Head Facilitator

The Why Place - Curiosity Academy Critical Thinking when to challenge an assumption; when a child’s unexpected tangent is worth following; when to bring the group back; and how to make sure quieter children have space to think and contribute.

You are also the senior person responsible when something doesn’t go to plan: whether behaviourally, emotionally or practically.

We are therefore looking for someone with genuine experience working with children, strong judgement, warmth and confidence leading a group.

What You’ll Do Lead and deliver question-led immersive sessions for groups of children aged 7–9, alongside a Junior Facilitator.

Hold the intellectual thread of each session, deepening discussion and helping children explore ideas rather than simply arrive at a predetermined answer.

Ask thoughtful follow-up questions that challenge children to explain their reasoning, consider different perspectives and think further.

Create a warm, energetic and psychologically safe environment in which every child feels able to participate.

Take the lead on group management, behaviour, safeguarding awareness and children’s wellbeing during sessions.

Observe children closely and produce thoughtful individual observations, tracking their reasoning, participation and development over time.

Adapt your facilitation to individual children, recognising different personalities, confidence levels and ways of thinking.

Respond confidently when a session takes an unexpected direction, while protecting its underlying learning objectives.

Brief, support and provide constructive feedback to your Junior Facilitator partner.

Work closely with the wider Why Place team, sharing observations and helping us continuously improve our programmes.

Who We’re Looking For Essential A strong educational background: such as a degree in education, teaching qualification, or substantial equivalent professional experience within a school, learning or youth-education setting.

Significant experience working with children in group settings and confidence being the senior responsible adult in the room.

Excellent facilitation skills: you know how to draw children into a discussion, ask strong questions and make complex ideas accessible without oversimplifying them.

Warmth, energy and genuine playfulness.

We want someone children are excited to see walk through the door: engaging, funny, expressive and visibly passionate and curious themselves.

A genuine interest in philosophy, psychology and/or how children think, reason and make sense of the world.

Strong emotional intelligence, sound judgement and the ability to read both individual children and group dynamics.

The ability to balance structure with responsiveness: following a valuable idea when it emerges without losing sight of the purpose of the session.

Strong organisation and attention to detail, particularly when producing written observations and meeting deadlines.

Excellent spoken and written English and a collaborative, reliable approach to working within a team.

Desirable Experience mentoring, supervising or developing other educators or staff.

Experience with Reggio Emilia, Montessori, Philosophy for Children (P4C), enquiry-based learning, Socratic dialogue, tutoring or other discussion-led educational approaches.

Experience writing developmental reports or individual observations about children.

Experience within creative, experiential or play-based learning environments.

Safeguarding, Checks