Teacher of Modern Foreign Languages: Spanish with French - 2 year contract

We seek to appoint an enthusiastic and dedicated teacher of Spanish with French to join the MFL team at Ricards Lodge High School for September 2026. This is an excellent opportunity to teach in a vibrant and outstanding department. We offer a rich, truly modern and evolving MFL curriculum. The successful applicant will be an inspirational teacher with the ability to plan and deliver outstanding lessons at all levels. They will be committed to promoting the highest standards, enjoy working as part of a team and be excited by the prospect of contributing to a dynamic and forward looking department. Teachers with EAL teaching experience or a TEFL background will be a particular asset to the team and we invite you to mention this in your statement if it is relevant to your experience.

What the school offers its staff:

• Wellbeing weeks and social events
• A laptop for all teaching staff
• Car parking on site
• Social staff area and work area for staff
• Access to Merton's Employee Assistance Programme including a new wellbeing app with instant access to free support for up to six weeks
• Collaborative approach to teaching and learning
• Merton Employee VDU users – possible to claim a fee towards glasses/eye test
• Annual season ticket travel loans are available

Further details about the role:

The Modern Languages Department at Ricards Lodge is well established, with a strong and successful team of 6 language specialists. We offer French, Spanish and German from KS3 to KS5. The MFL results for the last few years have been very pleasing, well above the national average and consistent across the whole ability range: In 2025, GCSE French scored 80% (9-4) and 29% (9-7); Spanish 73% (9-4) and 29% (9-7). At A Level, 100% (A‑D) in French and 100% (B‑C) Spanish. There is a suite of 6 teaching rooms, all equipped with interactive whiteboards and a departmental office on the same floor. The department is well resourced with a wide variety of textbooks, supplementary materials and audio‑visual equipment. We have access to a range of interactive resources, using Activelearn and Activehub digital platform with KS3 and KS4, and Kerboodle with KS5. We also use a number of online tools to engage and stimulate students' learning such as Sentencebuilders, Seneca, Kahoot, Quizlet, Flipgrid and Blooket. The schemes of work across both Key Stages are based on a curriculum progression road map with strong emphasis on formative and summative assessments. The department has embedded EFA strategies with great success. The curriculum is based on the 3 Language pillars: Grammar, Vocabulary and Phonics. Knowledge of language and skills are mapped on the 3 AQA themes and sub‑topics. Some skills are introduced from Year 7 such as translation and dictation, so that techniques are acquired as early as possible. Year 7 are also taught metalanguage to familiarise with word functions. At KS3, students have 5 × 1 hour lessons. Years 7 and 9 are taught in mixed ability groups and Year 9 in sets. At KS4, students have 5 × 1 hour lessons and are taught in ability groups. We follow the AQA syllabus, a full course and students are regularly assessed in the 4 skills in preparation for their final examination. We also enter students for Home Languages GCSE every year in more than 10 languages. A Level courses in all 3 languages at RR6 are run jointly with Rutlish School for boys.

Commitment to safeguarding:

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification; Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical; online and social media checks; prohibition from teaching; right to work; satisfactory references; suitability to work with children. You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.