Role Profile – Sessional Youth Worker – Performing Arts Specialist

Job title

Sessional Youth Worker –
Performing Arts Specialist

Salary:

£13.15 per hour. Saturday
evening premium is £15.12 per
hour

Reporting to:

Music, Arts and Performance
Coordinator

Holidays:

33 days including bank holidays
(pro-rata)

Location:

Unitas Youth Zone, 76
Montrose Avenue, London, HA8
0DT

Hours:

Up to 12 hours per week.
Evening, and weekends

The Person:

Do  you  want  to  use  your  artistic  and  creative  talents  to  make  the  lives  of  young
people better?  We are looking for someone who is passionate about performing arts
and wants to share this with young people. You will be creative, flexible and someone
sees performing arts as a way to help young people develop self-confidence and to
help them express themselves

Key Relationships:

Delivery  team,  Youth  Work  managers,  External  Stakeholders,  Young  People  and
Parents

Job Purpose:
The Arts, alongside sport and Youth Work is at the heart of the Unitas offer to young people.  The Arts offer is
wide ranging and includes visual arts, music, media, dance, and drama.  As a member of Performing Arts team,
you  will  be  part  of  group  of  youth  workers  who  specialise  in  either  dance  or  drama,  and  you  will  be  key  in
ensuring  young  people  have  access  to  an  exciting  and  creative  performing  arts  programme  that  will  be
challenging, stimulating, fun, engaging and developmental.  You will be involved in teaching the fundamentals
of either dance or drama (or both if you are able to).

Unitas has a dedicated performing arts room, which includes a dance floor, mirrored wall, bar and speakers. You
will  be  involved  in  session  delivery,  planning,  preparation,  and  work  with  young  people  closely.  You  will  be
provided  all  the  necessary  equipment  and  training  and  will  be  afforded  plentiful  personal  development
opportunities. You will be someone with a clear ‘can do’ approach, committed to a growth mindset, eager to
learn and willing to take risks, all for the benefit of supporting young people. You will demonstrate our Values
through all you do and commit to always giving your best for young people.

Context of the post:

Barnet Youth Zone, named “Unitas” by local young people, was the second Youth Zone in London opened by the
national charity, OnSide, in the summer of 2019. Unitas, like all OnSide Youth Zones, exists to give young people,
particularly  those  who  are disadvantaged, somewhere to  go, something to  do  and  someone  to  talk to. Each
Youth Zone is open between 5-7 days a week, all year round, with the purpose of supporting young people to
become happy, healthy, and successful adults.

Unitas  Youth  Zone  is  centrally located,  dedicated  to  young people, and  makes  a  bold  statement  about  the
importance of giving young people high quality places to go in their leisure time.  Open 6 days a week including
school holidays, the Youth Zone’s vision is to unite young people to fulfil their full potential.  The state-of-the-
art £6.5 million building provides young people with access to a range of activities, all offering young people the
opportunity to try new things, meet new friends and gain new experiences.

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Duties and Responsibilities - General

Take personal responsibility for own actions
Commit to a culture of continuous improvement

  Be a role model for young people and present a positive “can do” attitude
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  Work within the performance framework of Unitas Youth Zone and OnSide
  Represent Unitas Youth Zone positively and effectively in all dealings with internal colleagues, and external

partners
Comply with all policies and procedures, with reference to safeguarding, codes of conduct, health and safety
and equality and diversity to ensure all activities are accessible
To be alert to issues of safeguarding and child protection, ensuring the welfare and safety of Youth Zone
members  is  promoted  and  safeguarded,  and  to  report  any  child  protection  concerns  to  the  Designated
Safeguarding Leads using the safeguarding policies, procedures, and practice (training to be provided)
To assist with any promotional activities and visits that take place at the Youth Zone
To actively promote the Youth Zone and positively contribute towards increasing Youth Zone membership
To always adhere to Unitas Youth Zone policies, with reference to Health and Safety, Safeguarding and Equal
Opportunities
To be willing to step in and step up, and not see the below set of duties and responsibilities as exhaustive

