Teacher of English

King Edward’s School is seeking to appoint a full-time or part-time Teacher of English to join a strong and enthusiastic department in an exceptional school from 1st September 2024. Knowledge or experience of teaching the IGCSE and IB exam courses currently taught by the department are not required and plenty of support is available to help a colleague who is new to the IB or who is less familiar with some aspects of the syllabus. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds; no experience of working in the independent sector is required. Willingness to participate in the wider life of the School with pastoral care duties, and to contribute to the provision of extra-curricular activities is desirable.

The English Faculty

The English Faculty comprises eleven teachers, all of whom are expected to be capable of teaching across the complete age range of the school, from Year 7 to 13 and preparation for university, including Oxford and Cambridge. There is a separate Drama department, which teaches Drama at GCSE and Theatre Studies at IB.

Up to Year 11, English is taught to all pupils for four forty-minute periods per week (seven per fortnight in Year 8). There are approximately 120 boys in each year group, taught in mixed-ability sets. All boys are entered for both English and English Literature IGCSEs (CAIE) at the end of Year 11: results are strong: in the summer of 2023, 81% of Year 11 boys obtained grades 9-7 (60% obtained grades 9/8) in IGCSE English; and in IGCSE English Literature, 80% obtained grades 9-7 (57% obtained grades 9/8).

The Department teaches English Literature coursesto all Sixth Form students, as part of the IB Diploma programme. Students are taught in sets of c.12 and Standard Level students have four periods a week while Higher Level students have six. IB training will be provided for the successful candidate if he or she has no experience of the IB.

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable excellence in both subject knowledge and classroom practice. They will have a track record of developing warm, enthusiastic teaching methods in productive, exciting lessons and be committed to employing a range of strategies to elicit the best from students. They will have an unshakeable belief in the importance of reading and oracy, both within and beyond the English classroom. They will also be keen to take on projects within the Department. For example, we are constantly looking to innovate and shape our KS4 curriculum to feed into our IB programme. Enthusiasm to contribute to such projects and further to strengthen our collaborative approach is essential, as is a flexible, adaptable mindset.

The school’s co-curricular life requires great commitment from members of staff. It is expected that all teachers will be form tutors, attached to a House, and contribute in some way to activities beyond the classroom and the timetable. Members of the English Department currently edit the school magazine, the Chronicle; coach for and supervise competition, internal and inter-school Debating and Public Speaking; run Book Worms, the Key Stage 3 reading club; organise a residential creative writing trip; lead theatre trips; and lead a range of societies. Contribution to some of these activities, as well as the development of new ones, would be most welcome

For the full job description and details of how to apply, please visit our website: Teacher of English - King Edwards School (kes.org.uk)