Job Title: Gardener

Reporting to: Head Gardener

Location: Highgate, London

Salary: Circa £23,500 per annum

Type of position: Full-time, permanent

THE SCHOOL

Highgate School was established in 1565 by a Royal Charter of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the First. Sir Roger Cholmeley, our Founder, was granted Letters Patent to found ‘a grammar School…for good education and instruction’. Today Highgate is a flourishing coeducational independent School which includes the Senior School for pupils aged 11-18; the Junior School for pupils aged 7-11 and the Pre-Preparatory School for pupils aged 3-7. There are currently in the region of 1,800 pupils at Highgate and the School employs approximately 550 full-time or part-time teaching and support staff.  

The School is situated in one of the most attractive and sought after areas of North London, only a short journey from Central London and adjacent to Hampstead Heath. The hilltop site in Highgate Village is the historic site of the Senior School. A few hundred yards along Hampstead Lane in Bishopswood Road lie the Junior and Pre-Preparatory Schools and the extensive playing fields, adjacent to the open spaces of Kenwood and Hampstead Heath. The Northern Line underground station is a short walk away and it is four miles to Central London.

Working at Highgate offers the opportunity to be part of a vibrant and welcoming community, committed to academic excellence and the highest standards of pastoral care for its pupils. The Governors consider the development of excellence in the education offered to the pupils to be the underlying purpose of activities undertaken by all staff.

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

THE ROLE

The Gardener will join a small team including the Head Gardener and Assistant Gardener. The team is responsible for maintaining 50 acres of high profile garden areas, which are seen by the general public as well as parents and visitors to Highgate. The diversity of green spaces under the management and control of the School is wide; in addition to the planted borders and lawns of the main campus, the Gardening Team is also responsible for maintaining the domestic gardens of our residential portfolio occupied by School staff and private tenants. In addition, the School also has an area of woodland that (in conjunction with the School’s external tree surgeon) we need to keep in good order.

The post-holder will also be responsible, together with the Head Gardener, for providing important input into the landscaping design for new construction projects across the School to ensure areas of new landscaping are maintainable and that they provide continuity with existing areas.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Under the guidance and instruction of the Head Gardener carry out routine gardening tasks
• Assist the Head Gardener in the development and implementation of weekly, monthly and annual programmes of work to include the maintenance, development and routine cyclical maintenance of all public areas and some residential gardens
• Assist the Grounds Team with seasonal conditions which affect the health and safety of the school eg. leaf clearance and snow clearance
• Working with the Gardens Team to ensure effective execution of the programmes of work
• Work safely within all Health, Safety, CoSHH, pesticide and other regulations which affect the operations of the gardens and the wider landscape
• Provide an exemplary role model for junior members of the team.

Day-to-day Tasks

• Tasks for the Gardens Team will vary on a daily basis and will include:
• Soil cultivation, digging, forking, mulching, watering, raking, weeding, edging, pruning, seed sowing, planting of bulbs and plants, propagation of seedlings in the School’s greenhouses bed preparation and planting
• Lawn maintenance and cultivation
• Keeping gardens, thoroughfares and highway footpaths clear and free from litter at all times
• Gritting, salt spreading, snow clearing as necessary, including highway footpaths through the School
• Use and maintenance of hand tools, step ladders and basic light machinery and plant
• Use of cylinder and rotary mowers, strimmers, leaf blowers
• Maintenance of mowers - adjustment of mower height, monitoring quality of cut, etc. oil level checks and check for damage to any mower
• Secure storage of all equipment and machinery
• Quick response to emergencies, assisting other support areas where required
• Awareness of and reporting of any security risks posed within Highgate

  As a member of the Gardens Team, the post holder will also be expected to undertake other related duties from time to time, especially during the holiday periods, which fall within their capability and to be flexible, co-operative and generally provide assistance as necessary.

Garden Design

• To maintain an up-to-date knowledge of best practice in horticulture and garden design, using such knowledge in the delivery of the above tasks and sharing knowledge with the Gardens Team
• Providing an input into landscaping decisions for new developments across the School in conjunction with the Head Gardener

  These duties and responsibilities are intended as a guide. They are not exhaustive: the Gardener will be expected to undertake any reasonable task or responsibility as required by the Head Gardener.