Eeek! We’re hiring!

Happy Camp Leader (starting as Camp Assistant)

Location: St Albans & Berkhamsted

Job type: Part-time, during school holidays. You will be expected to work a minimum of 4 holiday camps per year (20 days)

About the role

At The Happy Human Project, we run holiday camps designed to teach children aged 5-11 vital emotional wellbeing skills in a fun, engaging, and supportive environment. Our camps are centred around helping children build confidence, learn emotional regulation, and develop essential social skills that will last a lifetime. Through activities like mindfulness, laughter yoga, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), and creative play, children are encouraged to explore their emotions, express themselves, and form positive relationships.

Our camps are not childcare – they’re about creating an environment where children can thrive emotionally and socially. By combining interactive games, creative arts, and structured emotional wellbeing sessions, we help children better understand their feelings and equip them with lifelong coping skills. Parents choose us because of our focus on mental and emotional development, with the added benefit of a fun and engaging childcare experience.

As a Happy Camp Leader, you will be responsible for delivering these transformative programmes, but you will start as a Camp Assistant. In this supporting role, you’ll work alongside the Camp Leader to ensure that all activities run smoothly, and you’ll have the opportunity to run your own sessions, provide additional support to children in need, and grow into the leadership role. This hands-on experience is invaluable as it allows you to fully grasp how our camps operate and develop your skills in a supportive environment before progressing to lead your own camps.

You will need to be available for a minimum 4 holiday camps throughout the year. Each camp is 5 days, Monday - Friday 9am-4pm.

Responsibilities:

• Starting as a Camp Assistant: Support the Camp Leader with daily operations, running activities, and assisting with group management.

• Engage with children to support their emotional wellbeing, using techniques such as mindfulness, EFT, and laughter yoga.

• Identify children in need of additional support and ensure they feel included and safe.

• Assist with setting up and cleaning up activities, ensuring the camp runs smoothly.

• Progression to Camp Leader: After a period of successful assistant work, candidates will have the opportunity to take on more leadership responsibilities, including managing staff, leading activities, and overseeing camp operations.

Ready to apply?

What you need:

• Minimum 3 years experience of teaching and/or supporting children (essential)

• Minimum 3 years experience of working with special needs and disabilities (essential)

• At least 4 holiday camps’ availability throughout the year (this could look like Feb half term, one week at Easter, one week in the summer and October half term, for example) (essential)

• An outgoing, fun-loving personality who is also kind, compassionate and fun (essential)

• Experience working in an emotional-wellbeing and/or mental health capacity with children and young people (desirable)

• A passion for working with mental health and enthusiasm to learn

• Excellent communication and listening skills

Benefits of the role

• Incredibly rewarding and enjoyable

• Competitive rates of pay

• Training provided

• Perfect for those wanting to develop a career working with young children and mental health

• Work hours can potentially be organised to fit your schedule

Recruitment & Safeguarding

• A DBS check will be undertaken on the successful applicant, or if you are signed up to the update service, we will run a check this way

• 2 references (one professional and one personal) will need to be provided and they will be checked

• Proof that you have the right to work in the UK will need to be provided

Application Process

Application deadline: Monday 14th October 2024

Applicants can expect the recruitment process to involve several steps. After submitting their CV and covering letter to hello@happyhumanproject.co.uk, shortlisted candidates will participate in an initial screening call. Those who progress will be invited for a formal interview, where they will discuss their experience and answer scenario-based questions. Successful candidates will then be asked to shadow a live camp (28/10/2024 - 01/10/2024), during which they will assist in running activities and be assessed on their ability to engage with children. The process will help both the applicants and The Happy Human Project ensure a strong fit for the role.