IT skills to include Microsoft Word and outlook.

Personal Attributes

The ideal candidate will be:

• A positive, proactive and forward-thinking manner, with a ‘can do’ attitude.
• An industrious and reliable approach to work including being organised and methodical.
• A self-motivated individual with the ability to work within a team or independently with minimal supervision.
• A person who takes pride in the quality of their work.
• Practical and logical; able to solve problems quickly.
• Have an appreciation of the wider issues and responsibilities associated with working among young people in an educational environment.

MAIN TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• The start date for this role will be as soon as possible following completion of the School’s Safer Recruitment checks.
• The post will report to the Facilities Services Manager and sit within the School Operational Team.
• This is a permanent role with the School and the successful candidate will be employed on an all-year-round contract which includes attendance on all staff days and training days throughout the year.
• The successful candidate will also be expected to work the mandatory safeguarding training day in September each year, which is compulsory for all staff.
• The successful candidate may also be required to work limited special events in School (e.g. RGS Day) with advance notice being given by the school.
• This is a full-time, full year permanent role and includes all staff training days and the compulsory safeguarding training day at the start of each academic year (date varies each year).
• Working hours will be 40 hours per week. Normal shifts will be 8 hours long with the earliest start being 6am and the latest finish being 10pm, Monday to Friday, all year round. There are 4 different shifts throughout the 6am-10pm window and the caretaking team use a rota system which is agreed in advance.
• The Caretaker will also be expected to work weekends on rotation with the other caretaking staff, details of which can be discussed at interview.
• The Caretaker will be requested to opt out of the Working Time Regulations and agree to work for more than an average of 48 hours a week over a 17-week period at certain times.
• Holidays – This role is not limited to term time only and the school offers a generous annual leave entitlement of 31 days plus Bank Holidays for staff who work all year round. Staff are required to save 5 days of annual leave for when the school is closed over the Christmas period.
• The Caretaker is entitled to a 30-minute unpaid lunch break.
• The salary is circa 28.9k gross per annum for 40 hours/week which is inclusive of an 11% shift allowance. The actual salary offered will reflect the experience and skills offered by the successful candidate. Additionally, other caretaking specific allowances will also apply to this role and will be discussed with applicants during interview.
• RGS staff salaries are reviewed on 1st August each year.
• The employee will be required to comply with a range of RGS policies, in particular, those regarding Data protection, use of ICT facilities, Child Protection, Staff Code and Health and Safety, a copy of which will be made available.

WHAT WE OFFER

Please refer to our job information packs for further details about our excellent staff benefits.

HOW TO APPLY

Candidates are advised to read the ‘Information for Applicants’ with particular care before applying.

Enquiries about this post should be made in the first instance to Simon Lymn (Head of Facilities and Estates) in the first instance. For an informal chat about the post, contact Simon Lymn on 0191 281 5711.

Please visit www.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk/join-us/work-with-us to access our application form and further information for applicants.

The closing date for this role is 9.00am Monday 12th May 2025

Please submit the following directly to jobs@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk

1. A covering letter and

2. A fully completed RGS application form.

Note: You must complete the application form, even if you want to also attach a CV.

Interviews will be held shortly after the closing date. We will hope to make the appointment as soon as possible following interview, offering the post and gaining acceptance.

Safeguarding and Safer Recruitment

RGS is committed to the safeguarding of children and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and those working in school to share this commitment. The school applies the Government’s Keeping Children Safe in Education Safer Recruitment procedures to all candidates including appropriate pre-interview checks on shortlisted candidates and pre-employment checks pending any offer. More information regarding the checks can be found in our Information for Applicants here, and ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ (September 2024)

Equal Opportunities  

We are looking to appoint staff from a wide variety of backgrounds. Not just because it is the right thing to do but because at the RGS we recognise that those different experiences provide fresh perspectives, opportunities to challenge existing beliefs and provide opportunities to act as excellent role models for our diverse student body. We are committed to creating an inclusive and diverse school culture and our staff are at the heart of this. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of neurodivergence, age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

We strive to achieve a diverse workforce, fully representative of our pluralistic society and the ethnic make-up of the student population in the UK. People of colour are under-represented on our staff team. We are keen to attract applicants from a diverse pool of candidates and determined to be a fully inclusive employer, and a great workplace for people of Black, Asian, and ethnic minority heritage as well as White heritage.

We encourage all candidates to complete an ‘equal opportunities’ form with your application. This will be sent directly to the HR team for monitoring purposes.

CONTACT DETAILS

Royal Grammar School, Eskdale Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4DX

Tel: 0191 281 5711

General enquiries: communications@rgs.newcastle.sch.uk

www.rgs.newcastle.sch.uk