PlayON Instructor

We're hiring across Durham Region in our Pickering, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa locations!

Position Title: Instructor, PlayON

Employment Type: Part Time Hourly Contract (Until June 2025)

Anticipated Start Date: January 2, 2025

Hours: Must be available to work from 2:30pm-6:00pm, three days a week (Monday to Friday). Flexibility regarding assigned work schedules, including weekday afternoons and monthly training sessions.

Pay: $17.96/hour

Locations: Oshawa, Whitby, Ajax, and Pickering. Please state the cities/locations you are applying to in your cover letter, in order of preference.

Nature and Scope

PlayON is an after school recreation program serving youth 4-14 years of age (JK to Grade 8) in high priority neighbourhoods. The objective of this program focuses on physical education, nutrition, and wellness programming for the participants. Programming is created and led by Team Leaders and Instructors. In nutrition, there is an emphasis on cooking and hands-on learning in the kitchen. Indoor and outdoor play is mandatory for physical education, and all games are modified for age and skill level. Wellness introduces concepts such as self-care, mental well-being, and diversity in a play-based way to participants.

The PlayON Instructor is responsible for the hands-on creation and delivery of play-based programming ensuring a safe and inclusive play space for the students while adhering strictly to all health and safety protocols. PlayON Instructors are required to work well with other instructors and support volunteers. There is an element of administration to the role, including meeting all administrative deadlines, maintaining and organizing paperwork, and attending mandatory monthly staff meetings.

Responsibilities

• Take action to ensure fun, safe, and healthy experiences for all participants (kindergarten - grade 8).
• Build rapport with students, staff, volunteers, and school personnel.
• Consistently create and deliver diverse and recreation-based programming in all three target areas (Physical Education, Nutrition and Wellness) in a manner in which the mission, values, goals and practices of the YMCA of Greater Toronto are being met, while building positive relationships.
• Ensure that the principles of Healthy Child Development and the Children’s Services standards are practiced in the delivery and planning of all children’s programs.
• Be familiar with exceptionalities and behaviour management techniques.
• Monitor the safety of all participants throughout all activities and programs; indoors and outdoors.
• Maintain a clean and organized workspace and play area (e.g. preparing and cleaning up daily snacks, organized play materials and supplies, smooth set up and take down of playspace, etc.).
• Actively participate in scheduled shifts, staff meetings, and monthly training sessions.
• Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Previous experience working with children and youth and/or in a related program area is an asset
• Demonstrated interest in recreational sports an asset
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Flexibility regarding assigned work schedules, including weekday afternoons and monthly training sessions
• Must be able to work outdoors daily year-round; may be exposed to heat, humidity or cold
• Well-developed interpersonal and relationship-building skills; ability to establish rapport and excellent communication with members, staff and volunteers
• Current Standard First Aid/CPR C required prior to first day of work

What you need to succeed:

• Commitment to the YMCA’s Mission, Vision and Values
• Focus on the health, safety and wellbeing of all children, youth, and vulnerable people in YMCA programs including understanding legal and moral obligations related to reporting suspected child abuse to Child Protection Services
• YMCA Competencies: Accountable, Relationship-Builder, Improvement-Orientated, Team Player & Leader, Equity and Wellbeing Promoter

Why Work for Our Charity?

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is a charity that ignites the potential in people, helping them grow, lead, and give back to their communities. We are committed to helping our employees reach their full potential and are recognized as a great place to work. We offer meaningful jobs and the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of individuals and the health of our communities.

The YMCA of Greater Toronto is committed to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging. We strive to remove barriers to employment and recognize that diverse staff who reflect the communities we work in enrich the experiences of our participants and our team. As an equal opportunity employer, we invite applications from all qualified candidates including racialized people/people of colour, Indigenous Peoples, disabled people/people with disabilities and members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.

If we can make the recruitment process more accessible for you, please let us know when we reach out about a job opportunity so we can work with you to accommodate your needs.

In keeping with our commitment to safety and child protection, job offers are contingent on the successful completion of a Police Records Check. Within the first four months and every three years thereafter, a Vulnerable Police Records Check is required.

The YMCA only considers applicants who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

We thank all applicants for their interest, however, due to the volume of applications we receive, we can only contact candidates who are selected for an interview.