Head of Co-Curricular Drama and Teacher of Drama

The role 

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced theatre practitioner and skilled teacher to play a leading role in the delivery of Emanuel School's co-curricular drama provision.

In this role, you will oversee Emanuel's exciting programme of public performances, trips and theatre visits, inspiring a love of drama and the performing arts in our pupils. You will be required to manage all school productions, undertaking a range of responsibilities including directing productions, leading meetings, creating show schedules, allocating roles and managing all non-performance elements of shows. 

You will also assist with the organisation of our biennial Edinburgh Fringe Festival residential trip and oversee all co-curricular clubs in the department.

In addition to your co-curricular responsibilities, you will also deliver excellent teaching and learning to students across the school, drawing on your deep knowledge and passion for Drama to create a stimulating and engaging classroom environment. 

About you

You will need a drama degree with high honours, excellent subject knowledge and experience of directing and managing large-scale theatre productions. As a skilled and inspirational teacher, you will possess previous experience of teaching Drama at GCSE and A level, with an excellent track record and demonstrable improvements in results. 

The Drama Department 

Drama is well established at Emanuel and viewed as an integral area of the school’s academic and co-curricular life. We offer an exciting co-curricular Drama provision, including plays, musicals and public performances, as well as trips and a range of clubs that covers the technical and performing sides of Drama. These include our Technical Club, Costume and Craft Club, as well as our weekly Drama Club to boost pupils' skills and confidence in the subject. 

We have access to excellent facilities. The Drama department is housed in the Fiennes Theatre: a fully equipped, purpose-built performance space, with an audience capacity of 118. There are also two further rehearsal studio spaces which are fully equipped with a lighting rig and sound capabilities.

Working at Emanuel

There is always a buzz at Emanuel. Colleagues enjoy their work and, like the pupils, are ambitious for the school. With a weekly staff briefing, half termly staff meetings, termly consultative group meetings and a common room committee, all of us are engaged in a lively ongoing dialogue about the school’s aims and aspirations.

Everyone works hard here, and anyone joining us should expect to do the same and share our commitment to the highest standards. At the same time our ethos remains unpretentious, kindly and practical, and there’s a strong sense of community and friendship at the school.  

We aim to look after our staff well: we have an appraisal scheme with a focus on employees’ professional development; we sponsor postgraduate courses and a range of training opportunities; we offer salary sacrifice childcare vouchers through TEDS Premier, we offer a healthcare plan via Simply Health that includes counselling and medical support; and we’re committed to supporting staff wellbeing. Financially, all staff benefit from good pension provision and free lunches.

For further details and to apply please click the apply button.

The closing date for applications is Friday 28th February 2025 at 9am.

Do note that interviews may be held at any stage after applications are received, so candidates are advised to apply as soon as possible. We may close the vacancy earlier than the specified deadline if the right candidate is found.

Please note that this post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and is subject to a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check. Emanuel School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.