Practical Instructor - Equine Management

Location: Shuttleworth College – Old Warden

Benefits: 27 days annual leave plus Bank holidays, People’s pension, Retail and Leisure Discounts, excellent professional and personal development opportunities, accessing college courses.

About the role:

We are currently seeking a Practical Instructor in Equine Management to join our Animal Sciences department at The Bedford College group.

As a Practical Instructor, you play an important role in the success of our students through:

• Providing practical instruction to learners in an effective and innovative way, to ensure that students individual learning needs are met.
• Undertaking the routine care of horses maintaining high professional standards.
• Monitoring health, behaviour and welfare of all horses and keeping appropriate records.
• Overseeing all practical areas across the programme area with responsibility for Health and Safety.
• Exercising horses as directed by the Equine Centre Manager to include schooling, hacking and lunging.
• Producing teaching schemes to ensure learning aims and objectives are met.
• Preparing practical learning materials for use across a range of courses.
• Delivering sessions based on developing practical/vocational skills and understanding to groups of learners.
• Demonstrating tasks and processes to groups, promoting safe working practices at all times.
• Providing technical support in the equine yard and classroom areas.
• Facilitating resource-based learning within the area, preparing horses and equipment for practical activities as required.
• Setting, assessing, monitoring and recording students’ assignment and practical assessment work.
• Being responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and for raising any concerns in line with College procedures.
• Being responsible for promoting equality and diversity in line with College procedures.
• Being responsible for following health and safety requirements in line with College policy and procedures.
• Participating proactively in training and development including qualification development required in the job role.

About you:

• Hold a Level 3 qualification in Horse Management or related specialism
• Hold a British Horse Society qualification; Stage 3 Coach in Complete Horsemanship.
• Have English and Maths or similar at GCSE grade A-C or equivalent or be willing to achieve Literacy and Numeracy Level 2 or equivalent
• Have recent experience of working with young people in a training environment
• Have recent successful practical experience in the equine industry
• Possess the ability to consistently provide a high-quality learning experience for all students/trainees
• Possess the ability to consistently demonstrate high standards of horse care
• Possess the ability to form and maintain appropriate relationships and personal boundaries with children, young people and vulnerable adults
• Willing continuously to update skills and knowledge

For a more detailed breakdown of the job role and the requirements, please see the Job Description attached to this vacancy. Please note that the working pattern for this vacancy is Sunday – Thursday.

Interviews to be held: 10 March 2025

Successful candidates must also be able to demonstrate alignment to our organisational VISION values:

• Valuing Teamwork - We are one team who by working together can achieve great things, respecting the opinion and valuing the contribution each of us makes.
• Improving Continuously - We challenge ourselves to always do better by trying new things, sharing knowledge, reflecting on practice and learning from others.
• Student Centred - At our heart is always doing what is best for our students. We consider students in all of our decision making to create positive outcomes and memorable experiences for every student.
• Inclusive - We celebrate differences and diversity, recognising that we can learn from each other.
• Open and Caring - We care about the wellbeing of our staff, our students, our community and wider society, creating an environment built on trust where we listen, engage with and support each other.
• Nurturing Education Excellence - We promote educational excellence by delivering programmes that challenge our students to achieve their ambitions.

About The Bedford College Group

The Bedford College Group was formed in 2017 following the merger of Bedford College and Tresham College and is now the largest provider of education in the South East Midlands, with over 15,000 students passing through our doors each year.

Today, the Group is made up of a family of colleges across Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire: Bedford College, Central Bedfordshire College and Tresham College in the towns of Bedford, Dunstable, Leighton Buzzard, Corby, Kettering and Wellingborough; Shuttleworth College, a specialist land-based college; The Bedford Sixth Form, (the only dedicated sixth form in Bedford); The Corby Sixth Form, (opened in September 2023); and the National College for Motorsport alongside Silverstone race circuit. To widen accessibility to education and training, the Group also has community-based Learning Centres in Bedford, Corby and Kettering which offer IT training.

Safeguarding our Students

The Bedford College Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to thorough vetting process which includes, an enhanced DBS check and satisfactory references.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Exceptions Order 1975, provides information about which convictions must be declared during job applications and related exceptions and further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide. The Bedford College Group's policy on Employment of Ex-Offenders is attached to this vacancy.

Candidates who are barred from working with children are reminded it is a criminal offence to apply for this post.

Job Description:

JD&PS - Instructor - Equine feb 2025.docx