Head of Gardens

Job Application Form

Head of Gardens

Employment Type

Full Time

Application Start Date

11-11-2025

Application End Date

04-12-2025

Description

If you are an experienced gardens management professional, with a reputation for excellence, and thorough knowledge of practical and technical aspects of horticulture, this position offers an exciting opportunity to play a pivotal role maintaining, conserving and enhancing the beautiful gardens of Bradfield College and St Andrew's School.

The Role

As Head of Gardens, you will lead the gardens team and play a vital role in shaping the visual and ecological character of Bradfield College's extensive grounds, which span over 280 acres and sit within a designated conservation area and Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

You will be responsible for the maintenance, conservation and enhancement of Bradfield College's outdoor spaces, including landscaped gardens and woodland areas, preserving the natural charm of the site and providing a tranquil and inspiring setting for pupils, staff, and visitors alike, aligning with Bradfield's ethos of respect for the environment and its role in community wellbeing.

Additional responsibilities will include the development of seasonal and weather dependent schedules of work, the monitoring and management/preservation of trees, in addition to managing gardens improvement projects and minimising the impact of gardens maintenance activities on the environment to support our environmental sustainability goals.

About You

In addition to your garden management experience and horticulture expertise, you will also possess considerable knowledge of working in conservation areas and AONB.

An RHS level 3+, IOSH Managing Safely and ILM level 3 or equivalent, are essential qualifications for this role.

You will also have the ability to motivate and encourage staff and will be organised/methodical and used to overseeing working schedules, and will demonstrate an excellent understanding of health and safety and actively promote a positive culture towards it throughout your role.

Proficiency in the operation and maintenance of gardening maintenance machinery is equally important. You will also need to be capable of undertaking all aspects of gardens management and the physical challenges of the role.

The role is full time, averaging out to 40 hours per week with a Summer and Winter work schedule.

Benefits of working at Bradfield College

Bradfield College offers a variety of benefits, such as:

Contributory workplace pension scheme and 3 x life cover
Subsidised membership of the College Sports Centre and Golf Club
Access to our Employee Assistance programme
BHSF Health Cash plan
Cycle to Work scheme
Electric Vehicle scheme
Free parking and lunch provided when the College kitchens are open

For further details and to apply please click the apply button.

The closing date for applications is Thursday 4 December 2025.

Interviews will be held during the week commencing 8 December 2025.

Applications will be processed as they are received and we may interview suitable candidates before the closing date; therefore early application is advised.

If you have any queries about the application process, please contact the HR department at recruitment@bradfieldcollege.org.uk

Bradfield College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening as part of their application, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Downloads

Candidate Information Pack - Head of Gardens.pdf

Personal Information

Title *

First Name *

Last Name *

Email *

Mobile Number *

Address Line 1

Address Line 2

City

State/County

Postcode

Country *

Professional Information

Referred By

Note

Personal Details

The school is legally required to carry out a number of pre-appointment checks which are detailed in the School's recruitment, selection and disclosure policy and procedure. The information you are being asked to provide in this form is required so that the school can comply with those legal obligations should your application be successful. In order to be considered for a position at the school, you must complete this application form. Please note that the school may carry out online searches on shortlisted candidates (see the School's Recruitment, selection and disclosure policy and procedure for further information).

Former name

National insurance number

Are you eligible for employment in the UK? * Required

Do you have a qualified teacher status?

If Yes, please provide your TRN

Details of online profile

Keeping Children Safe in Educations (KCSIE) asks schools to carry out online searches on shortlisted candidates as part of the process of assessing suitability.
You (and all other candidates) are therefore required to provide the following information as part of your application.

• the social media platforms on which you have accounts;
• the account names/handles for all of your social media accounts, including any under a nickname or pseudonym;
• any websites you are involved with, in or featured on or named on;
• any other publicity available online information about you of which the school should be made aware;

If you are shortlisted for the new role, we may carry out an online search based on the information you provide in this form. If we carry out a search, we will also search more widely for any other online information about you.

You are not required to provide account passwords or to grant the School access to private social media accounts.

If you are not shortlisted for the role, online searches will not be carried out on you.

