Head of Modern Languages

In love with languages?

Passionate about performance?

You are speaking our language.

Foreign languages are vital to modern life. They are also central to the curriculum here at Kettlethorpe High School. That is why 76% of our pupils were entered for language examinations this year, compared to 34% nationally, with 152 Year 11 pupils taking Spanish and 127 French. It’s also why we need you to head up our 10-strong modern languages team and take provision to the next level.

Based within a brand-new, purpose-built teaching environment with six classrooms and an office area, you will benefit from the best facilities imaginable. You will also inherit a passionate and committed team and pupils who love to learn – as our recent extremely positive Ofsted inspection noted, people feel lucky to attend this school and staff enjoy working here due to the exceptional support.

But French and Spanish are only the beginning: we serve a diverse community, so we have entered pupils for GCSEs in Polish, Russian, Japanese, Urdu, Greek, Italian and Mandarin, amongst many other tongues. Our EBacc score at 74% is among the best in the north of England and our extracurricular language activities are unrivalled, including annual residential trips abroad, frequent visits to cinemas and theatres, performances (including authentic flamenco dancing) at other schools and leadership of a language community for feeder schools across Wakefield.

As a maintained comprehensive with 1,650 pupils and more enrolling every day, this is a place where you can really make your mark and build on the success of one of our strongest departments. We are looking for a proven subject leader with an innovative approach to teaching, full fluency in both French and Spanish, and a wealth of fresh ideas. In short, we want you to inspire our pupils to achieve even more, giving them all the language skills for successful careers across communities, cultures and continents.

If you’re speaking our language, it’s time we talked.

You will find this an amazing place to build your future, especially as we are just a mile and a half from the M1, meaning you can work in Wakefield but live in one of the numerous stunning areas of rural Yorkshire.

In return, you’ll enjoy a vibrant working environment, committed to investing in your development with further benefits including Laptop/Surface Pro, access to the Cycle to Work scheme, discounted travel cards and gym membership plus child care vouchers.

Closing date: Noon on 27th January 2023

The successful applicant will be required to provide criminal conviction information and complete a disclosure application form.