Centre Lead – High Wycombe

Salary is negotiable and based on experience.

Are you an experienced education professional ready to take responsibility for leading a centre, a team, and a culture that changes young people’s lives? We are recruiting a Centre Lead for our High Wycombe centre — a hands‑on leadership role with responsibility for day‑to‑day centre operations, staff management, safeguarding practice, and learner experience.

As Centre Lead, you will provide clear leadership to a multidisciplinary team of tutors and support staff, ensuring high standards of teaching, behaviour, safeguarding, and learner engagement across the centre. You’ll create a calm, structured, and relational environment where both staff and young people can thrive. You will report directly to the Bucks and Herts Area Manager and work closely with a team of Centre Leads across the region, sharing best practice and supporting consistent, high‑quality provision across our four centres.

This is a visible, on‑site role. While you will work directly with learners and model best practice in behaviour management and engagement, your primary focus will be leading people, coordinating provision, and ensuring the centre operates safely, effectively, and in line with New Meaning Training’s values.

We are looking for someone with experience tutoring, coaching, or teaching young people, who is now ready to step into a broader leadership role — or an experienced centre or team lead who remains passionate about working directly with learners. Training and support will be provided, particularly around safeguarding leadership and operational systems.

If you are confident, organised, values‑driven, and motivated by both people leadership and learner outcomes, this role offers a rare opportunity to make a meaningful impact at scale.

• Management of a team comprising Tutors, Teaching Assistants and Learning Support Assistants.
• Complete DSL4 training and support the Designated Safeguarding lead (Safeguarding Manager) in the management of safeguarding practice.
• Support and guide young people – working closely with learners, parents/carers, Youth Justice Services, schools, careers services, and other referral partners to ensure they engage positively with the Sport, Fitness & Public Service Programme, achieve qualifications, and progress toward independence.
• Manage behaviour effectively to create a safe and structured learning environment.
• Promote the importance of attendance, participation, and effort by reinforcing the connection between engagement and success.
• Encourage learners to take ownership of their behaviour and make positive choices that contribute to their progress.
• Work as part of a team to deliver qualifications in Functional Skills Maths and English, Skills for Education, Training, and Personal Development, and a Tutorials Programme embedding British Values – adapting teaching approaches to manage behaviour and sustain engagement.
• Plan and lead practical activities that not only strengthen learner independence but also encourage positive behaviour management strategies, helping to re‑engage hard‑to‑reach young people in structured, meaningful experiences.
• Develop creative, learner‑centred strategies that motivate and support young people with challenging behaviours, ensuring that all learners feel understood, respected, and encouraged to improve their conduct.
• Complete all paperwork and assessments to the required standards set by Buckinghamshire College Group and the qualification awarding body, NOCN, ensuring that behaviour and engagement records are accurately maintained.
• Maintain accurate records, update progress trackers weekly, and organise your diary effectively including monitoring behavioural patterns and interventions to inform future support strategies.
• Work with supporting agencies to facilitate learner progression and development, collaborating on behaviour management plans where necessary to create consistent support across education and external services.
• Continuously improve through a CPD programme, working with your line manager to develop behaviour management techniques and stay updated on relevant legislation and training provided by New Meaning Training.
• Use your expertise in time management, scheme of work and lesson planning, and understanding learning styles to tailor lessons to individual needs, embedding behaviour management strategies to ensure a positive and focused learning environment.
• Apply strong communication, conflict resolution, and stakeholder engagement skills to guide young people in managing their emotions, resolving conflicts, and developing self‑regulation strategies.
• Analyse challenges, solve problems proactively, and maintain detailed records on learner behaviour, interventions, and progress, ensuring that support is targeted and effective.
• Coordination of safeguarding incidents when Area Manager is not present and in partnership with Safeguarding Manager.
• Coordinate centre facilities: Health and Safety Audits, maintenance, cleaning and rooms rostering/schedules.
• Line manage Lead tutors, Tutors, teaching assistants and learning support assistants.
• Interview new staff and coordinate new staff onboarding.
• Coordinate general learning: weekly staff meetings, parent meetings, learner interviews.
• Weekly centre staff meetings (to agree rosters and discuss learners).
• Complete assigned commercial tasks, including: Support promotion of courses to local referral partners as agreed, Participation in marketing meetings when requested, Participation in discussions on centre course mix, Support (as requested or directed) Area Manager in achieving learner targets, Community engagement, Attend key learner panels.

About Us

New Meaning Training (NMT) offers education with a difference. We are an alternative education provider dedicated to helping young people aged 15–25 discover their strengths and develop the confidence and skills to earn their own living.

For the 2025–2026 academic year, around 300 young people from across Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Berkshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands will join one of our programmes. Many learners are referred by secondary schools, pupil referral units and Special Educational Needs (SEN) settings.

Since opening our first centre in High Wycombe in 2015 (originally known as "Toolshed"), we have grown to seven centres across five counties. Each centre delivers a tailored mix of programmes that may include: Construction Multiskills, Motor Mechanics, Creative Art & Design, Sports, Computing and Transition Support for young people with Education Health Care Plans (EHCPs). All programmes incorporate Functional Skills qualifications in Maths and English, alongside tutorials to support personal growth and employability. In Buckinghamshire we now have four centres; our Headquarters in High Wycombe, a Lifeskills centre based at Thomley Activity Centre, an Enrichment Centre in Aylesbury and a brand new centre in Milton Keynes.

NMT programmes are tailored to the individual needs of each learner.