Please provide details of online profiles * Required

Prohibition from teaching, prohibition from management and disqualification from providing childcare

The School is not permitted to employ anyone to carry out ‘teaching work’ if they are prohibited from doing so. For these purposes ‘teaching work’ includes:

• planning and preparing lessons and courses for pupils;
• delivering lessons to pupils;
• assessing the development, progress and attainment of pupils; and
• reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils.

The above activities do not amount to ‘teaching work’ if they are supervised by a qualified teacher or other person nominated by the Head.
The School is also not permitted to employ anyone to work in a management position if they are prohibited from being involved in the management of an independent school. This applies to the following positions at the School:

• Head;
• teaching posts on the senior leadership team;
• teaching posts which carry a departmental head role;
• support staff posts on the senior leadership team;
• Housemaster/ Housemistress.

The School is also not permitted to employ anyone to work in a position which involves the provision of ‘childcare’ if they are disqualified from providing ‘childcare’. For these purposes ‘childcare’ includes:

• all supervised activities before, during and after the school day for children in our early years provision i.e. for a child up to 1 September following their 5th birthday; and
• provision for children who are not in our early years provision and who are under the age of 8, which takes place on the school premises before or after the school day.

Work as a cleaner, driver, transport escort, member of the catering staff or member of the office staff is not considered 'childcare' for these purposes.

The declaration in the last section of this Form therefore asks you to confirm whether you are prohibited from carrying out ‘teaching work', prohibited from being involved in the management of an independent school and/or disqualified from providing 'childcare'. You do not have to complete these aspects of the declaration if you are not applying for a relevant role. If you are unsure whether the role for which you are applying involves teaching work, is a relevant management role or involves the provision of 'childcare' please contact the HR department, hr@bradfieldcollege.org.uk.

The School will also carry out a check to determine whether successful applicants for relevant roles are prohibited from teaching and/or prohibited from involvement in the management of an independent school. Successful applicants for ‘childcare’ roles will be required to complete a childcare disqualification self-declaration form.

Education

Please start with your most recent

Education Level (Degree, NVQ, A Levels, GSCEs, Etc.) * Required

Name of school/college/university * Required

Date of attendance from (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Date of attendance to (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Name of subject/s * Required

Results * Required

Date of result (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Awarding body/s

Other vocational qualifications, skills or training

Please provide details of any vocational qualifications or skills that you possess or training that you have received which you consider to be relevant to the role for which you have applied.

Current / Most recent employment

Current / Most recent employer * Required

Current / Most recent employer's address * Required

Current / Most recent job title * Required

Date started (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Date employment ended (if applicable) * Required

Current salary / Salary on leaving * Required

Did you receive any benefits? * Required

If Yes, please provide details

Reason for seeking other employment * Required

Please state when you would be available to take up employment if offered/ current notice period * Required

Previous employment and / or activities (including voluntary work) since leaving secondary education

Name of employer * Required

Address of employer * Required

Date from (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Date to (dd/mm/yyyy) * Required

Position held and/or duties * Required

Reason for leaving * Required

Gaps in your employment

If there are any gaps in your employment history, e.g. looking after children, sabbatical year.

Please give dates and details * Required

Interests

Please give details of any interests, hobbies or skills that you could bring to the school to contribute to its extra-curricular activities.

Please provide details in the box below:

Suitability

Please give your reasons for applying for this post and say why you believe you are suitable for the position. Study the job description and person specifications and describe any personal qualities, experience and skills you have gained in other jobs or similar environments which demonstrate your ability and aptitude to undertake the duties of the post. Continue on a separate sheet if necessary.

Please give your reasons -

Disclosure and Barring Service checks, criminal record and Children's Barred List.

Please be aware that the School applies for an Enhanced Disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for all positions at the School which amount to regulated activity. The role you are applying for meets the legal definition of regulated activity with children. If you are successful in your application you will be required to complete a DBS Disclosure Application Form. Employment with the School is conditional upon the School being satisfied with the result of the Enhanced DBS Disclosure. Any criminal records information that is disclosed to the School will be handled in accordance with any guidance and / or code of practice published by the DBS.

