Teacher of Spanish

Start Date: September 2022 (Applications considered for start dates up to January 2023).

Denstone College is now seeking to appoint an outstanding teacher of Spanish to contribute to the delivery of this subject across all year groups and abilities. This position is available for a September 2022 start (or as soon afterwards as is possible). 

The Spanish Department currently comprises three full-time language teachers. It is led by the Head of Spanish, who works closely with the Head of French on matters relating to overall MFL provision within the College. The successful candidate will be able to inspire pupils to develop their interest in Spanish and, where appropriate, to continue the language to GCSE and beyond. The ideal candidate will possess strong classroom management skills and an excellent understanding of both the grammar and topic-specific vocabulary taught at GCSE and A level, alongside the personal skills necessary to promote languages across the College and drive pupil progress in this area.

All MFL teaching is housed in the ‘Derbyshire’ Building (opened in 2017), where teachers enjoy having their own classroom with smartboard technology and a bank of departmental devices available for lesson use. This building represents the start of the College’s updated IT strategy, aimed at enhancing the use of appropriate IT across all subjects, and the successful candidate will have the vision and enthusiasm to drive this, and other teaching and learning initiatives across the department. 

Spanish and French are both taught from First Form (Year 7). At the end of Third Form (Year 9) pupils have the option to study either or both languages to GCSE. In Spanish, the department uses Mira Express, in Second and Third Form, an accelerated course that ensures that basic grammar and topics are covered in preparation for GCSE. Most pupils study at least one foreign language to GCSE and the school now uses the AQA GCSE specifications for both languages. Spanish enjoys enormous popularity across the school, with typically around 60 pupils opting to study GCSE Spanish and good numbers (10-20 students) each year at A Level. Results are consistently excellent, with nearly 30% of GCSE entries gaining a grade 8 or 9 over the past two years and 60% resulting in at least a grade 6. 41% of A Level candidates have secured an A or A* grade since 2017 and 97% have achieved a C grade, with a number of Sixth Form students choosing to continue the subject into Higher education in recent years. Alongside our own pupils the College occasionally accepts a small number of pupils from a local maintained Sixth Form College into both Spanish and French sets.

Outside the classroom the department offers various extra-curricular activity clubs including Spanish advanced conversation classes and “La Liga” Spanish club. There are also annual educational visits abroad planned for GCSE and A Level pupils.

The successful candidate can expect to teach up to 27 periods per week (each lesson is 40 minutes in duration), with an additional 2 periods set aside for supervising prep sessions. Teaching will be across Key Stage 3 and GCSE, with some involvement in the popular A Level Spanish course possible for the appropriate candidate. There is also the possibility of some teaching within the College’s Prep division. Full time staff are expected to act as tutors within the College’s House system, and a commitment to the extensive programme of activities and/or sport at the College will also be welcome. Life at Denstone is busy but rewarding!