Apprenticeship project coordinator jobs

Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation (“SpringBoard”)  

Programme Support Officer 

About the Foundation 

RNCSF (“SpringBoard”)’s vision is to provide access to a great education for young people facing some of the most complex and challenging circumstances. By harnessing the power of fully funded bursary placements and targeted outreach activities available in the UK’s state and independent boarding schools and independent day schools, we seek to transform individual young lives, and in turn we aim to create a sustained ‘ripple-effect’ of growing aspirations and achievements across under-served communities and marginalised groups.

Since 2012 we have supported more than 1,500 young people to access the life-transforming opportunities provided by fully funded bursary places, working with more than 200 participating boarding and independent schools united under the shared commitment to build more diverse, inclusive and representative school environments. We have ambitious plans to ensure that 2,000 young people are supported by our work by 2025, through extending our Department for Education sponsored work in independent day schools. 

Our strategic aims 

Our network of schools is at the heart of all that we do. We harness boarding and independent schools’ commitment to using their educational environments as an engine of social mobility, coordinating a sector-wide effort to target schools’ bursary and partnerships schemes for those who most need access to these opportunities.

We do so by: 

• Identifying children and young people facing complex and challenging home circumstances, for whom a fully funded bursary at an independent or state boarding school or an independent day school represents a life-transforming opportunity 

• Influencing schools to make available more fully funded bursary places; and matching children and young people who we identify through our programmes to the schools best suited to their needs and interests and providing support to ensure they thrive through their placements 

• Encouraging young people leaving school to realise their ambitions, navigate fulfilling careers and make positive contributions in their communities through a vibrant alumni network programme 

• Ensuring targeted access to other educational opportunities available in independent school partnerships programmes for children and young people who are looked-after, or on the ‘edge of’ care but for whom bursary placements are not possible. 

To do so we have a fundraising strategy to secure c.£2 million p/a in donations, used to help to unlock schools’ own efforts to fund as many bursary places and partnership offerings as possible.

The return on the Foundation’s Capital Fund covers the costs of our small team of 14 individuals. We are ably supported in this endeavour by the involvement of our committed Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and an impressive and diverse body of dedicated and enthusiastic Trustees. 

Purpose of the role  

You will support the Head of SpringForward in managing a growing independent school- local authority partnership mentoring programme. This programme promotes partnerships between independent schools and Local Authorities that ensure that children in care can access opportunities for tailored mentoring by independent schoolteachers to help address some of their achievement and attainment gaps, and be supported to secure offers for a university or apprenticeship route on leaving school. 

Key responsibilities  

You will work with the Head of SpringForward to support successful management of day-to-day operations of the programme; including but not limited to:

• onboarding and engagement of volunteer independent schoolteacher mentors;

• liaising with school coordinators and overseeing overall school participation;

• liaising with Local Authority partners and updating on pupil engagement;

• supporting mentors in delivery of mentoring, quality assurance including monitoring of session reports, updating resources). 

You will work with Head of SpringForward to review, implement and refine impact measurement, collecting survey data and feedback, review the outcomes and supporting continuous improvement of programme design and to communicate with new schools and LAs the programme’s benefits. 

You will be held accountable for upholding the highest levels of safeguarding practice in implementation of the mentoring programme, including updating and maintaining safeguarding records for volunteers. 

You will be responsible for writing reports on progress and outcomes for the charity’s senior leadership, trustees and the wider partnership community. 

If seeking additional responsibilities/hours, this role could also include elements of wider communications support - including updating the charity’s website and social media content, collecting impact stories and sharing weekly content on school visits, donor engagement and key newsworthy items relevant to the work of RNCSF. 

Person specification 

Qualities, Attitudes and Values

• Strong and demonstrable commitment to RNCSF’s vision, mission, values and policies, including safeguarding and protection of children & equal opportunities 

• A passion for working with children and young people from diverse backgrounds and putting them at the heart of our work

• Flexible, adaptable, resourceful and resilient to manage changing priorities and a willingness to lead with a degree of autonomy 

• Effective relationship builder, with strong emotional intelligence and experience of co—production methods and working in collaborative environments to improve learning 

Skills

• Strong verbal and written communication skills

• Highly effective organisational, administrative, data management and IT skills, including strong attention to detail 

Knowledge

• Of the UK education sector and children’s social care landscape

• Of working in a grant-making or funding organisation and meeting reporting requirements 

Experience

• Of managing projects to differing timescales 

• Of building productive relationships within a small team/across teams and with external stakeholders 

• Of equitable and inclusive approaches to working with young people 

Benefits of working for RNCSF 

• You will join a small team of 14 diverse, friendly and enthusiastic staff who are united by a passion to tackle educational inequality together and grow professionally and personally along the way.

• We offer flexible working hours and the opportunity to work condensed hours

• We encourage and enable home-working, we are a trusting employer and we actively promote work-life balance

• A culture of living our values: child-centred, optimistic, acting with integrity, with a focus on continuous improvement and working collaboratively

• The breadth of work requires an ability to adapt and understand new ways of working quickly – there are busy points throughout the year but there is a real ‘rhythm’ which mirrors school term-times and so there is scope for contracted hours that reflect this rhythm around school holidays 

Terms and Conditions  

Hours: This is a 0.6 role, with the option to do 0.8 with additional cross-programme responsibilities (e.g. RNCSF communications and social media support). 

Reports to: Laura Slater, Head of SpringForward

Annual Salary range: £27,500 - £32,500 (FTE. Pro-rata for reduced hours) 

Start date: Immediately 

Location:  Hybrid. Expected to work from our offices (at EdCity, west London) on Mondays and Thursdays. Remote working on other days

Benefits: 30 days holiday (pro-rata) 

Auto-enrolment in the NEST pension scheme (details available on request)   

Right to Work: All applicants must have the right to work in the UK

Given the responsibilities of this role the offer of employment will be conditional on an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check. You are required to declare any criminal convictions ahead of this DBS Check.  

Diversity and Inclusion  

We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive.  We especially encourage applications from people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, those with lived experience of our programmes, and people who have experienced forms of exclusion or marginalisation. We welcome applications from SpringBoard alumni and those with lived experience. 

How to Apply  

• Please submit a cover letter and complete CV through the CharityJob portal, please explain any gaps in your employment or education history   

• Your cover letter should answer the following questions and be no longer than 1 ½ A4 sides:  

1. Why do you want to be part of the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation team?  

2. Give examples of how you meet the experience, skills and technical competencies set out in this Job Description and Person Specification.   

Application deadline: 11:30pm on 27th November 2025 

Successful candidates will be notified that they have been selected for interview by Friday 28th November 2025. Interviews will be held on Thursday 4th December 2025 in person at our offices in EdCity, 1 EdCity Walk, London, W12 7TF.

Safeguarding  

RNCSF is committed to safeguarding all children and young people we work and interact with. We take this responsibility seriously, with the focus being on their safety and welfare. As we are a small team, it is likely all our employees will have some interaction with children and young people we work with, whether at an event or through our youth engagement work and therefore all offers of employment are conditional on referencing and DBS checks and all employees are required to take part in regular safeguarding training. For more information please refer to our Safeguarding Policy.   

Safer Recruitment 

In line with this policy: 

1. You will be asked to bring two documents to the interview: one to serve as proof of identity (e. g. valid passport or driver’s license) and one to serve as proof of address (e. g. bank statement, council tax, credit card statement from the last three months).

2. We will usually contact one of your referees prior to interview so please indicate on your application which of your referees you are happy for us to contact or if you have any concerns about our doing so, please let us know. 

We're looking for a kind, compassionate and resilient Support Worker to join our Social Care Homelessness and Complex Needs service in Kensington and Chelsea.

