Curriculum Leader - Languages

As part of the Cumbria Education Trust our school is led with shared vision, honesty and purpose. CET is a growing Multi Academy Trust based in Cumbria; it is committed to creating outstanding, innovative and inspiring learning environments for our schools and their communities. The successful candidate will be joining CET at an exciting time, as we continue to build on our successes and move forward on our journey to establish ourselves as one of the highest performing MATs in the North of England.

It is an exciting time at WHS and the role of Curriculum Leader of MFL offers the platform to develop and implement a strategic vision to give languages the full attention and status it deserves. Our MFL department is vibrant, forward-thinking, and friendly; the team comprises native speakers, members of SLT, part time staff, offering a plethora of language skills: Spanish, French, Italian, German and Portuguese. At GCSE and A level we routinely offer a well-planned Spanish and French curriculum (taught from KS3 through to KS4 and KS5) yet our wider staff base allows us to support linguists to gain qualifications in additional languages such as Turkish and Polish.

Our KS3 Character Curriculum enables pupils to explore non-GCSE languages, such as German and Italian, in addition to Language Leaders (student ambassadors in school committed to raising the profile of MFL). Languages are valued and championed at WHS and we are seeking an enthusiastic, bold leader to make the most of this exceptional opportunity to lead the team forward.

The MFL team enjoys excellent links with our trust secondary schools. We share moderation processes, exciting resources and benefit from regular cross trust inset opportunities to enhance CPD. In addition, the WHS MFL team continues to work with our trust primary schools, with staff overseeing the primary curriculum and taking opportunities for pupils to work across the trust with one and other in order to foster a genuine love of languages.

WHS students take advantage of outstanding international links already in place, both within and beyond the MFL department including, but not limited to, mainland Spain, the Balearics, France, Greece, Italy, Iceland and Taiwan.

This post provides the opportunity for a visionary leader to build on the excellent foundations in place and add a personal stamp to the progress of this talented team. We are seeking a leader who recognises the indisputable benefits of language learning and who has the drive, commitment and resilience to share their passion with all stake-holders.

We are keen to employ a candidate who is hungry to improve students’ outcomes and eager to raise further the growing numbers of students taking languages at GCSE and A level. Our last leavers’ cohort included pupils choosing to read languages at university and, again, the current Sixth Form express interest in pursuing languages in further education.

We are immensely proud of the way our students and staff engage so positively in exploring language and culture and we sincerely hope you will consider joining us for the next stage in our journey. If you have a true passion for languages, travel and diversity and have the creative flair and personalised vision to lead languages at WHS then we would love to meet you!

The successful candidate will:

• Be a good communicator committed to being part of an effective support team within the whole school community
• Set high expectations and have a commitment to supporting learners to achieve well
• Be self-motivated, adaptable and reliable

We can offer:

• A people first approach, ensuring that you feel part of our community 
• Enhanced opportunities for collaborative working as part of a dynamic and highly successful Multi Academy Trust 
• Excellent career and CPD opportunities 
• A commitment to constantly review and improve our family friendly policies and look for new and innovative ways to aid and support our staff in achieving a healthy work/life balance 
• Employee benefits package 

If you have the qualities we require, along with the passion and aspirations to contribute to the success of the School and the MAT, we urge you to apply.