Mentor & Head Sports Coach

The Opportunity

At The Bristol Sport Foundation, we are looking to expand our mentoring team. As a mentor, you are committed to supporting young people from a range of different backgrounds, with a variety of different needs, aged 4 – 12. Your passion for making a difference in their lives and inspiring positive change will drive you to plan and deliver bespoke mentoring sessions, using physical activity as a vehicle for behaviour change.

As a mentor, you are driven, creative, and resilient. You will have the tenacity to overcome some of the difficult challenges that may present themselves during your sessions. Your in-depth knowledge of safeguarding protocols will be critical in ensuring the young person’s well-being. Your ability to build strong relationships with our team, the schools we work in, and the young people you work with, is what makes you the ideal candidate. Supporting the young people across Bristol who need it most will be at the heart of your role.

You’re also an experienced sports coach who would relish the opportunity to lead high quality PE and school sport sessions to inspire children to lead active, healthy and happy lifestyles. You’ll be the main point of contact for one or more partner primary schools, having the responsibility of building and maintaining relationships with key school staff including the office team, senior leadership team and PE lead. With no two days the same in this role, you’ll embrace coaching a variety of participants and sessions, alongside adapting to new opportunities where you’ll learn and develop within a broader team of coaches. Day-to-day you will predominantly be working alongside a second coach, delivering a range of sports and programmes to classes of up to 30 children from various year groups, abilities and backgrounds. You’ll be responsible for their safety, behaviour, progress and of course, enjoyment!

As a Head Sports Coach you are passionate, organised and resilient. You’ll be motivated by the challenges that come with managing your school relationships as well as classes of children effectively. What’s important to you is the ability to be part of an amazing team, and the varied nature of a job. On-going training will be offered to support you strive for excellence within the role.

Responsibilities:

• To plan and deliver high quality and engaging PE lessons, classroom-based sports education programmes, pupil mentoring, lunchtime/after school clubs and holiday camps in primary schools.
• Organise bespoke mentoring sessions that align to the needs of the child(ren) and the school’s objectives.
• To be a strong role model and inspire children to lead an active, healthy, happy lifestyle.
• Maintain the health and safety of those involved in your sessions.

• To monitor and evaluate both PE and mentoring sessions to improve the quality and impact.
• Effectively manage school relationships, acting as the day-to-day point of contact with the school/s.
• To communicate regularly and effectively with schools, coaches and colleagues.
• To support primary school staff to develop confidence and knowledge to deliver high quality PE through our teacher mentoring programme.

• Establish positive relationships with children, their parents, staff in schools, and colleagues, day in, day out.
• Support the broader work of Bristol Sport Foundation, which may include administration tasks and events.

The Key Requirements:

• Hold a minimum Level 1 National Governing Body coaching qualification or a formal teaching qualification.
• A full, clean driving license and your own transport.
• The right to work in the UK.
• Experience working with primary school-aged children in either a 1-1 or whole class setting.
• A passion for inspiring children to be active, healthy and happy.
• Solid understanding of safeguarding procedures and behaviour management techniques.
• An empathetic, adaptable, and consistent role model.
• Strong interpersonal skills, to build successful relationships with mentees, participants, parents and other coaches.
• Excellent time management.
• Strong organisational and administration abilities.
• Proficient in Microsoft MS Office: Outlook, Word and Excel.

Please note - as this role involves working with young people, the successful candidate/s will require an Enhanced DBS Check.

If successful, you will receive:

• BSF branded sports kit.
• Two complimentary tickets per home game to see Bristol Bears and Bristol City FC.
• Travel expenses for business miles.
• 22 days annual leave plus public holidays.
• A 4% workplace pension in addition to a 4% employee contribution.
• Regular training opportunities and social events.

About us:

Joining Bristol Sport Foundation (BSF) you’ll join us on a mission to use the power of sport to encourage active, healthy and happy communities across Greater Bristol and the West of England.

Here at BSF, we are fully committed to achieving our vision to inspire our community through sport and physical activity, making a positive difference every day. Since 2016, we have grown to become a reputable sports provider, offering high quality delivery to over 8,500 young people every week.

People stay with our organisation because of the positive impact they have on children, and the opportunities to build long-term rewarding relationships with school staff and local communities.

Belong at Bristol Sport Foundation:

At Bristol Sport Foundation, we believe our success starts with amazing people. We welcome the unique contributions that you can bring in terms of your opinions, culture, ethnicity, race, sex, gender identity and expression, nation of origin, age, languages spoken, colour, religion, disability, sexual orientation physical and mental disability, marital status, gender identity and expression, and beliefs. We celebrate diversity and are seeking applicants who can bring something different.

How to apply:

Please submit your application form before 11:59pm on Thursday 16th January. (we may close early should we receive sufficient interest).

Location: Bristol, South Glos., North Somerset and Bath & North East Somerset. Our office is at Ashton Gate Stadium.

Working hours: 37.5 hours/week, predominantly Monday – Friday between 8.45am and 4.45pm.

Contract type: Fixed term until August 31st, 2025 (extension likely, but dependent on funding).

Closing date: 11:59pm, Thursday 16th January 2025.