The Opportunity

Bexley is a unique London borough where historic green expanses meet thriving suburban commerce and creative regeneration zones along the Thames Estuary. Known for its strong community identity and expanding digital design networks, the area values hands-on practical skills and visual communication. We are seeking a practical, organized, and creative Art & Design Technician to join an established foundation school. In this critical support role, you will manage our art studios, kiln areas, and creative resources—ensuring that students have the safe, expertly prepared environments needed to transform abstract concepts into exceptional physical and digital portfolios.

The School

Operating as a foundation secondary school, our governing body maintains direct control over our site assets, manages our own admissions policy, and acts as the direct employer of our staff. This independence allows us to foster a highly stable, community-centric learning environment tailored precisely to the aspirations of local families. We implement clear, consistent school-wide behaviour systems that keep classrooms quiet, respectful, and productive. This structured environment ensures that our art studios are treated with maximum respect by the student body, creating an orderly, safe, and highly focused space for our technical and teaching staff.

The Art Department & Creative Infrastructure

• You will join a highly collaborative, successful Art, Craft, and Design faculty that treats visual art as a rigorous academic and technical discipline.

• The department features bright, purpose-built studio spaces equipped with comprehensive fine art resources, textiles facilities, printing presses, ceramics tools, and a dedicated electric kiln.

• Our operational framework explicitly prioritizes meticulous material preparation and strict health and safety management, ensuring that practical lessons run seamlessly.

• Staff benefit from clear operating procedures and shared maintenance schedules, ensuring that studio cleanup, stock management, and gallery displays are handled smoothly and sustainably.

Core Responsibilities

1. Studio Health & Safety Compliance: Maintaining rigorous safety standards across all art studios and storage areas, including monitoring the safe operation of clay machinery, maintaining COSHH logs, and ensuring safe disposal of chemical solvents or fixatives.

2. Material Preparation & Processing: Selecting, measuring, and preparing diverse creative media (including stretching canvases, mixing glazes, reclaiming clay, cutting specialized papers, and setting up screen-printing equipment) ahead of class practical units.

3. Ceramics & Kiln Management: Safely loading, programming, and unloading the school kiln for biscuit and glaze firings, while managing the clay studio infrastructure with absolute precision.

4. Exhibition & Gallery Curation: Mounting, framing, and displaying student artwork across the school site and inside dedicated exhibition zones to celebrate academic achievement and maintain a vibrant creative environment.

5. Stock Control & Procurement: Managing the department’s inventory of consumables, specialized brushes, clays, and paints—ordering new provisions systematically within budget allocations ahead of term assessment windows.

The Successful Candidate We are looking for a reliable, highly organized individual who has a passion for visual media and enjoys maintaining an orderly, productive creative environment. Your profile should include:

• Practical Artistic Capability: Strong hands-on experience working with a variety of artistic media (fine art, ceramics, printmaking, or textiles)—ideally within an educational setting, artistic studio, or creative industry background.

• Kiln Experience (or willingness to train): Direct familiarity with operating an electric kiln and managing clay processing is highly desirable, though comprehensive training will be provided for the right candidate.

• Meticulous Eye for Detail: An uncompromising approach to physical health and safety, studio cleanliness, and tool storage regulations, with a proactive mindset toward material management.

• Collaborative Communication: A patient, approachable manner when assisting students with technical project dilemmas and coordinating with teaching staff to structure lesson resources.

Why Join Our Support Staff?

• The distinct satisfaction of working within an independent foundation school that respects staff autonomy, provides a stable working environment, and deeply values its community connections.

• Comprehensive internal induction and continuous training covering advanced studio health and safety frameworks, specialized ceramics management, and educational safeguarding protocols.

• The exceptional lifestyle benefits of living and working in Bexley—offering highly affordable residential areas, beautiful historic country parks, excellent local shopping villages, and rapid rail links straight into central London and Kent.

• A supportive School Business Manager and senior leadership team that respects technical staff workloads, provides stable working hours, and fully values your vital role in the school's operational success.

How to Apply

Please submit your current CV to begin the application process.