Job Title:  Playworker 

Location: Walsall

Oakwood School is a specialist provision for children and young people aged 3 - 15 years with complex educational needs.  The school is commissioned for 267 places (September 2025).

We pride ourselves in providing a safe, stimulating and nurturing learning environment where we help our pupils to learn in bespoke and innovative ways to ensure optimum progression.

Our highly qualified staff coupled with our forward-thinking approach to resources and technology, allow learners to communicate and participate in the world around them.

We promote a wide range of high-quality learning experiences, catering for all learning styles so that no learner is ever left behind.

At Oakwood everyone is valued and treated with respect and is encouraged to be the best they can possibly be.

Our Vision

At Oakwood School we are nurtured to grow and flourish.

We promote a culture of positivity, ambition and resilience through pupil centred learning to engage, motivate and empower learners in all areas of their lives. 

Learners are at the heart of our school. Together with their families, we foster strong supportive teams around them to build on strengths and overcome barriers, embracing creativity, innovation and technology.

We maximise potential, grow independence and celebrate all achievements.

Our Mission

As a hub of the community, it is our responsibility to create opportunities for every learner to be the best that they can possibly be! Through our personalised curriculum learners will develop emotionally, physically and holistically. Learners will feel valued, respected and safe in our happy and inclusive environment.

Find more information here:   Oakwood School

Want to make a difference to young people?

Are you ready to embark on a rewarding journey within an educational community that values increasing opportunities, improving outcomes for our students. We are looking for a Playworker  to join our team. Re

Key Duties and Responsibilities: 

Those working directly with children and young people in a setting whose main purpose is to provide children and young people with opportunities for freely chosen, self-directed play. These staff do not have full responsibility for the play environment but make a significant contribution to supporting play.

Carry out playwork and make provision for free play in a school-based environment. This may be at lunchtimes, in the school playground, after school or during curriculum time outside of lessons. The playworker may be part of a multi-disciplinary team, a play team, may be a lone worker, or may only operate as a playworker at particular times, fulfilling the function as part of a bigger job role. The unit is appropriate for all sessions where the main purpose is providing children and young people with opportunities for freely chosen, self-directed play

Pay range: Grade 3 SCP 4-6 

Qualifications and Skills: 

• NVQ Level 2 in Playwork or equivalent qualification or experience

For full details of the post please see attached Job Description and Person Specification

Why The Mercian Trust?

As one Trust we share a common purpose.  We call it our social mobility and social justice mission to change our communities through the very best equitable education.  When we get this right, it enables our children and young people to fulfil their potential, thrive in the world of work, and make a positive contribution to the local, national and international community. Our recent achievements include:

Sustainable Growth - becoming one of the largest and most diverse trusts in the region

Social Mobility & Social Justice - National recognition for the Trust’s two selective grammar schools who the most successful on the number of local disadvantaged students passing the entrance and joining the schools

Increasing Opportunities – Opening brand-new purpose-built campus in Walsall Town Centre including an alternative provision for students at risk at permanent exclusion from mainstream schools alongside a Digital Skills Hub to provide professionals and employers

Pioneering Spirit – National recognition for pioneering work around youth mental health, including establishing an in-house multi-disciplinary team of clinicians and allied health professionals delivering interventions and providing support to vulnerable students

Outward Looking – Organising and hosting the region’s first Youth Suicide Conference (2023) and Youth Violence Conference (2024) at Villa Park