Teacher of English in Lisburn

FULL TIME PERMANENT TEACHER OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM KEY STAGE 3 TO GCSE, TEACHER OF DRAMA to GCSE, TEACHER OF ENGLISH LITERATURE TO A LEVEL

General Information

The Wallace High School is a co-educational, voluntary grammar school founded in 1880. The annual intake of pupils into Year 8 is 170 and there are some 300 pupils in the Sixth Form. The school draws its pupils from Lisburn and the surrounding area.

About the Department

The Department consists of the Head of Department and 6 full time equivalent teachers. The school follows the CCEA specification for GCSE and A Level.

Main Responsibilities

• Be responsible to the Principal through the Head of English, for the effective teaching and learning of English Language, English Literature and Drama.
• Be expected to teach English Language, English Literature and Drama in accordance with school policies and practice, and in pursuit of high standards of pupil achievement.
• Act as Class Tutor to an assigned group and carry out duties in accordance with school policies and practice.
• Lead a subject specific extra-curricular activity such as Drama, Debating, Public Speaking or Creative Writing.
• Be expected to offer Literacy support sessions to identified students.

The above responsibilities are subject to the general duties and responsibilities contained in the statement of conditions of appointment. This job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post. It will be reviewed regularly and may be subject to modification or amendment at any time after due consideration. All teachers are expected to contribute to an extra-curricular activity throughout their career at Wallace.

Qualifications and Experience

Essential Criteria

• Have a good honours degree (2:1 minimum) in which English is a major component.
• Be a qualified teacher recognised by the Department of Education and GTCNI.

Desirable Criteria

• Have one year’s experience delivering English Language and Literature at GCSE Level for a continuous period.
• Have one year’s experience delivering A-level English Language and Literature for a continuous period.
• Can contribute to the extra-curricular life of the school in any of the following (Drama, Music, Sport).
• Have an additional graduate qualification related to English, i.e. a Master’s Level qualification and/or a doctorate.
• Have the ability to offer an additional curriculum subject at Key Stage 3.

The Board of Governors reserves the right to enhance the above criteria at shortlisting.

Applications

It is preferred that application forms are emailed to the Principal’s Personal Assistant, Mrs McDowell at recruit@wallacehigh.net. An acknowledgement will be sent by return of email. Applicants should ensure that they indicate clearly on their application form how they meet the criteria. The closing date for receipt of application forms is Thursday, 28 May 2026 at 12 midday.

In order to comply with DE guidelines on Child Protection shortlisted applicants should bring an original birth certificate and/or marriage certificate (if appropriate) plus photographic ID to their interview.

Pre-Employment AccessNI Check

It is an offence for an individual who is on either of the Department’s Lists (UP List and/or List 99), or who is the subject of a disqualification order from the courts, to apply for, or offer to do any work, paid or unpaid, in a regulated position. The successful applicant will be required to pay for their AccessNI Enhanced Disclosure Certificate; the amount of which will be refunded to the successful applicant in their first salary payment.

Extra-Curricular Activities

A broad education, we believe, values the academic progress of each individual but aims to complement it with an extensive range of extra-curricular activities. There is an impressive variety of flourishing clubs and societies which provide scope for personal development. They build in our young people a sense of responsibility, confidence and self-discipline.

• Art Club
• STEM Chemistry Club
• Chess Club
• Computing Related Clubs
• Debating Society
• Drama Club
• Book Club
• Horrible Histories Club
• Maths Challenge and Competitions
• Film Club
• Charity Committee
• Public Speaking
• Scripture Union
• Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme
• Young Enterprise
• Rotary Interact
• Technology Club
• First Tech Challenge
• UK Athletics
• Badminton
• Cricket
• Cross-Country
• Golf
• Hockey
• Netball
• Rugby
• Skiing
• Squash
• Swimming
• Tennis

Fair Employment and Treatment (NI) Order 1998 EQUAL OPPORTUNITY STATEMENT TO ALL EMPLOYEES

The policy of the Board of Governors is to provide equal opportunities for all job applicants and employees. All appointments and promotions are made on merit. The School does not directly or indirectly discriminate on grounds of religious belief, political opinion, race, gender, sexuality, marital status or disability.

To ensure that selection procedures are consistent and seen to be fair by all employees and job applicants, job descriptions and personnel specifications are used; the main duties and necessary requirements for any vacant post are clearly defined. All vacancies are advertised. All applicants are initially required to complete an application form which, where applicable, is accompanied by a request for a voluntary unsigned statement on community background for the collection of equal-opportunity data. This request form is not included as part of the formal application but is retained separately and has no influence on any employment decision.

Where short-listing is appropriate to the filling of the vacancy, interviews are offered on the basis of job-related criteria; written assessments, with reasons for acceptance or rejection, are retained for a period of one year on each individual interviewed.

The School maintains a neutral working environment in which no employee, pupil or visitor should feel embarrassed, threatened or intimidated because of his/her religious belief, political opinion, race, gender, sexuality, marital status or disability. The display by an employee or pupil of flags, emblems, posters or graffiti or the circulation of any material or any activity whatsoever likely to give offence or cause apprehension among particular groups is therefore prohibited. All members of the school, staff and pupils alike, are expected to contribute positively to the maintenance of good community relations.

Employment contracts make clear that any break of equal-opportunity practice is regarded as a disciplinary offence. The Board commits itself to keep under review the operation of its equal-opportunity policy, as specified in Article 55 of the Order, to take account of changing circumstances, adopting, where necessary, appropriate affirmative action measures to ensure the provision of equality of opportunity and fair participation for all sections of the community.