Boarding Gap Assistant

**Salary**:
Single Person Accommodation. All bills (except telephone calls) covered. All meals during Term Time provided.

**Job type**:
Full Time, Fixed Term

**Start date**:
01/09/2025

14 March 2025

**Job overview**:
Queen Mary’s School is looking to appoint Gap Assistants for the whole of the academic year 2025-26 (01 September 2025 to 04 July 2026). We offer the opportunity to work with and learn from our experienced team of staff. The Gap Assistants will be involved in primarily supporting the Boarding Department and Sports Department. These positions would suit a recent school leaver looking to gain valuable experience in a thriving educational environment.

Our Gap Assistants are valued members of our school and we aim to ensure that they gain unique work experience and have an exciting and life-enriching Gap year. The Gap Assistants have the opportunity to become involved in and provide support to the wider community of the school. This is a paid position, and the salary will be approximately **£12,000**.

The role is 40 hours per week working to an agreed rota including weekend working. The appointed Gap Assistant will report to the Assistant Head: Safeguarding and Wellbeing.

During Term Time, Single Person Accommodation, with all utilities (except for telephone calls) is covered. All meals during term time are provided. Due to the nature of the school, we let out the building during the holidays and accommodation is not provided during these periods.

Queen Mary's is an all girls school.

Duties will include the following (this is not an exhaustive list):
Overseeing and helping the serving of snacks at break and lunch times

Assisting with the delivery of games, assisting with coaching for specific teams, supervising changing rooms

Assisting with Educational and Adventure Trips off site during term time as required

Supervising small groups of children in non-teaching situations

Be present at the beginning and the end of each term, half-term and exeat for boarders packing, etc

Supervision of meal times and prep

Assist Boarding House staff with evening activities

Assist Boarding House staff with laundry

Assist with morning wake up and breakfast in boarding

Gaps are expected to fully immerse themselves in Queen Mary's life, in boarding, and assisting with sporting fixtures against other schools home and away.

Proactively seeking out opportunities to assist with an activity that reflects one of their talents/interests

Assisting the Staff in supervising play areas and break-time activities.

It is expected that Gaps show initiative in the organisation of informal games with children.

**About**Queen Mary's School**:
**Queen Mary's School**
- Baldersby Park, Topcliffe, Thirsk
- North Yorkshire
- YO7 3BZ
- United Kingdom

+44 1845 575000

A Christian community that values, nurtures and respects every individual. A place where all are challenged to do their best, serve others, show compassion and act with integrity.

Queen Mary’s School.
- Strives for excellence in every endeavour
- Loves life and enjoys learning
- Nurtures spirituality and personal growth
- Respects individuality and embraces diversity
- Enhances character and builds resilience
- Creates independent young people
- Makes strong and lasting friendships

Queen Mary’s School is an all girls’ independent boarding and day school situated in beautiful countryside, between Ripon and Thirsk. Baldersby Park, the school’s current home, is a Grade 1 listed building surrounded by 40 acres of landscaped grounds, sports fields and paddocks.

Queen Mary’s has a reputation for high academic achievement to add to a long-standing tradition of building all-round confidence in pupils though a very wide range of educational and co-curricular opportunities. The current Head, Carole Cameron, has been in post for nearly ten years and has overseen a programme of improvements that bring the Queen Mary’s offering in line with much larger competitors nationally. As a small School, Queen Mary’s consistently punches above its weight.

The School is on a very strong footing financially, with a healthy endowment and recent investment in major facilities. The Board wishes to build a long-term programme of investment to sustain Queen Mary’s into the future. The School’s Pre-prep department is co-ed, while the Prep and Senior school is for girls only and spans the age range 7 to 16. Some girls are prepared for Common Entrance, though most girls stay on to do GCSEs.

The School has a strong boarding tradition with a healthy mix of full, weekly and flexi-boarding. The boarding life of the School is a central part of the Queen Mary’s culture for both day girls and boarders.

Queen Mary’s is part of the Woodard Corporation, a group of 43 independent and maintained schools. Woodard Schools operate as stand-alone entities, with professional support from the centre where required. The Woodard ethos promotes Christian education and high academic and pastoral standa