Recruiting: Saturday Club Textiles / Art & Design Tutor (Ages 13–16)
Type: Freelance
Location: Elephant & Castle, London SE17
Project Period: Saturdays during term time, October 2026 – March 2027
(20 workshop sessions in total, plus four additional paid prep/evaluation days)
Session Commitment: Approx. 4 hours per session, including setup and pack down, with additional paid prep and evaluation days.
Fee: £175–£220 per day, dependent on experience.
Application Deadline: 30th June 2026*
*We reserve the right to close or pause applications early if we receive a sufficient number of suitable applicants.
About the Role
Hotel Elephant is seeking a freelance lead tutor to design and deliver our 2026/27 Textiles-focused Art & Design Saturday Club for young people aged 13–16.
The Saturday Club is a free weekly creative programme where young people can develop practical skills, explore creative pathways, and build confidence outside of a formal school environment. Sessions are designed to be welcoming, collaborative, and engaging, with an emphasis on experimentation, making, sustainability, and peer learning.
The programme forms part of the National Saturday Club — a nationwide network of Saturday Clubs hosted by cultural institutions, universities, museums, and creative organisations across the UK.
Our Saturday Club supports Hotel Elephant’s wider mission to inspire and nurture the next generation of creative practitioners and to help young people better understand opportunities within the creative industries.
Programme Structure
The programme will run across two ten-week phases:
Part One — Foundations & Skills Development
Students will build core practical and creative skills through activities such as:
Textile design
Printing techniques
Hand and machine sewing
Appliqué and embellishment
Creative experimentation with materials
Sustainable textile practices using recycled and reclaimed materials
This phase should culminate in a collaborative or individual project outcome, such as a banner, quilt, wall hanging, or similar textile-based piece.
Part Two — Final Project & Summer Show
Students will build on the skills developed in Part One to create a final outcome for the National Saturday Club Summer Show. The tutor works with the group to decide on what is to be created and helps facilitate the production of a collaborative final piece.
This phase may include:
Garment design
Creation of an art/fashion piece/costume
Upcycling and sustainable making
Collaborative design development
Construction and finishing techniques
Fabric manipulation and garment customisation
Ideal Candidate
We are looking for an experienced textiles practitioner and/or Art, Design & DT educator with strong experience working with young people aged 13–16.
The successful candidate will:
Be confident teaching students with varied abilities, confidence levels, and learning styles
Be able to create inclusive, supportive, and engaging workshop environments for young people from diverse backgrounds
Be confident in adapting activities for students with different levels of prior experience
Have experience working with young people with a range of SEN, learning, and support needs
Be flexible and responsive in their teaching approach
Have strong practical textile and making skills
Have an interest in sustainable textile practices, repair, reuse, and environmentally conscious making
Be confident in facilitating collaborative and group-based creative projects
Be organised and capable of delivering a programme within an agreed materials budget
Be enthusiastic about widening access to creative education and creative industry opportunities
Be enthusiastic about supporting young people’s creativity, confidence, and progression
Responsibilities
The Lead Tutor will:
Design and deliver a 20-week workshop programme suitable for young people aged 13–16
Develop session plans that are achievable within the available budget, equipment, and workshop facilities
Integrate sustainability and climate-conscious making practices into workshop delivery where appropriate
Source and work creatively with recycled, reclaimed, and repurposed materials where possible
Work with the Project Coordinator to ensure programme outcomes align with funder and partner requirements
Support young people to better understand creative education and career pathways through discussion, signposting, and workshop content
Lead and support students during external trips and National Saturday Club opportunities
Support the coordination and delivery of visiting artist sessions and enrichment activities where required
Produce and review appropriate risk assessments for workshop activities
Work collaboratively with the Workshop Assistant to deliver high-quality sessions
Support student recruitment and promotion by providing images and short written content where required
Maintain a safe, organised, and welcoming workshop environment
Participate in safeguarding and health & safety procedures and training
Contribute to programme evaluation, documentation, and reflective review processes, including collecting examples of student work and supporting participant feedback activities
Essential Requirements
Applicants must:
Be available for the full programme period (3rd October 2026 – 27th March 2027, term time only)
Have experience teaching or facilitating workshops for 13–16-year-olds
Have experience working with young people with a range of SEN, learning, and support needs
Hold an enhanced DBS certificate, or be willing to undertake one
Have the right to work in the UK
Desirable Experience
It would be beneficial for applicants to have:
Experience delivering youth arts or extracurricular creative programmes
Experience working with mixed-ability groups
Knowledge of sustainable or upcycled textile practices
Experience supporting portfolio development, Arts Award, or exhibition outcomes
Connections to contemporary creative industry practice
Safeguarding
Hotel Elephant is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All successful applicants will be expected to share this commitment and engage with safeguarding procedures and training where required.
To Apply
Please send a CV and cover letter outlining your relevant experience to:
You can read about our 2025/26 programme HERE.