Food Technician

Teaching Vacancies; St Leonards; On-site; GBP 20,000 - 26,000; Full time

Job summary

Mulberry Academy St Leonards is seeking a caring and committed person to support pupils in an inclusive learning environment. You will work with teachers and support staff to enable pupils to achieve their potential, while maintaining high standards of health, safety and wellbeing.

The role involves preparing materials, assisting with practical activities, managing resources and supporting daily classroom operations within the academy’s policies and safeguarding framework.

Qualifications

• 1.1 Knowledge of main Health and Safety Regulations in an academic setting.
• 1.2 Experience undertaking a range of cleaning duties.
• 1.3 Experience working in a school or academy environment.

Responsibilities

• Prepare materials, ingredients and tools for lessons; write purchase orders as needed.
• Maintain health and safety policies and conduct regular checks on equipment.
• Prepare resources for each lesson, including printing and demonstrations.
• Assist pupils during practical tasks and model good practice in small groups.
• Maintain equipment and organize classrooms and storage facilities.
• Conduct audits to identify items to replace or reorder.
• Keep stock up to date so each lesson runs smoothly.
• Ensure rooms meet health and safety standards.
• Prepare display work and demonstrations for open evenings and events.
• Liaise with department members to ensure daily needs are met; use initiative for smooth operation.
• Follow Academy policies for Health and Safety and Equal Opportunities.
• Participate in professional development and performance management activities.
• Undertake other duties as directed by line manager; adapt to additional tasks as needed.

Skills

Health and Safety knowledge

Cleaning duties experience

School/academy environment experience

Job description

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

1.1 Some knowledge of the main Health and Safety Regulations and how they apply in an academic environment

1.2 Experiencing of undertaking a range of cleaning duties

1.3 Experience of working in a school or academy environment

KEY SKILLS AND ABILITIES

2.1 Ability to work effectively and supportively as a member if the Academy team

2.2 Ability to offer in-class support to the teacher and students

2.3 Ability to work in an organized and methodical manner

2.4 Ability to undertake a range of practical tasks

2.5 Ability to carry out routine maintenance of equipment

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

3.1 Ability to establish positive relationships with students, including those with special educational needs

3.2 Willingness to take personal responsibility for standard of work carried out

3.3 Willingness to participate in further training and development opportunities offered by the academy, to further knowledge

3.4 Willingness to maintain confidentiality on all Academy matters

3.5. Commitment to equal opportunities

What the school offers its staff

Why Mulberry Academy St Leonards?

We’re proud of our people. At Mulberry Academy St Leonards, we are building a culture where pupils, parents, teachers and staff work together in the service of our community. When you join our school, you will find a place where you belong and where your work truly makes a difference to the lives of young people.

Working in education is not always easy. We recognise the effort, creativity and commitment our staff bring every day. We value this deeply and show our appreciation by creating a culture where staff are supported to grow, develop and thrive.

We want ambitious and talented people to join Mulberry Academy St Leonards because they want to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people.

Professional development is central to our culture. All teaching staff benefit from weekly professional development, and each year we dedicate a two-week professional development programme in October. During this time teachers deepen their practice and collaborate on improving teaching and learning, while colleagues in support roles have structured time designed specifically for their own professional development.

We also build coaching into teachers’ timetables, ensuring every teacher benefit from regular professional dialogue, reflection and support to continually develop their practice.

As part of the Mulberry Schools Trust, staff benefit from Trust-wide expertise, strong collaboration, and opportunities to grow professionally. The East London Teaching School Hub further enhances this offer, delivering nationally recognised programmes and enabling staff to engage in and contribute to training across all career stages.

Providing a good pension

When you join the Mulberry Schools Trust, you will have access to an excellent pension scheme — either the Teachers’ Pension Scheme or the Local Government Pension Scheme, depending on your role.

Offering flexible working

We recognise the importance of balancing work and home life. We consider flexible and family-friendly working opportunities wherever possible, including part-time, term-time and job-share arrangements. At Mulberry Academy St Leonards we also design timetables to support staff wellbeing. All teachers receive a weekly PPA sessions and an afternoon/ morning well being time offsite.

Supporting your health and wellbeing

Balancing everyday life with the requirements of work can create pressures for all of us. Work is a significant part of our lives and we are committed to creating a healthy and supportive working environment.

All employees have free access to a 24-hour confidential counselling and wellbeing service, designed to support staff with a range of personal and professional challenges.

Recognising that the autumn term is the longest and most demanding, we restructured our calendar to better support staff wellbeing with a two-week break in October.

Actively promoting equality and diversity

Mulberry Academy St Leonards is committed to building an equal, diverse and inclusive community. We want the very best people to work in our school regardless of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy, family status or marital status. We are particularly keen to receive applications from candidates from historically under-represented and minority groups, helping ensure our workforce reflects the diverse communities we serve.

Further details about the role

We are seeking a caring, enthusiastic, and committed person to join our team to support our pupils in accessing a positive, inclusive, and engaging learning environment. The successful candidate will work closely with teachers and other support staff to provide high‑quality support that enables pupils to achieve their full potential academically, socially, and emotionally.

The role requires someone who is patient, adaptable, and able to build positive relationships with pupils, staff, and families while promoting independence, confidence, and wellbeing.

This is a rewarding opportunity for an individual who is passionate about supporting children and young people and who is committed to making a meaningful difference to pupils' educational experiences and outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

• To order and prepare all materials, ingredients and tools that are required for the delivery of Design and Technology/Food Technology lessons. This will include writing purchase orders that will then be used to order the necessary items.
• Maintain all health and safety policies for the department as well as carrying regular maintenance checks on all equipment and machinery. Also ensuring that all work spaces are safe to work in at the beginning and end of each day.
• Preparing all resources needed for each lesson that takes place in the department these will include; printing, demonstrations and practical tasks.
• Assist pupils during practical tasks to ensure that they are safe in their learning and achieving their full potential. This will mean demonstrating and modelling good practice to small groups of pupils alone.
• Maintain the equipment to ensure it is in good order and organisation of the classrooms and storage facilities
• Conduct audits to report any broken, missing or out of date items that can be replaced, repaired or re‑ordered.
• Ensure that stock is up to date and in order so that each lesson can run smoothly.
• Ensure that rooms are clean to fall in line with health and safety standards.
• Prepare display work and demonstrations to promote the subject at open evenings as well as prepare activities with the curriculum leader for more practical events.
• Liaise with each member of the department to ensure that they have all that is need for each working day. Act upon any queries and use initiative and self‑direction to proactively ensure a smooth running of the department.
• To carry out all activities in line with the Academy’s policies for Health and Safety, and Equal Opportunities
• To participate in professional development activities and performance management activities as required
• To undertake other reasonable duties as directed by your line manager
• There may also be the need for staff to undertake additional duties from time to time, appropriate to the level of the post. Should these additional tasks become a frequent part of the role, the job description will be revised through consultation with the post holder.

General

• Promote equal opportunities and inclusion, challenging and addressing immediately any situation where these falls short of the standards expected in our school.
• Promote and actively support the ethos and values of the school and Trust.
• Support and contribute to the school’s commitment to the continued professional development of all staff, including engagement with training and professional learning opportunities.
• Work within the school’s Health and Safety framework, ensuring safe practices are always followed.
• Be aware of and assume the appropriate level of responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.
• Report any safeguarding concerns in accordance with the Trust’s Safeguarding Policy and procedures.
• Undertake any other duties as may reasonably be required by the Executive Principal or Leadership Team, consistent with the nature and level of the role.

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.