Art and Design Teacher

We are looking for a committed and passionate teacher of the Arts to join the team at Queensmead House School as an Art and Design Teacher. The role will be to continue to develop the existing Art curriculum including accreditations at Key Stage 4 and to introduce Design Technology into the school curriculum. The role will involve working across both the primary and secondary phases.

The positive impact you can have on a young person’s life is most likely the reason you got into teaching in the first place. At Queensmead House School in Windsor, that impact will be greater than you could have imagined.

Queensmead House School is a co-educational, independent specialist day school, providing high quality education. Based in Windsor, the school meets the needs of a diverse group of pupils with complex educational needs, communication difficulties and challenging behaviours, these include autism spectrum disorder, as well as social, emotional and mental health needs. The school can cater for up to 130 pupils in the age range 5 to 16.

Each young person’s set of needs requires a unique approach. Our teachers are there to channel their individual capabilities into academic success, as part of a holistic and uniquely attentive educational strategy – and all of this from a setting that is truly inspiring to both pupils and teachers.

Parts of our large, picturesque school overlook Windsor Castle and the school building itself is breath-taking. Add to the fact that we’ve installed amazing new learning spaces and a great supporting team and it all adds up to a truly uplifting teaching environment.

The Role

As an Art and Design Teacher at Queensmead House School, you'll get to deliver the kind of education you always wanted to. You’ll have superb leadership, specialist support and state-of-the-art-facilities, allowing you to focus on delivering the National Curriculum to a group of primary and secondary aged pupils in a memorable way. Committed to fulfilling the potential of each and every one of our students, no matter what their educational needs (including emotional and social difficulties, autistic spectrum conditions and speech and language communication difficulties), you share our belief that all young people are capable of achieving great things.

This is why we’re only interested in hearing from superb classroom practitioners. Those who take the National Curriculum and bring it alive in a way that’s meaningful and engaging to our students. Ideally you’ll have experience of dealing with complex education needs, as you’ll need to connect with our students – understanding what makes them unique and working to make a real difference to their social and emotional development. But none of this fazes you, as it’s what you’re passionate about. And why you’ll fit right in.

You’ll be working with young people until the end of Key Stage 4. It will be challenging and rewarding in equal measure, but whether you’ve given a particularly inspiring lesson or helped a pupil with a presentation or exam arrangements, you can expect to take home a sense of having done something amazing every single day. As all teachers know, some of those days may be harder than others but, at Witherslack Group, you’re never alone. You’ll work as part of a collaborative team, not just with other teachers across the school and Group but with our in-house psychologists, family liaison officers and therapy professionals. All pulling together to create the best possible outcomes for our pupils.

The Person

We’re looking for an Art and Design Teacher with a vision. The kind of person who wants to make a difference and knows the pathway that will allow them to do so. Someone who also wants to be part of the conversation when it comes to group decisions on how we, as a Group, best meet the needs of each child with regard to training, support and annual reviews.

Aware of the standards that Ofsted look out for and always conscious to exceed them, you’ll be the kind of teacher who is never anything but engaged and engaging. What’s more, you’ll be excited by the prospect of our small class sizes of 8 pupils or less, (with at least one Teaching Assistant) and will seize upon this as an opportunity to tailor learning to individuals and build stronger, more insightful teacher/pupil relationships. Empathetic and passionate, you’ll understand that our pupils’ journeys aren’t necessarily linear.

The Rewards

The benefit of doing a role like this is it feels good. Every day brings a sense of hard-won achievement and progress. There are also some outstanding rewards – in fact, our salary and benefits package is one of the best in the sector. It includes:

• A highly competitive salary
• Full school holidays
• Teacher pension scheme or a range of flexible pension options to suit personal circumstances (where applicable)
• A comprehensive, market-leading induction and ongoing training
• Extensive Group staff benefits, such as a Medicash Health Plan/Employee Assistance and Cycle to Work Scheme
• Free lunches
• Free DBS Enhanced checks for all new employees

We strongly believe that people should have choice and flexibility when it comes to saving for future. As such we offer membership of the Teachers Pensions Scheme if you are eligible to join the scheme. We also offer a flexible alternative option to the Teachers Pension Scheme that allows you to opt out and receive an allowance of 15% of your base salary and free life insurance. If you take this option you are also able to join our Scottish Widows Group Pension Scheme where your employee contributions are matched up to 5%.

To find out more please contact Jennifer Jansen, Senior Administrator on 01753 989100,

Interview Date: Monday, 18 October 2021

Closing date: Friday, 08 October 2021, 23:59

The Witherslack Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of its young people. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check. We are an equal opportunities employer welcoming applications from all sections of the community.

For a full job description and person specification, please see the attached document.