Head of Academic Music (Deputy Director of Music)
Bedford School
Bedford
- Expired
- Salary:
- Competitive salary and benefits, including many opportunities for professional development
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- September 2025
- Apply by:
- 5 March 2025
Job overview
Bedford School wish to appoint an enthusiastic and well qualified teacher as Head of Academic Music (Deputy Director of Music) for September 2025 in our thriving independent boys’ school.
They will ensure the school has an academic music curriculum which is suitable for our academically selective cohort, and makes strategic use of our facilities. A thriving academic music curriculum is symbiotic with an outstanding co-curricular programme.
The Head of Academic Music (Deputy Director of Music) works closely with (and deputises for) the Director of Music to ensure Bedford provides a sector-leading musical education to our pupils. As Head of Academic Music they provide dedicated oversight of the curriculum across Prep and Upper phases of the school, so it is coherent across the age range of the school, makes effective use of the school’s resources, is ambitious, exciting and both covers and enriches the National Curriculum and examined courses effectively.
Prior experience of academic leadership is desirable, though not essential: the school has an excellent internal training programme to support and mentor new Heads of Department. Experience of the independent sector and/or a boarding environment is not essential; each year, Bedford School welcomes teachers from the state and independent sectors in England, and from some of the world’s best international schools, and we value the experience that they bring.
What is essential, however, is an enthusiasm to build on the many strengths of our unique school community to support a thriving Music department. Our ideal candidate will have outstanding interpersonal skills: someone who can foster effective cooperation and collaboration amongst an experienced teaching team, develop high levels of trust, and develop our provision in a way that values and celebrates each of our teachers’ many strengths. Above all, what we are looking for from our new Head of Academic Music who has an excellent understanding of what outstanding teaching and learning looks like, and a clear vision for how to realise it in the department.
Full-time teachers at Bedford are also expected to play a full part in the extensive cocurricular programme and be a Tutor attached to a boarding or day house. Our school is part of the Harpur Trust which offers a range of training modules that are applicable to both teaching and other professions. We aspire to attract new colleagues to reflect the socially and culturally diverse Bedford community, and welcome applications from all specialists from all backgrounds. Bedford School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. Offers of appointment are subject to satisfactory references and DBS clearance. Short-listed candidates will be invited to the school for interview on the advertised date.
The Director of Music Mr Jonathan Sanders would be happy to talk to prospective applicants and can be contacted through the main school reception on 01234 362200 or by email jsanders@bedfordschool.org.uk
Suitable candidates may be interviewed before the closing date and Bedford School reserves the right to withdraw the position if an early appointment is made. Applicants are therefore encouraged to apply early.
Closing date: Wednesday 5 March 2025
Interviews: week commencing Monday 10 March 2025
Further details about the role and a link to our recruitment portal, where you can apply using our online application form, can be found on our website: www.bedfordschool.org.uk/about-us/career-opportunities/
The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). The School may carry out online searches on shortlisted applicants. The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The School is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions on a self-declaration form in advance of attending an interview (including those which are “spent” unless they are “protected” under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.
Bedford School is part of The Harpur Trust.
Attached documents
About Bedford School
Awarded five stars in Fortune’s World’s Leading Boarding Schools in 2023 and named ‘Independent Boys School of the Year 2021’, Bedford School is lauded for “its holistic school experience, tailored to the specific needs of the all-boys community, designed to ensure that students’ individual qualities are nurtured without inhibition and lived without awkwardness, so that they be good men.”
Bedford School class sizes are small and we operate vertical tutor groups, giving boys the chance to mentor and lead those younger, learn from those older and simply ‘be’ together without peer pressure. Bedford is a boarding school, first and foremost, with boarders and day boys alike benefitting from the strong boarding ethos. With 250 boys and around 40 staff living full-time on-site, the boarding community gives a heartbeat to the school in a way that nothing else can.
Our curriculum is broad, offering GCSE, IGCSE, A-Level and BTEC alongside a bespoke curriculum including Theory of Knowledge in Year 10 and an internal research project in Year 12. Every boy finds his individual path, with strong Sixth Form uptake across the sciences, humanities, creative arts and languages – there is no ‘typical’ Bedford student.
Academic results and destinations speak for themselves with 91% of our boys going onto their first or second choice university, including several to Oxbridge each year, and international universities. Many students are successful in gaining places at medical schools.
Facilities are first-class - two simulators (golf and flight), an observatory and planetarium are standout features. Our recently built Music School and Theatre house dynamic creative departments and excellent student performances.
Every boy makes a meaningful local contribution via our Community Partnership Programme, working in mutually beneficial partnerships with individuals from varied backgrounds, and we have run the Ivy House Leadership Award since its inception. We regularly top the schools' leader board in fundraising for Movember.
Sport is a forte: 96% of boys represent the school annually, and our major sports teams regularly make national finals, with many pupils playing at county or national level and at least one leaver almost every year going into professional sport. We work with Northampton Saints, Northants CCC and Woburn Golf Club. But we have a philosophy of ‘sport for all’ and we regularly field E and F teams.
We aim for our boys to be balanced, outward-looking, forward-thinking, kind and sociable young men who are comfortable in their own skins. We invite you to explore our school through the news stories we regularly publish on our website and on social media; these provide an insight into our boys, their stories and successes, and a strong sense of the enviable community that is Bedford School.
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