Creative Arts Department Job Vacancies
Find out how you can inspire the next generation for Creative Arts
Join Weston College's Creative Arts Department and inspire the next generation of creative professionals. Whether you're an experienced professional looking for a new challenge or a recent graduate with a passion for teaching, we want to hear from you. Our team partners with local Creative Arts businesses and providers to deliver education from short courses to degree level. Benefit from exceptional support, development, and upskilling programs at our award-winning College, located in state-of-the-art modern campus facilities. Apply now and help create brighter futures.
Here are just some of the benefits of joining our team:
- Work with a highly motivated team of educators and professionals who are dedicated to providing an outstanding learning experience for students.
- Access to cutting-edge and industry standard equipment, including state-of-the-art facilities, to enhance the learning experience for students.
- Opportunities for professional development and career progression, including support for obtaining a Level 4/5 Diploma in Education and Training or equivalent/higher level teaching qualification.
- Collaborate with local providers to ensure that our programs meet the needs of the industry and prepare students for successful careers.
- Generous pension scheme and holiday entitlement, plus other benefits such as access to our fantastic Wellbeing@Weston support.
- Make a meaningful difference in the lives of students by inspiring and preparing them to become the next generation of healthcare professionals.
- Join an award-winning organisation that has a proven track record of providing high-quality education and training to students.
- Training opportunities for those new to teaching, including an extensive program of training to help you transition into a career in education.
- Work in a supportive and inclusive environment that values diversity and encourages innovation and creativity.
- Part time and full-time applications are welcome, to help you to achieve a healthy work-life balance.
- Active encouragement for those wishing to continue to work in industry and remain skills, alongside any job offer.
- Smaller class sizes.
Working across the Creative Arts Department, our lecturers deliver outstanding quality teaching sessions for learners from Level 2 – Level 5.
With a primary area of focus in either Further Education, Higher Education, or Adult Learning, you will engage with learners in a classroom setting to develop the knowledge, skills, and behaviours appropriate for their chosen route to industry.
Your experience in industry combined with an enthusiasm for developing the next generation of Creative professionals will make you an important role model for your learners. Lecturers work as part of a team of professionals from all areas of the Creative Arts Industry. We welcome applications from professionals with a background in any Creative Arts related field.
Please note: it is not a requirement to have a teaching qualification or teaching experience prior to application, as CPD will include a teacher training qualification for those without QTS.
If you have a disability, neurodivergence, or a condition that may impact your performance during our selection process, we are happy to accommodate your needs. You will have the opportunity to inform us of any necessary adjustments throughout the application and selection process. As an employee, we will continue to discuss and work with you to ensure you have the necessary accommodations to succeed in your role.
Some examples of possible adjustments include:
- Allowing extra time for online assessments
- Providing alternative accessible formats
- Sharing interview questions beforehand
- Offering additional information about what to expect
- Providing an office orientation before an in-person assessment.
If you have any questions, please contact hr@weston.ac.uk .
