Assistant Headteacher - Head of Sixth Form

The positive ethos at Pate’s is evident from the first few minutes in our school and is seen in the quality of relationships between all members of our school community. Students and staff are motivated; they look after and challenge each other. Our students are quite simply the best of their generation. They are inspiring young people, it is truly a privilege to work with them.

With 150 in a year group it is possible to know the students very well. Numbers are then swelled by the intake of approximately 100 new students into year 12 who wonderfully enrich the school community.

The pastoral staff are outstanding and, through a focus on high expectations and positive relationships, manage to have a school with exemplary behaviour as the norm. Our school is built on relationships and the impressive motivation of students is intrinsic and authentic.

We recognise that our staff are the main reason for our successful and happy school. Both teaching and support staff are committed and hardworking, all believing firmly that we should help students to be and do their best. Pate’s prides itself on attracting and retaining staff of the highest quality. We have a reputation for promoting professional autonomy and for investing in staff through the provision of high quality courses and development opportunities.

Extra-curricular at Pate’s is amazing. Sport is very strong,  The Arts are also of extraordinarily high quality, with Drama, Art and Music visible and vibrant throughout the school. Our House System supports pastoral work, but it is also a high profile vehicle for extra-curricular competitions in sports, art, music, public speaking and more. Every house produces their own abridged musical or play for the House Drama competition each summer, and our House Music competition typically involves over 900 participants.

Academic opportunities are extended by provision of an extensive range of super-curricular lunchtime seminars, societies and lectures in subjects ranging from Languages to Astronomy. In addition, off timetable Tuesday afternoon (TPM) slots give opportunities for extended engagement in a wide variety of subjects and activities, often led by senior pupils sharing their passions while building their own leadership skills.

Extra-curricular trips take students literally everywhere. In recent years these have included sports tours to South Africa, canoe expeditions to Canada, Humanities trips to India, Switzerland and Berlin and cultural exchanges to China, France and Germany.  There are annual ski trips and dozens of outdoor education trips, not least to support the many students engaged in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme and in the Combined Cadet Force.

Our governing board is engaged and collaborative, providing strategic challenge and support.  Our parents are very generous with their time and efforts running a successful Parents Association which support our events, manage our second-hand uniform sales and raise much appreciated funds for the school.   We also get help from the Pate’s Foundation, which provides additional capital and revenue support for some of the things that make Pate’s such a special place. The Foundation, together with other generous donors, have helped us bring forward plans for improving the school campus: our  £3m Sixth Form Centre and Recital Room opened in December 2018, with 5 additional classrooms, a new ICT suite and a refurbished Junior Library.

Pate’s was founded in 1547 but it is very much a modern Grammar School, housed in purpose built facilities dating largely from the 1990s. Pate’s became a mixed school at the merger of two successful single sex Grammar Schools in 1986.  The campus  provides superb facilities for teaching and extra-curricular activities. Each department has its own departmental base and suite of classrooms. We have a dedicated Computer Centre, Performing Arts Centre, two extensive Libraries, Sports Hall, Astroturf pitch, indoor climbing wall and Outdoor Education Centre on site.

Pate’s is an academic school; pupils achieve high standards even in comparison to other grammar schools. An incredible 46% of all GCSES were awarded a grade 9 in summer 2023 and each year Pate’s is consistently ranked in the top ten nationally.  In each of the last few years around 30 Pate’s students have secured places at Oxford and Cambridge and most of the remainder head for other elite institutions in the UK and – increasingly – in the US, Europe and the Middle East.

The challenge at Pate’s is to be sensitive enough to cherish what is good, whilst being determined to keep moving forward in the wider national and international context. We strive to keep improving and maintaining our place among the very best schools in the country.

Pate’s is a wonderful place to work and learn, whether as a colleague or a student. We are building Pate’s on the moral high ground so that this 21st century Grammar School can have a key role in enabling future leaders to make the world a better place.  Staff moral is high and we actively encourage continuous professional development in order to ensure continued school improvement.

Staff benefits of working at Pate's include;

• Highly motivated and engaged students - the best of their generation!
• A culture of professional autonomy and a supportive staff team - you join a real ‘Pate’s Family’
• As a Teaching School Hub we develop and support our staff (teaching and non-teaching) at every stage of their career
• We recognise that our staff (like our students) have other commitments away from school and are entitled to a healthy work-life balance and we support our staff with family or other commitments wherever possible
• FREE laptop for all staff and FREE access to the onsite school gym
• Modern, purpose built accommodation with FREE onsite parking and good access to both the M5 and Cheltenham Station
• Well resourced departments and access to a high quality library for both professional and personal use. (This is thanks to additional funding we receive from a variety of sources.)
• Childcare voucher scheme
• Longer holidays than many other state schools

Nestled in the Cotswolds, Cheltenham is a Regency spa town. It has fabulous cafes, bars, pubs and restaurants, offering a café culture and cosmopolitan atmosphere, along with  award-winning stylish shopping.

As the cultural centre for the Cotswolds, it has an abundance of fantastic festivals all year round, from horseracing, through to the internationally renowned four main festivals of Jazz, Science, Music and Literature. There is even a Wine Festival. There is something for everyone to enjoy. Comedy, dance, concerts and a wide variety of entertainment take place in many venues including Cheltenham Town Hall, Everyman Theatre and Bacon Theatre, with music to suit all tastes in pubs and bars. At The Brewery Centre visit the IMAX cinema or go ten-pin bowling.  Cheltenham is renowned for its beautiful floral displays, to be found in Cheltenham’s parks and gardens - and certainly worth a visit is Sandford Park with its 1930s open air lido.

Cheltenham offers excellent transport links to the South West or Midlands, with the M5 in easy reach. London can be reached in two hours, and Cheltenham’s mainline rail station provides rapid and frequent connections with the rest of the UK.

We believe that there are few better places to live and work – and no better setting within which ambitious teachers can make a positive impact on their pupils’ lives