Head of Religious Studies

Based at The Forest Academy -IG6 3TN

Salary: M1 to UPS3 plus TLR 2a (Outer London)

Required: September 2023

Benefits include:

Private Healthcare

Thank you for your interest in becoming Head of Religious Studies at The Forest Academy. The Forest Academy is on an exciting journey, and we are looking for a leader who is committed to making a difference to the lives of our students. We are seeking to appoint a dynamic and inspirational teacher who is ambitious and has a real passion for Religious Studies. The successful applicant will have high expectations and will be a reflective practitioner who is always keen to develop and improve their teaching. They will appreciate their role in helping our students to have high aspirations, and they will share our belief that our students deserve an exceptional curriculum and the very best teaching. They will, like us, believe in our students.  

We know that great leaders are always keen to develop and learn. We therefore work closely with our middle leaders to ensure that they are experts in curriculum development who can work creatively and thoughtfully with their teams to shape the curriculum. 

We are committed to ensuring workload is manageable in all positions, and post-holders have enough additional time to carry out their responsibilities. We are a school which trusts the teachers and leaders to make the right decisions for their areas of responsibility.

We are an approachable leadership team who are laser focused on ensuring that teaching and learning is always improving, and who are committed to the professional development of our staff. Staff at TFA enjoy their work because they know that they make a difference for our students each and every day. Relationships are a real strength at TFA, and staff enjoy the ‘thank yous’ and ‘good mornings’ that they get from our friendly and respectful students. Staff also enjoy the career progression and development opportunities available at TFA and more widely across the Trust, as we are careful to identify the leaders of tomorrow and to nurture talent. The Staff Forum helps to ensure that communication is strong between staff and the leadership team, and we are committed to ensuring that our staff do not spend time on unnecessary data entry or paperwork.   

This academic year we have developed and refined our Religious Studies curriculum to ensure that it fully aligns with our CALIBRE curriculum framework, and that department meetings are rooted in developing the expertise of our staff. We continue to focus on this development so that all our pupils both gain knowledge and develop perspective on global issues and the position of religion in societies. By studying Religious Studies our students will grow as critical learners, encouraged to consider a range of perspectives and issues and reach sensible and well-balanced conclusions.

We welcome initial expressions of interest and discussions about the role. Please email admin@theforestacademy.co.uk marking the email ‘FAO The Principal’ if you wish to book a telephone call.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and expects all members of staff to share this commitment.

Enhanced DBS (with list checks) is required for this post.

The below documents must be read prior to applying for this role and will be factored into interviews:

Keeping Children Safe in Education

BMAT – Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy

We are pleased to announce that Beacon Multi Academy Trust will be working alongside Benenden Healthcare in offering a Healthcare Plan to its employees. There is no obligation to opt ‘in’ to the healthcare plan, it is just part of our ongoing priority to support staff wellbeing across the Trust.

Further information and an application form can be found at https://nelta.co.uk/vacancies/

Please forward your electronic applications to recruitment@beaconacademytrust.co.uk

Please note we reserve the right to close or extend this position depending on application numbers, therefore we would urge candidates to submit an application as soon as possible.