RECENT NEWS STORIES
<div style="float:right;width:50%;"><iframe allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oeWk0CxblmI?si=46WOepQfs45F5Boe" width="560"></iframe></div><p>It’s official, <a href="https://www.ucw.ac.uk/">University Centre Weston (UCW)</a> is among the best places to study at university level in the UK, according to the results of the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) published on September 28th 2023.</p><p>The TEF panel considered the overall rating for UCW to be Gold, placing it among the country’s best university and college higher education providers. This recognition by the TEF Panel reflects UCW’s unwavering dedication to providing outstanding education to a diverse student body and places it within the top 20% in the UK and one of only six colleges nationally to achieve the status.</p><p>The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) is a national scheme run by the Office for Students (OfS) that aims to encourage higher education providers to improve and deliver excellence in the areas that students care about the most: teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies.</p><p>The TEF does this by assessing and rating universities and colleges for excellence above a set of minimum requirements for quality and standards.</p><p>Providers that take part in the TEF receive an overall rating as well as two underpinning ratings – one for the student experience and one for student outcomes.</p><p>The ratings reflect the extent to which a provider delivers an excellent experience and outcomes for its mix of undergraduate students and across the range of its undergraduate courses and subjects.</p><p>Hundreds of higher education institutions in England, Wales and Scotland have had their teaching quality, learning environment, and student outcome data assessed by the TEF Panel and rated as either Gold, Silver, Bronze or Requires Improvement.</p><p>The TEF Panel judged that UCW delivers consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for its students, which is of the highest quality found in Britain.</p><p>Jacqui Ford, Interim Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group expressed her delight, saying,</p><p>“This achievement represents a significant milestone for our region, confirming the excellence of our institution for higher education. Furthermore, it underscores the Weston College Group’s positive impact on learners both locally and nationally. Attaining Gold status also validates UCW’s approach of seamlessly blending high-quality academic learning with practical, career-oriented education, providing our students and university partners with confidence in our offerings.”</p><p>Ford extended her gratitude to the dedicated staff at UCW, Weston College, and partner universities, recognising their instrumental role in achieving this remarkable status. She noted:</p><p>"Our journey to this point would not have been possible without the invaluable support of my predecessor Sir Paul Phillips who led the Weston College Group since 2001 until his retirement in August 2023, our partner universities, the University of the West of England, Bath Spa University, and Hartpury University, as well as UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon. The dedication of our staff, and governors, and the collaborative efforts with the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership and North Somerset Council have also been essential in reaching this remarkable achievement.”</p><p>UCW’s Vice Principal for Higher Education, Sadie Skellon added:</p><p>“The TEF Panel has recognised the efforts of the talented and dedicated students and staff that we have at UCW and across the Weston College Group, and the value of the outstanding support we provide.</p><p>“UCW is committed to being an inclusive institution, promoting participation from students from all backgrounds and supporting students to ensuring positive outcomes for all. We have strategic aims to articulate this and are pleased the OfS has acknowledged that UCW ‘tailors provision and succeeds in its aim of supporting underrepresented groups of students from its region to achieve in their studies’.</p><p>In addition to praise for the student experience, UCW was praised for its supportive learning environment, offering students access to a wide range of high-quality academic support tailored to their needs. The institution has also demonstrated a commitment to embedding employability and entrepreneurship into its course content, preparing students for successful futures.</p><p>UCW’s dedication to research, innovation, scholarship, professional practice, and employer engagement further enhances the academic experience, contributing to the institution’s outstanding standing in the TEF.</p><p>This Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework solidifies UCW’s status as a leading institution committed to excellence in higher education.</p><p> </p>
<p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{161}" paraid="1226424135">Ethan, one of our Level 3<a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; Creative Media Production and Technology</a> students has received some brilliant feedback during his work placement with <a href="https://www.slx.co.uk/">SLX</a>, an event production company based in Avonmouth. </p><p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{167}" paraid="1974032424">Ethan has dived headfirst into the experience, impressing the employer with his brilliant time-management skills, eagerness, communication and confidence. SLX had some extremely positive feedback for Ethan, expressing that he is a dream to manage and now a valued member of staff! </p><p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{189}" paraid="927838494">SLX specialise in sound, lighting and video for live events and broadcasting and as part of Ethan’s placement he has been working alongside the lighting team, preparing equipment ready to be hired for events. This includes carrying