Forest School & Scout Leader to Outdoor AP Mentor | Burnley

Job Title: Outdoor Education Mentor / Forest School Practitioner (Alternative Provision)

Location: Burnley & Surrounding East Lancashire (BB10 / BB11 / BB12)

Contract Type: Full-Time, Temporary-to-Permanent

Salary: Up to £33,000 per annum upon permanent appointment.

Swap the Scout Hut or Forest Clearing for a Purposeful School Career

Are you an active Scout Leader, Guide Leader, Forest School Leader, Bushcraft Instructor, or Outdoor Pursuits Coach looking for full-time, stable daytime work doing what you love?

You do not need Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or traditional classroom experience. In an Alternative Provision (AP) setting, practical leadership, outdoor resilience, fire-lighting, shelter building, and the natural ability to connect with young people outside four walls are ten times more powerful than a textbook.

We are recruiting an Outdoor Learning & SEMH Mentor to join our specialist Alternative Provision school in Burnley. You will work with Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 learners (ages 11-16) who struggle in traditional mainstream schools due to social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) needs, ADHD, autism, or trauma. Using outdoor tasks, woodland projects, and experiential learning, you will help them rebuild self-worth, emotional regulation, and teamwork.

Why Scout & Forest School Leaders Excel in Alternative Provision

Natural Co-Regulation: The outdoors is the ultimate low-arousal environment. Whittling a stick, tending a fire, or navigating a trail naturally calms a deregulated nervous system far better than a noisy corridor.

Micro-Group Ratios: You aren't herding a class of 30. You will work with micro-groups of 3 to 6 pupils, supported in the woods and grounds by experienced pastoral teaching assistants.

Balanced School Hours: 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Monday to Friday. No weekend camp shifts, no late evening scout hut meetings, and 13 weeks of school holidays every year.

Clear Route to Permanent: A structured 12-week agency transition offering immediate placement security, weekly PAYE pay, and a direct path to a permanent school contract up to £33k.

Key Responsibilities

Hands-On Outdoor Sessions: Plan and lead practical woodland tasks-including bushcraft, safe tool use (bow saws, billhooks, whittling), fire craft, camp cooking, shelter building, and nature conservation.

Nurture & De-Escalation: Apply consistent, calm boundaries and low-arousal techniques to support pupils experiencing frustration, anxiety, or emotional deregulation.

Life Skills & Practical Accreditation: Help students work towards entry-level awards, John Muir Awards, Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) modules, or functional life skills badges.

Teamwork & Co-Regulation: Encourage peer communication, resilience, and personal responsibility through structured outdoor challenges.

Safety & Safeguarding: Maintain safe dynamic risk assessments across outdoor spaces, tool stores, and off-site nature reserves, recording daily pastoral notes on school tracking systems (e.g., CPOMS).

Who We Are Looking For

Background: Experience as a Forest School Leader (Level 2 or 3), Scout/Guide Leader, Outdoor Education Instructor, Bushcraft Practitioner, Duke of Edinburgh leader, or Park Ranger/Conservationist.

Youth Rapport: Genuine empathy, grounded presence, and patience with vulnerable teenagers who may have experienced school exclusion or adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).

Weather Resilience: Comfort working outside in all Lancashire weather conditions-boots on the ground, rain or shine.

Qualifications: QTS is not essential. Outdoor First Aid, Forest School certificates, or DofE Assessor awards are advantageous, but character and ability to engage disaffected youth come first.

Safeguarding: Commitment to safer recruitment; must hold or be willing to process an Enhanced Child Workforce DBS registered on the DBS Update Service.

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