Garden Education Officer
Reporting to: Garden Education Manager
Hours: Minimum of 1 day per week, with the flexibility to teach evenings and weekends as required
Salary Range: £25,207 FTE, rising to £29,345 upon obtaining Assessor qualification. Salary will be prorated based on actual hours worked and dependent on experience/ qualifications
Join us at an exciting time in the development of Walworth Garden, and our growing education department. This role is designed to help us offer more learning opportunities for our community, by teaching Level 1 and 2 Environmental Gardening courses, delivering weekend workshops, and running educational sessions for people of all ages - all centred around gardening and environmental issues.
We particularly welcome applications from those identifying with groups currently under-represented within horticulture. If you hold a Level 2 qualification but don’t meet the other requirements, though think you could make a great teacher nonetheless, we’d be happy to hear from you - please reach out to the email address at the end of this page to arrange an informal chat.
About Us
Walworth Garden is a charity dedicated to knowledge and nurture. Our mission is to improve lives by providing excellent learning and horticultural therapy through a garden that is open to all, with free entry, seven days a week.
Walworth Garden is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee. The Charity is governed by a voluntary Board of Trustees. Our main charitable work includes horticultural training and horticultural therapy.
We also provide services that individuals or other organisations pay for in order to generate surplus income to support our charitable work.
About The Role
This is a flexible job description that may be developed according to the skills and interests of the successful candidate, starting from 1 day a week, with the potential to extend this to more hours in the future. The successful candidate will teach and assess horticulture at Level 2 and/or Level 1, facilitate weekend workshops, and run educational workshops for people of all ages both at the Garden and for the wider community at various other sites.
The postholder must have a Level 2 qualification in horticulture, and a passion for the environment. Candidates are encouraged to demonstrate other gardening/teaching/environmental/workshop related skills and experience.
Purpose of the Role
To work with the Garden Education Manager and other Garden Education Officers on the planning, recruitment, delivery, and administration of Walworth Garden’s education programme, and to be the first point of contact for students and learners. To develop new workshops and short courses (both in-house and out) that align with the ethos and approach of Walworth Garden and which will be held on some weekends and evenings.
The Garden is a small organisation and employees are expected to be reasonably flexible so that the evolving needs of all stakeholders are met.
Individual responsibilities
To successfully teach and assess all aspects of City & Guilds Practical Horticulture Skills at Level 1 and 2, with an environmental edge
To administer all aspects of the course in accordance with City & Guilds and funder rules and regulations and to collate and track data in order to satisfy both City & Guilds, student progress and funder demand
To liaise with the Garden Education Manager and CEO and other colleagues in preparation for inspections and lesson observations
To liaise with and support other GEOs in order to ensure coherent teaching, record keeping, and full coverage of the curriculum
To be appropriately qualified (or gain qualification) in order to assess student work
To facilitate student success to completion
To liaise with Marketing and Engagement in order to promote courses and recruit optimum numbers of students, ensure relevant student details are on record, and to adhere to all GDPR and other data protection rules
To liaise with the Garden Education Manager and the Head Gardener so that work carried out by students in the Garden is in line with the overall vision and contributes to the success of both the Garden and the Plant Centre
To be a reflective practitioner and adhere to the Professional Teacher Standards as laid out by The Education & Training Foundation
To take part in preparing students for employment
To take part in the Garden’s yearly Performance Management cycle, where appropriate
To be prepared to take part in further developmental training to secure increased success both for the individual and the Garden.
To facilitate weekend and other workshops and short courses as required both at the Garden and in the wider community, with both adults and children
All other reasonable requests made by the CEO and Garden Education Manager
Walworth Garden is committed to equality of opportunity, and values diversity. We welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, particularly from Black, Asian and minoritised ethnic candidates who have been historically excluded from the horticulture industries, as well as applications from LGBTQIA+ candidates.
If you hold a Level 2 qualification but don’t meet the other requirements, though think you could make a great teacher nonetheless, we’d be happy to hear from you - please reach out to the email address below to arrange an informal chat.
Please see the full Job Description for further details about the role, including the person specification. To apply, please email a cover letter detailing your suitability for the role (no more than 1 A4 page) as well as your CV, to sarah@walworthgarden.org.uk.
Deadline: 2 July 2025, however please note that we will be interviewing suitable candidates on a rolling basis, and may close this posting early.