out visual inspections, PAT testing, fixing equipment and making the equipment available at the highest quality. Ethan enjoys working amongst a supportive team who allow him to grow his technical skills and knowledge. </p><p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{205}" paraid="218194667">After speaking to Ethan, he expressed, “the placement has helped me develop my skills massively. After college, I plan to go straight into the live events industry, hopefully with SLX. After being lucky enough to work on<a href="https://www.watchetfestival.co.uk/"> Wachet Music Festival</a> in August 2022, this has given me further drive for the live events industry. I hope to progress onto being a lighting designer”. </p><p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{223}" paraid="1691156350">Ethan has so far thoroughly enjoyed his experience on the Media course at Weston College, relaying that the support from tutors have been second to none and they have been very pivotal in planning his next steps for the future. He advises anyone interested in studying on the course to take all the opportunities given to them by the lecturers and to get involved with anything that is thrown at them. </p><p paraeid="{87643a4c-13ac-4696-b4ba-dc22a72d0540}{243}" paraid="1310881675">Ethan believes work placements are really important and allow you to create vital connections within the industry. With creative industries being more difficult to get into, getting your name out there as soon as possible really broadens your options for the future. </p><p paraeid="{df956891-24ad-4c6d-8f8b-4ea9fcc3930f}{10}" paraid="1747226086">At Weston College, our mantra is ‘careers, not courses’. Not only do we want students to engage in as many educational opportunities as possible, but we also want to support them in developing and building a future career. Engaging with our <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/career-excellence-hubs">Career Excellence Hubs</a> allows students to take part in their chosen study programme filled with lots of career-boosting benefits, preparing them to be career-ready by the time they leave us.</p><p paraeid="{df956891-24ad-4c6d-8f8b-4ea9fcc3930f}{54}" paraid="2140237420">Find out more about our Level 3 <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat… Media and production</a> course and Careers Excellence Hubs <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/career-excellence-hubs">here</a>.</p>
<p paraeid="{b43c9672-4667-4773-8146-9b962a8f540e}{176}" paraid="1680333316">Some of our wonderful <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Creative and Digital Media</a> students will be creating amazing content as they help out at this year's <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/events/wbr-2022#home" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Weston Beach Race</a>! </p><p paraeid="{b43c9672-4667-4773-8146-9b962a8f540e}{215}" paraid="749502125">Located on Weston-super-Mare's seafront, the annual Beach Race is the UK’s biggest Offroad Motorsport event. Spanning over 6 miles, the race brings in competitors and supporters from all over Europe, with over 100,000 people attending across the three-day weekend. </p><p paraeid="{b43c9672-4667-4773-8146-9b962a8f540e}{249}" paraid="620505354">Our learners will be filming content of the race, crowds, and riders, alongside presenting their student-run radio station, <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/news/live-air-weston-waves-student-radio-stati…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Weston Waves</a>, at the event. </p><p paraeid="{5ca5e548-40ee-49bb-8048-7881ecd95fc6}{20}" paraid="2073858398">Weston Waves was launched earlier this year and has been a triumphant success and excellent learning experience for our media students. </p><p paraeid="{5ca5e548-40ee-49bb-8048-7881ecd95fc6}{32}" paraid="515857719">Between hosting shows and mixing music, the radio station has given our learners the opportunity to develop a vast range of skills, progress their understanding of industry-relevant practices and take ownership of their hard work. The Beach Race is a perfect place to evolve the Weston Waves station even further, interviewing sportspeople and covering a live event! </p><p paraeid="{5ca5e548-40ee-49bb-8048-7881ecd95fc6}{84}" paraid="1374176605">This is just one of many amazing opportunities learners on our Creative and Digital Media course get to work and interact with live projects, within a real industry setting. </p><p paraeid="{5ca5e548-40ee-49bb-8048-7881ecd95fc6}{84}" paraid="1374176605">The event will begin Friday 21st October 2022 and will run until Sunday 23rd October 2022. To find out more about the Beach Race, <a href="https://rhlactivities.com/events/wbr-2022#home">click here</a>.</p><p paraeid="{5ca5e548-40ee-49bb-8048-7881ecd95fc6}{94}" paraid="1913509857">To find out more about the Creative and Digital Media course, <a href="https://www.weston.ac.uk/what-can-i-study/courses-16-18-year-olds/creat…; rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">click here</a>. </p>
OUR CREATIVE ARTS VIDEOS
BENEFITS OF WORKING FOR THE COLLEGE
Over recent years, the College has gone from strength to strength, proving to be one of the top education providers in the country.
The College has also been featured in the ‘Sunday Times Best Companies to Work For’ list and the top-ranked college nationally.
Furthermore, the College holds the highest possible Investors in People ‘Platinum accreditation, which demonstrates our commitment to continually invest in our staff to achieve their full potential.
Our higher education provision University Centre Weston is graded ‘Gold’ by TEF, putting us amongst the top universities in the UK, and in 2018 we received the Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education.
All establishment staff at Weston College are entitled to a minimum of 30 days plus statutory bank holidays per year (allocated on a pro rata basis for part time staff).
