Lead Teacher

LEAD TEACHER

Salary                    M6

Contract              Full-time, Permanent

Closing date       22 September 2026

Start date            Autumn term, with flexibility to January for the right candidate

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Who we are:

School:                     Pathways Education, Churt, Surrey

Learners:                Young people aged 9-16 with SEMH as a primary need; all hold an EHCP

Our approach:        Small, relational, trauma-informed, personalised and project-based

Our ambition:        Meaningful adult lives, with a presumption of employment for every learner

The opportunity:   To help shape a developing school and a distinctive model of specialist education

Pathways Education exists for young people who have not always found a home in formal schooling. Many have experienced difficult educational journeys before they arrive with us. They are at the heart of everything we do, not simply the reason we exist, and we build their voice and agency into how we shape both their own learning and the school around them. Our whole community is built around three values: Wellbeing, Connection and Empowerment.

Human flourishing is becoming the model at the centre of everything we do here, not something we apply to one part of school life alone. Our curriculum is one expression of it, built on the project-based, trauma-informed approach that already sits at the heart of what we do. It also shapes how we support and develop our staff, and how we think about what excellent teaching actually looks like.

This is a teaching role, but probably not quite as you know it. Our curriculum brings together academic learning, essential transferable skills, project-based learning, preparation for adulthood, employer experiences, enterprise and community, and we need someone who can teach brilliantly within that model while also helping shape what excellent practice looks like for everyone else.

You won't simply be joining Pathways. You will be helping to build it.

If that excites you, we would love to hear from you.

Responsible to: Headteacher

As Lead Teacher, you will play an active role in turning our educational model into consistently excellent everyday practice. Working alongside the Headteacher and colleagues, you will help shape and develop curriculum, teaching and learning and contribute to the continued development of the Pathways model.

​This will include taking ownership of agreed areas of school improvement; supporting the planning and development of high-quality curriculum and project-based learning; modelling strong practice; contributing to professional learning, coaching and reflective practice across the team; using learner experience, progress and evidence to identify where practice can be strengthened; and ensuring agreed developments move from ideas into effective implementation.

​Leadership at Pathways is not defined simply by hierarchy. We expect our Lead Teacher to create the conditions in which others can contribute, think and develop their practice, while also being prepared to provide appropriate professional challenge and maintain high expectations. You will work closely with the Headteacher, contribute to wider school decision-making and, where appropriate, represent Pathways Education with families, partners, employers and the wider Pathways Community Trust.

​As our model continues to develop, this role provides a genuine opportunity to influence what excellent Pathways education looks like, both within the school today and as PCT develops its work more widely.