Summer play worker jobs

We’re an award-winning charity running local learning centres in the heart of the communities where the young people we support live. Our centres provide a high-impact education programme which includes practical learning support, pastoral care, and motivational and confidence-building activities for young people aged 7-18. Our aim is to enable students from the least advantaged neighbourhoods to realise their ambitions and achieve their wonderful potential.

As the UK’s leading university access organisation, our staff team is helping 56,000 young people each year at its 44 learning centres and extension projects across England and Scotland, and we plan to scale-up our provision to 50 centres over the coming years.

We are looking for a high-calibre candidate who will enjoy working each day with young people and who will thrive in a frontline, community-based, fast-paced and rewarding role. You will be taking up a permanent role as Centre Leader at our IntoUniversity centre in Kennington. You will have responsibility for running your IntoUniversity centre, including managing your team, planning and delivering the programme, liaising with external stakeholders and meeting  IntoUniversity’s targets for delivery.

A substantial element of this role is delivering our education programme to children and young people aged 7-18, so you will need to have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for working with young people, including leading a class of 30 from the front, working with small teams of children and providing one-to-one support.

The role at a glance

Contract: Full-time, permanent

Application deadline - 9am Monday 8th June 2026

Interview day (in-person) - Monday 15th June 2026

Start date: As soon as possible, to be agreed with the successful candidate

Working hours
Mon and Thurs: 09:30-18:00
Tues, Weds, Fri: 09:00-17:30

(Some additional weekend & unsocial hours will be required)

Centre Leaders are based at one of our IntoUniversity learning centres and work directly with young people, schools and families on a daily basis. It is therefore not a hybrid role and is based full-time in our centres

Location

IntoUniversity Kennington

The role requires intermittent travel in your region (usually within the day). Periodic travel out of the area is also required e.g. to London, this may include occasional overnight stays. 

Salary

£39,100 per annum (inclusive of £2,700 London contribution)

Annual leave

33 days (inc bank & public holidays) (pro rata for part-time staff) + 3 closure days (two in December and one in July) + additional length of service entitlement (one day per year of service, up to 5 days)

Staff benefits

• Employer pension contributions of 6% (and up to 8% after two years)

• Year round ‘early finish’ Fridays at 4.30pm

• Summer working hours (finish at 1pm on Fridays for six weeks in the summer), pro-rated for staff joining after January in the same year 

• Employee Assistance Programme including access to wellbeing and legal support 

• Life Assurance scheme with Aviva including SmartHealth service with access to 24/7 online GP appointments

• Interest-free new starter loans of up to £1,000

• Cycle to Work Scheme and Travelcard Loan Scheme

• Enhanced maternity, paternity, shared parental and adoption pay and sick pay allowances

• Staff in FOCUS – rewards, competitions and prizes across the year

We are looking for an experienced youth worker to join our team and lead our Short Breaks project, which provides activities and support specifically for children and young people who have autism and have low to moderate support needs. Camp Mohawk is a woodland activity centre that provides support to children, young people and families from across the South of England.

The children and young people (approximately 100 individuals) supported by the project are aged 8 to approximately 25 years and are largely independent in terms of their self care but have a variety of social, sensory and sometimes medical needs that mean it is very difficult for them to participate in mainstream activities. Our Short Breaks service offers after school activities (in 3 age groups) on Tuesdays and Thursdays in term time, as well as full days of activities once per week in school holidays. These activities give the young people essential social opportunities during which they are supported with things they find challenging, encouraged to express their natural personalities and explore and develop their interests. During these sessions they can receive support to develop their social skills if that is what they need, and can take part in fun activities with their peers. The groups generally cater for between 10 and 20 young people per session.

To be a good fit for this role, you will need to be an exceptional and dedicated childcare / youth worker who has proven experience of supporting and safeguarding children and young people, particularly those who have autism. You should have experience of planning inclusive activities, managing budgets and supervising teams of staff. The role is very much a ‘hands on’ role working directly with the project beneficiaries for the majority of the post hours - you must be able to commit to working the majority of Tuesday (16.00 - 19.30) and Thursday (18.30 - 22.00) evenings in term time, and at least one full day (09.00 - 17.30) per week during school holidays, with the exception of the Christmas holidays when the centre is closed. You will work 10 hours per month on project associated admin which can be undertaken remotely and largely at times that suit you. You must have a full UK driving license and access to a reliable vehicle that is insured for business use. Camp Mohawk is not easily accessible by public transport, whilst some Short Breaks activities take place at off site locations in Reading, Wokingham, Maidenhead, Bracknell, Slough and surrounding areas.

The current post holder also works in the role of Duty Manager for other school holiday days / term time weekend days. This aspect of the role, which will be an optional add on to the Short Breaks Coordinator role with negotiable hours, would be undertaken on a rotational basis with our 4 other Duty Managers. The role involves overseeing the daily delivery of general Family Sessions which support families who have children of all ages and who have a wide range of special needs and disabilities. In this role you will guide and supervise a team of support staff and volunteers through set up of the facilities at the start of the day, oversee the smooth and effective delivery of the service and support families during their visits, work effectively within our Safeguarding Lead Team, and supervise the cleaning and close down of facilities once the session has completed.

For full job description and person specification please see the attached application pack. Informal enquiries prior to application to discuss the role requirements, and applicant requirements in terms of hours and salary, are welcomed.

The successful applicant will be required to undergo all checks and training in accordance with our Safe Recruitment policy including enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references and Right to Work check.