Director of English in Cambridge

Coleridge Community College is a small, family and community orientated school in Cambridge. It’s a school where every child and staff member is known, developed and supported. We value our staff highly and treat workload seriously.

We are looking for someone that shares these values and passionately believes that all children can achieve, no matter their starting point, background or needs. The post holder will be required to work in partnership with the Principal to bring about continuous improvement of the school in order to ensure high standards of academic achievement for pupils, high quality teaching and learning experiences for pupils and high standards of behaviour in lessons and around the school.

You will be joining a school that is ambitious for its future as well as the future of all its students and so are looking for colleagues who share that ambition and are uncompromising in their commitment to doing what it takes to secure the potential of the young people here. Our most important purpose is to teach young people things they would not learn outside school which empower them. We believe that ‘Knowledge Is Power’. We have high expectations and standards, and we teach through explicit/direct instruction (using the Rosenshine Principles) and utilising TLAC 3.0 techniques. In this way, we achieve strong GCSE outcomes, excellent student conduct and a feeling of community throughout the College.

Our mission is to bring out ‘the best in everyone’. We are unashamedly ambitious for every child, no matter what their background, prior attainment or needs. We also believe in ‘Education with Character’ – we want young people to look back on a schooling that has inspired and challenged them, given them wide opportunity and prepared them for the ups and downs of life.

We are part of a cluster of schools within the United Learning group: The Galfrid School, Coleridge Community College, Trumpington Community College, Parkside Community College, and Cambridge Academy for Science and Technology. We embrace United Learning's aim to offer a life changing education to children and young people, and we work as a team to achieve more than any single school could. We share knowledge and resources within the cluster and the group to simplify work processes and manage workloads to achieve excellent results while improving work-life balance. As a cluster and as a group, we can look after our staff better.

United Learning is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All positions are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and shortlisted candidates will be subject to an online check.

Do you want to be part of a team on an exciting journey, where you will help make a lasting impact on our students, so they can lead successful and fulfilling lives? It really is an exciting time to join us and play a role in the transformational journey we are on.

Are you looking for Senior Leadership experience but want to retain your involvement in subject? Do you want to work in a forward-thinking school with high expectations of staff and students? Do you want to be part of the journey in a rapidly improving school?

Coleridge Community College is looking to appoint an inspirational and highly skilled Director of English that will be part of the Senior Leadership Team. You will take a leading role in driving improvement of the quality of teaching alongside strategic leadership and curriculum vision to raise standards within the department. We are looking for an excellent classroom practitioner with an exceptional understanding of curriculum design and experience of leading a highly successful curriculum area.

Additionally, the Director of English will have a whole school responsibility, which will be decided upon through the appointment process. The Director of English will lead, motivate and inspire students, staff, parents and the wider community, to ensure every student achieves well. We have ambitious plans for the future of Coleridge Community College and creating an academic ethos is at the centre of this.

We believe that our children deserve only the best quality staff and so we recruit carefully and invest in training to ensure continuous improvement and an excellent quality of education. Our mission is to bring out ‘the best in everyone’. Our most important purpose is to teach young people things they would not learn outside school which empower them. We believe that ‘Knowledge Is Power’. We believe in teaching through explicit/direct instruction (Rosenshine and Engelmann) and utilising Walkthru and TLAC 3.0 techniques. We are unapologetically ambitious for every child, no matter what their background, prior attainment or needs. We also believe in ‘Education with Character’ – we want young people to look back on a schooling that has inspired and challenged them, given them wide opportunity and prepared them for the ups and downs of life. We believe that our school will provide an excellent education for all students. We are looking for people that share this belief and passionately believe in doing what it takes to ensure that all children can achieve.

The school is part of United Learning, a large and growing group of schools aiming to offer a life changing education to children and young people across England. There are many benefits to working as part of United Learning – expert Subject Advisers, supportive Regional Directors and best of all over 50 excellent academies that we work with to improve each other. We encourage staff to visit other academies, “steal with pride” and bring the best practice back to our own schools.

As a Group, we can reward our staff better: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately, the satisfaction of helping children to succeed. We invest in our staff wellbeing. Our academies each have at least eight INSET days per year (with three of those solely dedicated to planning), and an ongoing group-wide wellbeing programme. It's an ethos we call ‘the best in everyone’.

We are working hard to become a more diverse organisation – which is key to our commitment to bringing out the best in everyone. We welcome applications from everyone committed to this ethos and would particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates, who are currently under-represented in the Group as a whole. We always appoint on merit, and we are open to discussing flexible working options.

United Learning is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All positions are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and shortlisted candidates will be subject to an online check.