Lead Practitioner English

Enriching Lives

At Costello we believe that every child deserves the very best education and challenge the idea that social context should be a barrier to their academic success. We exist first and foremost to improve the life chances of young people through excellent care, teaching and guidance and believe that the relationship between home and school is paramount. We are here to make sure that our students go on to be successful and happy in what whatever they do.

Who we are

Our culture is built on trust and cooperation between all stakeholders, enabling us to take risks, be honest, ask the difficult questions and support each other when necessary. As leaders of learning we do not sit back and continue to do the same things year in year out, especially if we know we could do better. We invest heavily in CPD and training and have fantastic links with other schools and professional organisations. New ideas and approaches are welcomed with open arms and coaching is used to unlock potential. We work very closely with our ‘family’ of partner schools and are currently the strategic lead for a unique teaching and learning project.

Our Location

Costello is nestled in amongst luscious rolling hills of Hampshire on the outer fringes of the vibrant county town of Basingstoke. Look one way and you have extensive shopping, culture, bars, restaurants and sport. Look the other and you are deep in the countryside with cosy village pubs, beautiful walks, rivers and lots of places to explore.

Where else can you be living the high life of the city one minute and be deep in the heart of the New Forest the next? Served by fantastic fast rail and road links to the South Coast, London and beyond, with the M3 and M4 close by, Basingstoke is the gateway to the south.

10 great reasons to work at Costello

• You will be joining a family not just an organisation
  
• Job enrichment and enlargement is crucial
  
•  We believe in progression and promotion from within
  
• Our induction programme is rated as ‘outstanding’
  
• There is a constant focus on professional development
  
• You will work with supportive and friendly colleagues
  
•  Internal promotion is supported
  
• Focus on career progression
  
• We think there is always room for improvement
  
• Christmas and Summer parties
  

Supporting You

Work with us and you will undertake a fantastic induction programme and get personalised support including being assigned a mentor, no matter what your role, even the Headteacher has one! We encourage, and are recognised for, our professional and personal development programme and value highly strong leadership and coaching skills.

We hate losing great people but equally encourage staff to shoot for the stars and if that means you moving on somewhere else, after a period of time, then we get it and we will help you. We get people from all sorts of backgrounds joining us and quite often they start doing one thing and then move into a different area.

What next?

We love to hear from people who are looking for their first or perhaps next challenge. Prior to applying why not come and have a look around? We are always happy to give you a tour, let you get a feel for the place and meet potential future colleagues and students. You don’t even need to wait for an advert to appear, drop our HR team a line (d.andrews@costello.hants.sch.uk) telling us a bit about yourself, including your CV, and we will contact you if a suitable position becomes available.

Please do not be put off applying for a role just because you don’t think you have got everything we are looking for or are underqualified. Let us be the judge of whether you are suitable or not. Remember if you don’t apply you have no chance of getting the job so why not take a chance?