Teacher of History

This is an exciting opportunity for a suitably qualified candidate to apply for the position of Teacher of History at Longsands Academy, to teach throughout the age and ability range in our thriving department from 1st September 2023. An ability to teach politics and/or classics would be an advantage.  

The History department has a strong track record of good results, and excellent uptake at GCSE and A Level. The department also runs GCSE Latin, A Level Classical Civilisation and A Level Politics; teaching of these subjects may be available for a suitably qualified candidate. The department of six is a strong team, who have worked successfully to hone and develop the teaching of History in the school.  

Applicants must be innovative and energetic. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and enthusiastic classroom practitioner to make a real difference. The role could be suitable for an experienced Teacher or an ECT. Longsands Academy has a strong track record of supporting and retaining ECTs by ensuring excellent mentoring; there are also many opportunities for involvement in wider school activities.     

Longsands Academy is an 11-18 fully-inclusive secondary school serving the community of St Neots and the surrounding area. The academy has around 1750 students including 250 in the Sixth Form. Longsands is proud of its inclusive and aspirational approach, whether that is in supporting students preparing for Oxbridge or working with students with special educational needs. We are ambitious for every child, no matter their background or circumstance, prior attainment or needs. The academy also has a strong track record of supporting of staff by ensuring excellent mentoring, a supportive culture and many opportunities for development and involvement in wider school activities. 

We are committed to a knowledge-rich curriculum and a traditional approach to teaching, behaviour and culture. We believe that schools must teach powerful knowledge, ’the best that has been thought and said’ and an ‘entitlement curriculum’ for all. We believe in explicit instruction and have been greatly influenced by Lemov’s ‘Teach Like A Champion’, Rosenshine and recent developments in cognitive science. We believe that the creation of a scholarly culture that is warm and strict, disciplined and joyful, where there is ‘purpose not power’, ensuring impeccable behaviour, where teachers can focus on teaching and pupils can focus on learning, underpins everything. 

We are values-driven and our vision is to provide an inclusive, aspirational and academic education for all our students, so that all of them will learn, thrive and lead successful lives. We are unapologetically ambitious for every child, no matter what their background, prior attainment or needs. We want to ensure that all our students have the option to be able to go to university or aspirational alternative. We are not going to reduce expectations because of a child’s background or home life, or because they are new to English or have a special education need. In fact, the opposite is true. It is our job to redouble our efforts to help children overcome these barriers so that they can flourish. 

We value our staff highly and treat workload very seriously. Our systems are high leverage, ensuring you can really focus on your core purpose – teaching, in a sustainable way, unhindered by bureaucracy or poor behaviour. 

What we offer: 

• A large, fully-staffed, experienced department that is well resourced 
• Huge support and professional progression opportunities 
• A knowledge-rich curriculum, built on ‘powerful knowledge’ and a traditional T&L approach built around Rosenshine and TLAC 
• Collaborative planning with centralised, shared units of work and resources 
• An excellent curriculum and resources, supported by the Astrea National Lead for History. 
• Opportunity to teach from KS3 up to A Level 
• A feedback policy focused on whole class feedback – no onerous marking policies 
• Disruption-free learning  
• Highly visible/supportive senior leaders who will support you 
• Centralised detentions, including homework detentions 
• No formal graded lesson observations – just ongoing ‘no-stakes’ instructional coaching, helping you to continuously develop our practice 
• Excellent CPD, career development and promotion opportunities across the Astrea Cambridgeshire region 
• Opportunity to complete NPQs  
• An unrivalled professional progression model 

The successful candidate will be: 

• A highly effective History teacher. 
• Aligned to our values and mission. If you are the type of person who fits with our culture, you will love working here; 
• Someone who passionately believes that all children can achieve, no matter what their starting point, background or needs. Someone that does not make excuses for what children can achieve. 

Interested in applying? 

If this is something you are interested in, looking for a new challenge, have a passion for education or maybe all of the above, take a look at the Applicant Brief to find out more about the role and how to apply. 

We actively welcome visits and would be delighted to show you around our academy to appreciate fully our learning environment. 

Astrea Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All posts are subject to satisfactory background checks including references and enhanced DBS checks. 

If you would like to understand more about the role, please do contact the Head of Classics, History and Politics at Johnathan.Wayman@astrea-longsands.org.