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Duties and Responsibilities – Detailed

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To work face-to-face with young people on session in the evenings/at the weekend (depending on your
shift pattern)
To support planning and reviews when necessary
To work directly with young people to develop their dance and/or drama skills
To plan a varied set of dance and/or drama skills and activities
To work with young people along the whole spectrum of competence at dance/drama – those just giving it
a go all the way to those seriously considering them as a career
To be committed to monitoring and evaluation of the activities that you are running so the Youth Zone can
measure the impact of our work
To  directly  deliver  a  high-quality  programme  of  activity  that  is  exciting,  safe,  varied,  innovative,
developmental, and directly responds to the diverse needs, concerns, and interests of the members
To collaborate with other youth workers on session to produce cross-departmental projects (eg with the
music department to create a talent show)
To have great energy and establish positive relationships with young people, the wider youth work team,
and visitors to the Youth Zone
To be comfortable in other spaces in the Youth Zone such as the recreation area and on the welcoming
team, so you can contribute flexibly as per the needs of the young people and the session
To respond to the needs of young people through activities in the performing arts room
To support and motivate volunteers working in the performing arts room
To work flexibly to ensure the needs of the members are met, including disadvantaged young people and
those with disabilities or additional needs
To ensure that the members maintain a high standard of behaviour and discipline during sessions by making
the music room a hub of activity and fun
To ensure the participation of young people in activities and ensure that their ideas contribute fully in the
delivery of activities in a safe way
To assist with any promotional activities and visits that take place at the Youth Zone
To actively promote the Youth Zone and positively contribute towards increasing Youth Zone membership
To always promote and safeguard the welfare of young people
To enthuse others, including staff, volunteers, and young people, making the environment fun and the place
young people want to see

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  To be an active member of the team and operate in line with the values and principles of Unitas

Youth Zone

  To carry out any other reasonable duties as requested by management

Person Specification
Selection Criteria

Essential or
Desirable

Experience
Face to face activity delivery with young people both in groups and individually
Experience of delivering a range of dance or drama activities to young people
Experience of supporting young people who are disaffected, underachieving and /
or have social / emotional barriers to participation
Experience of working in a team and alongside volunteers
Organising a programme of youth work activities
Experience of working with challenging young people
Experience of working with young people with additional needs and disabilities
Qualifications
Level 2 Youth Work qualification
Relevant dance or drama qualification(s)
Skills
Ability to deliver a high-quality dance or drama programme with young people who
face social exclusion, disadvantage and disaffection and manage such a group
Ability to develop good professional relationships with young people and adults
Ability to work with young people to enable the development of their social
education by providing activity programmes, services and facilities that are fun
Ability to be enthused by young people and others
Ability to coach, encourage, motivate, and provide reliable support to young people
Ability to dynamic risk access
Ability to plan and liaise with other professional organisations
Knowledge
Understanding of issues affecting young people’s lives
Health and safety, diversity awareness and safeguarding best practice
Basic knowledge of arts pathways
Special Requirements
A willingness to work unsociable hours
Enhanced DBS clearance and a commitment to safeguarding children

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Unitas  Youth  Zone  are  committed  to  safeguarding  and  promoting  the  welfare  of
children,  young  people,  and  vulnerable  groups.  This  post  is  subject  to  an  enhanced
DBS check. The strength of the OnSide Network of Youth Zone is the diversity of its
people, we place huge value on different people doing things in different ways and we
welcome applications from what might be considered non-traditional backgrounds. The
one thing we all have in common is our desire to raise the aspirations of young people
across  the  country.  We  are  an  equal  opportunity  employer.  All  applicants  will  be
considered  for  employment  without  attention  to  race,  colour,  religion,  sex,  sexual
orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status.

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