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GroundsPerson

October 21, 2025/in Jobs/by Admin

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

October 16, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship: For the first time ever, the British TIMBERSPORTS® team will feature a female competitor when they travel to Milan for the biggest event of the logger sports season, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship later this month. Taking place in Milan, Italy, the 20th World Championship promises […]

GroundsPerson

October 21, 2025/in Jobs/by Admin

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

October 16, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

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GroundsPerson

October 21, 2025/in Jobs/by Admin

Due to the continuing growth of our busy Grounds and Gardens department, we are looking to recruit a Groundsperson. The department is responsible for the maintenance of 76 acres split between the Upper School, Prep School, Pelican School, Porson Road sports field, and the Perse Playing Fields at Abington. Using the department vehicles, the team works flexibly across all sites. The role will involve maintaining the day to day upkeep of the hard and soft areas of the grounds, ensuring that the sports pitches are safe and fit for use and that all areas appear well maintained at all times, across all sites. Duties will also include assisting the Gardens team as/when required. Previous grounds experience is essential for the role, and a trade related NVQ would be an advantage.

GroundsPerson

Key Responsibilities

Maintenance of the sports turf including cutting, rolling, strimming, scarifying, aerating, watering, seeding, top dressing etc
Assisting the Gardens team with planting, weeding, pruning, watering etc
Marking out of the pitches including erection of goals/nets, corner flags and boundary marker in line with the School calendar
All aspects of cricket pitch preparation, maintenance, marking and renovation
Maintenance of paths, borders, hedges and roadways
Leaf clearance and removal
Early morning clearance of snow and ice from the pathways, pavements and roadways to ensure safe access for pedestrians and vehicles
Early morning and late afternoon gritting and salt application
Maintenance of artificial all weather surfaces
Minor machinery maintenance
Tress/shrub planning and maintenance as required
Maintenance of bark chipped areas including reapplication and sweeping
Keeping records up to date as required by the Head of Grounds and Gardens

Benefits

Competitive salary of up to £30,915
Membership of a Group Personal Pension Scheme with employer contributions of 13.75% of pensionable salary
Death in service benefits of three times salary
Free staff lunch provided during term time and certain periods of the school holidays
Free access to the school gym and swimming pool with certain time restrictions

The Perse School Cambridge is one of the country’s leading independent co-educational day schools for children aged 3-18.

Our aim is to be a leading employer of choice. This means we strive to be a school where staff say they are proud and excited to work, and feel valued, respected and motivated.

We are committed to providing a very competitive salary and benefits scheme at the same time as offering a wide range of opportunities for personal and professional development. We want our staff to feel engaged and purposeful so that they, in turn, help pupils to be happy and successful.

Further details including how to apply can be obtained from our website: https://www.perse.co.uk/work-with-us/

Closing date: 31^st October 2025 at midday but applications will be considered as they are received; The Perse School reserves the right to make an appointment before the closing date.

The School actively supports equality, diversity and inclusion and encourages applications from all sections of society.

Safer Recruitment

The Perse School recognises that an important element in safeguarding our pupils is a robust recruitment process that incorporates measures to deter, reject or identify people who might abuse children, or who are otherwise unsuited to work with them. We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including: references from previous employers, a Disclosure and Barring Service check at the enhanced level, as well as eligibility to work in the UK (in compliance with UK immigration regulations). All work carried out at the School on a regular basis amounts to regulated activity. This role is also exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.

Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children is everyone’s responsibility. The School is committed to acting in the best interests of the child so as to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people. The School requires everyone who comes into contact with children and their families to share this commitment. Interviews will be conducted in person, and they will explore candidates’ suitability to work with children.

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

October 16, 2025/in News, Press Release/by Admin

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship: For the first time ever, the British TIMBERSPORTS® team will feature a female competitor when they travel to Milan for the biggest event of the logger sports season, the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship later this month. Taking place in Milan, Italy, the 20th World Championship promises to have audiences on the edge of their seats at the Allianz Cloud Arena on 24th and 25th October.

Following the British TIMBERSPORTS® Championship in June, a selection process took place to decide which athletes should represent Great Britain in the Team event. Glen Penlington secured his place early after winning his fourth British Championship in a row, with personal best times in two of the four team disciplines. But a surprise option for selection was Women’s Champion, Rachel Ferrington from Hay-on-Wye, after she delivered a blistering, new Women’s World Record in the Stock Saw discipline. It took her just 8.82 seconds to cut two discs, or ‘cookies’, with a STIHL MS 661 chainsaw, which ended up being the fastest time of the whole Championship weekend, and secured her a deserved place on Team GB.

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

Each nation can take five athletes, plus a rookie competitor, as part of their team, so with Penlington and Ferrington confirmed, four other spaces were available. Alongside 2025 Rookie Champion Rowan Luxton, the final names added to the team sheet were Team GB regulars Rob Chatley from Hanley Broadheath in Worcestershire, Graham Turner from Penicuik, Scotland and Tom Redmond from Bere Regis, Dorset.

In the Team event, the athletes complete four TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines in a relay; the Stock Saw, the Underhand Chop, the Single Buck and the Standing Block Chop. Each team competes in head-to-head heats against other national teams, with the slowest team knocked out and the fastest team moving on to the next round. All six competitors have been training hard in a series of training camps in the months prior to the Championship, in the hopes of improving on their 13th placed finish last year.

“Bringing Rachel into the team adds a fresh face and a new dynamic at the training camps. She is relatively new to the sport, but has trained really hard and has also competed in two other international TIMBERSPORTS® competitions already this year, which has given her valuable experience.” said Vicky Tween, STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® Team Manager.

Female athletes have competed in the Team World Championship before, but this will be the first time that a woman has been part of the British team. Ferrington is in good company though; three other national teams feature female competitors this year, and she’ll be hoping to make her mark on the world stage in Milan. Rookie athlete, Rowan Luxton, from Llandrindod Wells in Powys, will also be excited to join the British Team for the first time after his impressive win in the British Rookie Championship.

Penlington, Chatley, Turner and Redmond have all represented Great Britain at the World Championship before, but they know that there is always room for improvement, which is why the training camps are so useful for working on everything from the changeovers between disciplines to the team morale. Whilst they are all fierce rivals when competing against each other in the British Championship, they will need to come together in Milan if they want to deliver their best result.

If you want to see where Team GB place in the 2025 TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship, you can watch the full competition live on the STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® YouTube channel from 7pm on Friday 24th October.

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GroundsPerson

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

GroundsPerson

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

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GroundsPerson

Team GB travel to Milan for STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Championship

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