All staff are automatically entered into a pension scheme relevant to their role with generous employer contributions.
Business support staff are automatically entered into the Local Government Pension Scheme, provided by the Avon Pension Fund.
Teaching staff are automatically entered into the Teacher’s Pension Scheme, a contributory scheme administered by Teachers’ Pensions on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
We provide an excellent programme of staff development and CPD opportunities to all staff through internal development courses and training or through programmes such as LinkedIn Learning.
Not JUST available to students, college staff are also eligible to purchase a student discount card through Totum.
As well as access to the college’s in house student-led training restaurant, staff members also receive a 10% discount at The Green House coffee shop.
All employees of Weston College, are able to benefit from a free subscription to Microsoft 365 whilst employed by the College.
All staff are eligible for the Discount for Teachers scheme offering a wide range of discounts across all sectors.
Throughout the year, staff will also be notified about exclusive deals and discounts for local tourist attractions or businesses.
The health and wellbeing of our staff is very important, so as well as an excellent Occupational Health referral system, the College offers the following to all staff:
• Health Assured EAP Scheme (Employee Assistance Programme). This health programme is available to all staff. The service provides free and confidential support that is available 24 hours a day.
• A dedicated Staff Welfare Officer.
• Eyesight tests - The College will contribute towards the cost of your eye examination and up to £40 towards the cost of glasses, if it is deemed necessary for your role.
• College Fitness Suite - All staff have access to the fully equipped, sport and fitness centre on the 7th floor of the Knightstone Campus. There are no membership fees involved, however a full gym induction must be completed.
• Hair, beauty and relaxation treatments - Discounts are available to all staff across the College on a wide range of hair and beauty treatments including hair cuts and colours, massage and manicures. The treatments are carried out by our Weston College students under the close supervision of the highly qualified hair and beauty lecturers.
We recognise that many of our staff have responsibilities for family or dependants and operate a number of initiatives to help colleagues balance these responsibilities with work.
The College has a number of schemes that cover the following family circumstances:
• Maternity leave
• Paternity leave
• Adoption leave
• Parental leave
• Dependant's leave
• Fertility treatment leave.
We are happy to consider requests for flexible working in line with the Flexible Working Policy.
We recognise that many of our staff have responsibilities for family or dependants and operate a number of initiatives to help colleagues balance these responsibilities with work.
The College has a number of schemes that cover the following family circumstances:
• Maternity leave
• Paternity leave
• Adoption leave
• Parental leave
• Dependant's leave
• Fertility treatment leave.
We are happy to consider requests for flexible working in line with the Flexible Working Policy.
EXPLORE OUR GREAT FACILITIES
Taking learning beyond the classroom, college-based programmes will be taught across Loxton and Knightstone campuses, with facilities including:
Dance studios:
Performing Arts, Dance Studio 1 Performing Arts, Dance Studio 2 Performing Arts, Berkoff Suite
Art studios:
Music studios:
OUR CREATIVE ARTS STAFF STORIES
OUR PARTNERS
One Message, Different Voices
Take a look at this powerful film made by the staff of Weston College to show how important it is for everyone from different backgrounds to be included. The film shares heartfelt stories and interviews with a diverse group of staff, showing how accepting different identities and backgrounds can make a big difference. Its purpose is to encourage viewers to think about their own biases and work towards making our community more welcoming to all. We invite everyone, regardless of their background, to join us and be a part of our journey toward a more inclusive future.
Our workplace champions the right of staff to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black employees’ racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance. We celebrate Afro-textured hair worn in all styles including, but not limited to, afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows, fades, hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals, weaves, wigs, headscarves, and wraps. In this workplace, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities. We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on an employee's ability to succeed.
FAQ's
Yes – you will be placed on Weston College’s internal teacher training programme or the Education Training Foundation’s ‘Taking Teaching Further’ programme. This will include undertaking a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training (or equivalent/higher level teaching qualification).
Yes – we would still encourage applicants to apply. Candidates can organise a virtual discussion with one of our team to discuss further. Please find the booking link above.
Yes – Weston College actively promotes staff to maintain industry currency and/or membership. The College provides an extensive CPD programme whilst supporting staff to engage with industry-specific training.