Head of Chinese

Brentwood Senior School is an academically selective HMC co-educational independent school with small class sizes and a happy, ambitious and supportive staff team. It is part of Brentwood School, a 3-18 HMC school of 1900 pupils, just 20 minutes from London Liverpool Street.

This is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding Head of Chinese to lead a dynamic and thriving Mandarin Chinese department. Chinese at Brentwood is currently taught by two full-time teachers. Chinese is part of a wider, very large MFL Department comprising sixteen full-time members of staff, seven part-time members of staff, and three native level speaker assistants. Italian, German, French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese are all taught within the MFL Department.

At Brentwood School, all boys’ and girls’ classes up to GCSE are taught separately and in the Sixth Form are taught together. Mandarin Chinese is taught throughout the Senior School, with our first full GCSE cohort sitting exams in summer 2024, and also to some of our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils at the Prep School as part of an academic enrichment carousel.

On entering the School at Year 7, pupils choose two modern languages: one of French or Spanish; and one of German or Chinese. They continue with both of these languages throughout Years 7 and 8, and all students must study at least one Modern Foreign Language to GCSE. We teach the AQA Mandarin Chinese GCSE course, and support a small number of Chinese native level speakers in the Cambridge IGCSE Chinese as a First Language course. We currently offer Mandarin Chinese in our IB Diploma Programme as a Language B course, as an ab initio course, and also support a small number of Chinese native level speakers in the bilingual Language A Literature course. The growth and success of our Chinese programme means we will likely require a part-time language assistant or teacher in due course.

Teachers use authentic materials and develop tailored resources to enhance their teaching. One of the strategic development goals for the MFL department is to develop a “bilingual” pedagogy, in which history, geography and culture are taught through the target language. We have invested considerably in online resources and iPad teaching and all teachers are expected to exploit and develop the opportunities this offers for student motivation and teaching and learning. 

The MFL Department aims to encourage as many pupils as possible to learn languages and to maintain and stimulate lasting pupil curiosity and interest. A high proportion of our Sixth Form pupils go on to read Modern Languages at top universities, including Oxbridge. 

The School and the Senior Leadership Team are strongly supportive of Chinese, and MFL more widely, and recognise the important role it plays in the life of the whole School community.

Brentwood School ethos

We embody our values of virtue, learning and manners just as those before us have been doing since 1557. We are proud of our modern inclusive community which is shaped by our Christian Foundation. Our pupils are confident without being arrogant, they look out for each other, they do the right thing, even when no-one is looking and they respect difference: you will see a footballer enjoying lunch with a chorister and a dance captain running a recycling project with a young chess enthusiast.

We help our pupils to solve problems. In partnership with parents, we teach them to persevere after setbacks, adopt a growth mindset, and challenge the norm. We encourage them to ask questions in class and take control of their own learning. Of course, they work hard and enjoy great success in and out of the classroom, and once they’ve left us, many go on to use and develop their leadership skills and achieve beyond their expectations, always remembering what Brentwood has taught them.

That’s who we are. We are Brentwood.

Staff across both the Prep and Senior School enjoy a bespoke collaborative approach to professional development. We believe in being a research engaged school, with those that facilitate our in-house research programme being trained by the Institute of Education. We support many of our staff in obtaining external accreditation across a range of fields and are engaged with a number of national and international organisations. We are a highly supportive school that values the contributions made by a motivated and intellectually curious staff. There are a range of ways that we enhance our staff experience; free gym membership, benefits hub, free lunch, free tickets to school concerts and performance to name but a few. Brentwood School has its own pay scale that is significantly above the maintained sector and we also have a range of subsidised staff accommodation that may be available for the successful applicant should they need to relocate. 

Applicants who do not have a TES account should visit our website and download an application form or email: recruitment@brentwood.essex.sch.uk All Brentwood School vacancies can be found on the School’s website. The School reserves the right to change these dates, and to close the vacancy at any time.

Brentwood School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.