Religious Studies Teacher

Full time and fixed term (one year)

Annual salary: Qualified teaching pay scale between M1 and UPS3 (£23,720 and £39,406)

Contract: 1 September 2019 until 31 August 2020

The Post

Canon Slade School are seeking to appoint a teacher of Religious Studies in this very popular and successful Church of England secondary school of 1,700 students (335 in the Sixth Form).  We welcome applications from both NQTs and experienced teachers who want to achieve amazing things with our great students in our oversubscribed 11-18 school.  Some of our students progress onto Oxford, Cambridge and other Russell Group universities each year as well as prestigious apprenticeships

We are looking for an enthusiastic and innovative team player with strong interpersonal skills and a commitment to achieving high standards within a successful department.  The candidate should be an excellent classroom practitioner, have enthusiasm for their subject and be capable of teaching Religious Studies at KS3 and KS4.  There could be the opportunity for a suitable candidate to also teach KS5.   A job description and person specification for this post are attached.  

The Department

Canon Slade Religious Studies department is a highly successful academic department. We pride ourselves on our team work, unity and professional support. The ethos of the department is founded upon fostering a unified workforce that cultivates well-being and togetherness. This atmosphere extends to the pupils that we teach in order that we as a subject area are able to inspire all of our students into an engaging learning journey throughout all Key Stages. A crucial part of this is the outstanding curriculum, delivered through excellent teaching and learning strategies, that promotes varied learning styles to reach all pupils.

Whilst being one of the largest RS departments in the country we have six designated RS classrooms with an abundance of subject specific resources and technology. The department is made up of six members of staff. This includes the Head of Department supported by a Second in department who oversees KS3.

At KS3 pupils learn about a broad range of religions and religious views in mixed ability groups.  At KS4 GCSE Religious Education is a compulsory core subject for all pupils. Pupils currently study Edexcel’s Specification B – Christianity and Islam.  We also have a large A-level cohort in Years 12 and 13 studying OCR’s A-level Religious Studies which is composed of Philosophy and Ethics and Developments in Christian thought. There could be opportunity for the appropriately qualified and experienced candidate to teach at A-level.

In our latest inspection we were judged to be Outstanding in all areas, comments from the inspector included:

“It (RE) has a record of outstanding academic success and contributes strongly to student’s spiritual development and the school’s distinctiveness.”

“The religious education (RE) department which achieves outstanding academic results and has a major positive influence on pupils’ attitudes and learning.”

Application information

If you are interested in applying, please use the Canon Slade application form which can be downloaded or accessed by clicking ‘apply now’.  This can be emailed to jobs@canon-slade.bolton.sch.uk or sent by post to the school address, marked for the attention of Mrs Karen Hood, HR Officer.  Please do not send CVs as they will not be considered.  Please also write a letter of no more than two sides of A4 to explain why you are the best candidate for this post and what you would contribute to our school, with examples from your recent work if possible.

We will acknowledge all applications by email.  If you do not hear from the school within two weeks of the closing date, then please assume that your application has been unsuccessful on this occasion. 

The school has an Equal Opportunities policy.  If you consider yourself to be disabled, please state the nature of the disability, giving details of how we can accommodate these needs should you be selected for interview and subsequently appointed.

In accordance with the Data Protection Act, the details provided in the application form will be used for selection and interview procedures, and for employment records if your application is successful.  Safer Recruitment practice will be followed at all times.

Selected candidates will be emailed (usually within 48 hours of the closing date) to invite them to interview.  Please note that referees will be contacted at this stage of the process.

Prior to taking up the appointment, the successful candidates will be asked to provide documentary evidence (including National Insurance number) showing their entitlement to work in the UK.  We will also carry out an enhanced DBS and declaration of health check.

Closing date: Monday 17 June 2019 at 12.00pm

Interview date:  Friday 21 June 2019