Visiting Music Teacher – Piano (9-12 month Maternity Cover) in London

Job Type: Fixed Term 1 year Maternity Cover, Casual, Part Time, Mondays and Tuesdays

Salary: £40.37 per hour + holiday pay

Department: Music

Reporting to: Head of Keyboard

Location: Highgate Junior School

Start: January 2027

Closing Date: 16 November 2026 at 8:00 am

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced piano teacher to provide maternity cover in our thriving department from January 2027. The successful candidate would be teaching one-to-one piano lessons to pupils in the Junior school under a fixed-term contract that would last between 9 and 12 months. Lessons would be taught on a weekly basis on both Mondays and Tuesdays during term time. There may be occasional scope for flexibility.

The successful candidate will have a passion for teaching, an excellent knowledge of piano pedagogy, as well as specific experience in teaching children under the age of 11. You would be part of a vibrant piano community with opportunities for self-development through CPL events and engagement with like-minded colleagues.

Closing date for applications is Monday 16th November. Candidates selected for 1st round video interview will be informed by Wednesday 18th and required to submit their material by midnight on Friday 20th November. Second interviews will take place in person on Tuesday 24th November.

The Department Highgate has a long and distinguished musical tradition: former pupils include John Rutter CBE, Sir John Tavener, Howard Shelley OBE, Jan Latham-Koenig and Daniel Hope. The Senior School Music Department has its base in Dyne House at the heart of the School. The Senior School Music Department has three offices/teaching rooms for the full-time staff, twelve teaching/practice rooms, five classrooms (including an IT music suite and a keyboard room), and a recital/rehearsal room, as well as a 300-seater auditorium refitted with the latest technology in acoustic design. The Junior School Music Department consists of one department office for the full-time staff, two music classrooms and ten teaching/practice rooms.

What I love about the music department at Highgate is that it’s so diverse - we have musicians that play every different genre of music, and performance opportunities that embrace this. One day a pupil could be singing a Renaissance piece in a choir or playing the violin in the Chamber Orchestra and the next performing a Pop song at one of the open mic nights!

Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.

Pension | AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered – 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non-pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.

Personal development | Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.

Leisure facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).

Lunch | A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.

Help with sustainable travel | Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.

Family-friendly policies | Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks’ full pay, then 10 weeks’ half pay) and paid dependant leave.

Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.

Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.

We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount.

As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible – through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools.

We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham – an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.

Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.

As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change.

Closing Date: 16th November

Video Interviews: 20th November 2026

In Person Interviews: 24th November 2026

Contact: The Recruitment Team are happy to answer any questions about this post.

Early Application: Applications will be considered ‘as and when’ received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.

We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive.

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary.