School Caretaker | Highly Regarded School | Southwark

CORE PURPOSE

We require a proactive, dependable, and highly practical School Caretaker to support the comprehensive site maintenance, security, and day-to-day operational logistics of our school campus. Operating within an ambitious secondary academy in the heart of South London, the successful candidate will work closely with the facilities team to execute reactive repairs, manage porterage routines, conduct statutory safety checks, and maintain a pristine internal and external environment, ensuring the school remains safe, clean, and fully operational for all pupils, staff, and visitors.

THE SCHOOL

Our academy operates as a proud, community-focused secondary provider dedicated to raising academic standards, celebrating its rich inner-London diversity, and serving a vibrant metropolitan borough. The campus features multi-story educational blocks, specialist practical subject rooms, and community sports facilities that see intensive daily use. Our leadership team places immense value on the site team's contribution to school culture, maintaining a supportive, professional working environment where outstanding facilities management is recognized as a cornerstone of student safety and pride.

KEY TASKS & DAILY OPERATIONS

• Site Security & Keyholder Duties: Undertake daily lock-up and unlocking routines for the school gates and buildings, ensuring all windows, doors, and fire exits are secure. Respond flexibly to automated alarm activations and support out-of-hours security workflows.

• Reactive & Preventative Maintenance: Carry out essential first-line maintenance tasks, including minor plumbing unblocks, carpentry repairs, light bulb replacements, flat-pack furniture assembly, and localized painting or decorating to keep the fabric of the building immaculate.

• Routine Compliance & Health & Safety Checks: Conduct and accurately log weekly statutory compliance tests, including fire alarm testing, water temperature monitoring for legionella control, visual playground equipment checks, and emergency lighting inspections.

• Logistics, Porterage & Cleanliness: Manage heavy-duty porterage across the campus, setting up halls for examinations, school assemblies, and parents' evenings. Oversee external ground clearance, refuse rotation, and emergency cleaning responses to ensure absolute hygiene and curb appeal.

• Lettings & Community Support: Assist with the smooth operational delivery of evening and weekend community lettings, welcoming external groups, monitoring site safety during events, and ensuring facilities are cleaned and re-secured ready for the next school day.

PROFILE REQUIREMENTS

• Experience & Skills: Proven experience in a caretaking, facilities support, building maintenance, or skilled trade role, ideally within an educational or high-volume public sector environment. A practical, hands-on mastery of basic DIY hand tools is essential.

• Operational Precision: Literacy in following health and safety protocols, including the safe handling of chemicals under COSHH guidelines and working at heights. Ability to manage a varied daily workload using digital site-logging applications.

• Reliable & Community-Minded Ethos: A punctual, trustworthy, and adaptable approach to work, possessing the positive communication skills and professional boundaries necessary to operate effectively around young people and work collaboratively within a diverse school community.

REGIONAL CONTEXT

• Vibrant South Bank Regeneration & Urban Innovation: Based in the historically rich and rapidly modernizing borough of Southwark, the school capitalizes on a world-class Central London identity that stretches from the Thames South Bank down to Peckham and Camberwell. The area's striking blend of historic civic architecture and pioneering, eco-friendly new developments provides an inspiring backdrop, challenging the site team to maintain high standards of environmental efficiency, urban waste-management compliance, and smart city campus operations.

• Connectivity & Infrastructure: The campus benefits from premium Transport for London (TfL) infrastructure, making it exceptionally accessible from all corners of London. Public transit links operate flawlessly across the borough, utilizing extensive London Bus corridors alongside dense rail networks, with major transport hubs including London Bridge, Elephant & Castle, and Canada Water providing high-frequency access to the Jubilee line, Northern line, Bakerloo line, and London Overground networks.

APPLICATION INTAKE

Please submit your current CV to begin the application process.