The School will also carry out a check of the Children’s Barred List. Please be aware that it is unlawful for the School to employ anyone to work with children if they are barred from doing so, and it is a criminal offence for a person to apply to work with children if they are barred from doing so. The declaration at section 14 of this Form therefore asks you to confirm whether you are barred from working with children.

The role you are applying for is also exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the School is therefore permitted to ask you to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which would normally be considered “spent”) in order to assess your suitability to work with children. If you are successful in being shortlisted for this role, you will be required to provide information about your suitability to work with children by completing a self-declaration form. In this form you will be required to provide details of all spent and unspent convictions and cautions. However, you will not have to disclose a caution or conviction for an offence committed in the United Kingdom if it has been filtered in accordance with the DBS filtering rules.

Having a criminal record will not necessarily prevent you from taking up employment with the School. Instead, the School will assess each case on its merits and with reference to the School’s objective assessment criteria set out in the School’s ‘Recruitment, selection and disclosure policy and procedure’.

References

Please supply the names and contact details of two people who we may contact for references. One of these must be your current or most recent employer. If your current/most recent employment does/did not involve work with children, then your second referee should be from your employer with whom you most recently worker with children. Neither referee should be a relative or someone known to you solely as a friend, the school intends to take up references on all shortlisted candidates before interview. The school reserves right to take up references from any previous employer.

If the school receives a factual reference i.e. one which contains only limited information about you, additional references maybe sought.

If you have previously worked overseas the school may take up references from your overseas employers.

If the school feels it is necessary to take up additional references for any reason we will contact you to discuss this before approaching any party for an additional reference.

The school may also telephone your referee's in order to verify the reference they have provided.

The school treats all references given or received confidential which means that you would not usually be provided with a copy.

Referee 1 name * Required

Organisation * Required

Email address * Required

Telephone number * Required

Occupation * Required

May we contact prior to interview? * Required

Referee 2 name * Required

Organisation * Required

Email address * Required

Telephone number * Required

Occupation * Required

May we contact prior to interview? * Required

Recruitment and use of information

It is the School’s policy to employ the best qualified personnel and to provide equal opportunity for the advancement of employees including promotion and training and not to discriminate against any person because of their race, colour, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, religion or religious belief, disability or age. All new appointments are subject to a probationary period.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

A copy of the School’s ‘Recruitment, selection and disclosure policy and procedure’ (which includes the School’s ‘Policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders’), and ‘Child protection policy’ is available for download from the School’s website. Please take the time to read them.

If your application is successful, the School will retain the information provided in this form (together with any attachments) on your personnel file for the duration of your employment. If your application is unsuccessful, all documentation relating to your application will normally be confidentially destroyed six months after the date on which you are notified of the outcome. Please see our Information and Records Retention Policy for information on how long we keep your personal data. This can be found on our website.

How we use your information -

Information on how the School uses personal data is set out in the School’s Privacy Notice, which can be found here.

Declarations

Where this form is submitted electronically and without signature, electronic receipt of this form by the school will be deemed equivalent to submission of a signed version and will constitute confirmation of the declaration.

I confirm that I am not named on the children's barred list or otherwise disqualified from working with children.

I confirm that I am not prohibited from carrying out 'teaching work' (do not answer this if the role for which you are applying does not involve 'teaching work')

I confirm that I am not prohibited from being involved in the management of an independent school (do not answer this if the role for which you are applying is not a management role)

I confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, I am not disqualified from working in early years provision or later years provision with children under the age of eight. (do not answer this if the role for which you are applying does not involve the provision 'childcare')

I confirm that I have provided details of all my online profiles (including social media accounts under nicknames and / or pseudonyms) and I have not knowingly withheld any information.

I confirm that the information I have given on this application form is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.

I understand that providing false or misleading information could result in my application being rejected or (if the false or misleading information comes to light after my appointment) summary dismissal and may amount to a criminal offence.

Other Attachment

Upload CV/Resume*

* PDF format preferred. To upload multiple files, select all at once (Hold CTRL or SHIFT when selecting)

Privacy Declaration

Where this form is submitted electronically, electronic receipt of this form by the School will be deemed equivalent to submission of a signed version and will constitute confirmation of the declaration above.

Draw Signature *

Type Signature *