Head of English

In addition to your salary, you will be paid an Outwood Welcome Bonus of £3,000. This will be paid as a single lump sum alongside your first month's salary.

Outwood Academy Ripon has been part of the Outwood Grange Academies Trust since 2011 and is an exceptional place to build your future. Our school-based community is welcoming and friendly; students and staff make excellent progress together.  

Ripon is a thriving community with a magnificent cathedral making it one of Yorkshire’s most loved cities. The city’s history is entwined with the church and its proximity to the beautiful Fountains Abbey. Ripon is a delightful city with riverside and canal sidewalks that reach into the countryside and buildings that span the last thousand years.

We are seeking to appoint an inspiring and enthusiastic leader to lead our dynamic English department. This is a fantastic opportunity for a committed, ambitious, outstanding teacher of English to join an exceptional school and a high-performing Trust. 

We expect all colleagues to bring out the best in each and every student. Our diverse curriculum has something for everyone, with extra guidance for those requiring additional support, and we do whatever it takes to ensure young people develop a sense of responsibility – towards themselves, each other, their community and the wider world. We are extremely proud of the achievements of our students and staff who have consistently achieved excellent GCSE outcomes. Do you have drive, determination and ambition for this rewarding role as a Head of English? Are you a passionate leader who is keen to provide young people with the best possible education whatever their background or ability? If you are looking for a new challenge we welcome your application.

English department

The English Department has eight teachers, a specialist literacy teaching assistant and a one-to-one tutor. The department includes experienced practitioners together with recently qualified colleagues who have a shared goal: Students First

We are proud of our school library (Learning Resource Centre – LRC) offering a wide range of texts and resources to support students’ reading needs.

The team has created a rich and engaging KS3 curriculum organised around literary themes (for example, ‘The tragic hero’, ‘journeys’, ‘identity’ and ‘love’) which are delivered through different units to develop knowledge in reading and writing as well as increasing cultural capital. 

There is a strong whole-school literacy strategy which aims to ensure that all students gain the educational and personal benefits of reading. This includes reading in form time, Accelerated Reader and a variety of reading interventions for readers who are not yet proficient. 

Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) secondary academies use Eduqas GCSE English Language and English Literature qualifications. The programme of study is fully resourced with high-quality materials produced by staff across the trust who know this specification well. We aim to help all our teachers to become ‘experts’ in preparing students for GCSE examinations, using our thorough and systematic methods devised over many years. We have the benefit of support from the trust’s team of expert English directors, who provide support, materials, advice, coaching and who model and team-teach in lessons alongside us to develop our expertise. As an indication of our success, each year over 80% of year 11 students achieve a pass in English, with strong positive average progress for all students. 

If you are interested in joining our English Department, please contact Rupert Burgess, Regional Director of English (r.burgess@outwood.com) who would be pleased to tell you more, either by email or telephone, and we would be delighted to welcome you on a visit if you would like to see us in person.

We are proud that Outwood Academy Ripon is rated Outstanding by Ofsted. We are an 11-16 academy based in the cathedral city of Ripon, near the UNESCO World Heritage Site encompassing the magnificent Studley Royal Deer Park, including the well-preserved Cistercian Fountains Abbey. Our success is one of the most impressive in North Yorkshire, and we have been recognised for our consistently excellent outcomes in progress and attainment.

Part of the Outwood Family since 2011, and judged as Outstanding by Ofsted since 2016 we retained our Outstanding status in a recent inspection, an inspection which stated that ‘Pupils are supported by caring staff who know them well”, “Pupils know that learning is important and apply themselves diligently to their work’” and noted that the relationships between staff and students are ‘very strong and behaviour around the academy is of a high standard.’ 

We aim to promote the highest standards of academic achievement through inspiring teaching and learning, with a curriculum designed to stretch and enrich our students’ experience. Our success speaks for itself as we are above the national average for the number of students achieving at a Grade 5 or above in English & maths GCSEs, and we have won numerous awards as a school including the Carnegie Mental Health Silver Award, Anti-Bullying Alliance Bronze Award and being accredited with the prestigious IQM Centre of Excellence status, which highlights that inclusion at all levels is of paramount importance to us

Put simply, we take pride in serving the local community, ensuring everyone has a right to learn. 

 Outwood Recruitment Brochure Jan 2024 

 Relocating to North Yorkshire - Link to more information 

 Link to Job description

 Link to Person Specification (please refer to this when completing your application)

For more information and to apply online, please click the apply button.

Closing date: Midday on 7 April 2024.

We reserve the right to close advertisements early. Advertisements will therefore close the day the decision has been taken to close the advertisement early.

Outwood Grange Academies Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All appointments are made in accordance with safer recruitment practices and the statutory guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education. Online checks will be carried out on all shortlisted candidates, and all appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references and checks regarding suitability to work with children.