£28,808.00.00 per annum, working 40 hours per week.

Want to feel like you have an exciting future? You'll feel at home here.

Making you feel at home here means helping you thrive in every way. That's why we offer a wide range of benefits, award-winning Learning & Development and a culture that welcomes all. These aren't token gestures - we've thought long and hard about how best to support our team. After all, our people are doing something amazing: helping to transform lives every day.

Our benefits include:

Annual leave increasing up to 30 days with length of service
Free DBS
Exclusive discounts and cashback via Reward Gateway® and opportunity to buy a Blue Light Card
Fully paid induction programme and further training
ILM courses and Apprenticeship Programmes
Cycle to work scheme
Employee Assistance Programme for 24-7 confidential support
Online wellbeing resources
A generous pension - we will contribute up to 4% and life assurance cover up to £10,000 (T&Cs apply)
Quarterly Staff Awards to reward & recognise our amazing staff's commitment and contribution

All applicants must be legally eligible to work in the UK by the start of employment as Look Ahead are not able to offer sponsorship.

For a full job description, please visit our website.

The Heaney Hub Cluster is an intensive supported housing scheme for the most challenging customers in the Kensington & Chelsea. The majority of the customers come with a history of entrenched rough sleeping; often coupled with enduring mental health difficulties. The aim is to offer a home to those who would have difficulty finding accommodation because of their lifestyle choices involving extreme drug and alcohol misuse. The high-support hostel caters for eleven service users with complex needs and is staffed 24-hours a day with the minimum of three staff on duty. The medium support services are staffed from 9am to 9pm where the customers present with varying degrees of mental health issues. The Assessment Centre is staffed 24/7.
The hostels are in close proximity to each other, and staff will be expected to work across the units. Three of the hostels supports both male and female customers and one is males only.

Heaney Hub implements and promotes the Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) model. This is an approach to supporting people out of homelessness, particularly those who have experienced complex trauma or are diagnosed with a personality disorder. It also considers the psychological needs of staff: developing skills and knowledge, increasing motivation, job satisfaction and resilience.

Support Workers will devise person centred support plans with customers to help them develop the life skills they require to meet their needs and goals. This will include sign-posting them to the local drug and alcohol services to address substance misuse issues. They will work with customers to promote social inclusion and alongside other members of the team to promote independent living, encouraging customers to maximise their skills and choices.

The team comprises of Therapist, Move on coordinator, Housing Officer, 16 support workers, 2 Team Leaders, One Project Manager.

The role requires one to work on a shift pattern:7.45am to 3.45pm and 2.00pm to 10pm.

What you'll bring:

Essential:

NVQ Level 2 or equivalent or experience within charity/social care sector

Desirable:

Relevant experience in supporting those experiencing homelessness and people with complex needs

About us:

Look Ahead is a leading, not-for-profit care and support provider in London and the South East. Our vision is to build better lives through social care and housing in local communities. As an organisation we deliver over 100 services, providing support to thousands of customers each year. Our mission is to co-design and deliver services that offer innovative social care solutions and support people to thrive. We work across mental health, homelessness and complex needs, young people and care leavers and learning disabilities so there are plenty of opportunities to grow and progress your career with us.
We have a strong social purpose and we live and work by our values:

We focus on Excellence and innovation.
We are Caring and Compassionate.
We are Inclusive and Trusted.
We work in Partnership and are One-Team.

Look Ahead is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and adults at risk, and expects all employees, workers and volunteers to share this commitment.

If your application for this role is unsuccessful, but we feel that you would be suitable for another role, we may contact you to discuss alternative opportunities. If this occurs you would not need to submit another application for the alternative role.
We reserve the right to close this advert early if we are able to appoint to the vacancy before the advertised closed date.
We are committed to diversity and inclusion at work and are accredited with Silver in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2021. We are a proud member of the Employers Domestic Abuse Covenant and encourage applications from a diverse range of applicants of all backgrounds.