Core Subject Leader for Key Stage 3 English

Nishkam Schools are Sikh schools with a multi‑faith ethos, offering a distinctive approach to faith‑based education. As a high‑performing multi‑academy trust serving communities across five cities, we operate through a virtues‑led model rooted in compassion, humility, service, contentment, optimism, trust, and forgiveness, which are lived daily through teaching, leadership, and relationships. We support pupils in exploring the divine context of humanity and learning from the wisdom of different faith traditions, encouraging them to recognise their capacity for unconditional good. We are equally committed to supporting both pupils and staff in developing their religious, spiritual, or human identity with humility, reflection, and a spirit of service.

Job Purpose

In addition to the professional duties of a Teacher, the Subject Leader will support the implementation and quality assurance of the curriculum. The role functions as a subject specialist, modelling excellence in the classroom and providing expertise to colleagues. The focus is on consistently delivering high standards and tactically improving pupil outcomes within your specific teaching groups.

Main Duties

• Curriculum Development & Ownership: Coordinate the implementation and sequencing of the curriculum within the subject area, ensuring a spiral of knowledge that supports pupil progress. Adapt and refine existing Schemes of Work and assessment frameworks to remain high‑quality, compliant with specifications, and intellectually challenging. Maintain a high‑quality bank of subject‑specific resources that aligns with the ‘Framework for Great Teaching’. Organise subject‑specific moderation exercises so internal assessment data reliably reflects pupil performance. Conduct regular work scrutinies and provide feedback to SLT on the impact of the curriculum. Support the administration of exam board requirements, ensuring accuracy and compliance with school processes. Integrate school‑wide literacy and numeracy strategies through expert delivery within your subject area. Contribute to the Departmental Improvement Plan by providing specialist feedback and leading small‑scale, classroom‑based projects.
• Pupil Outcomes: Monitor the progress and attainment of pupils within your specific subject cohorts, identifying trends and reporting findings to SLT. Implement agreed subject‑specific intervention strategies, tracking their impact on pupil outcomes. Collect evidence of curriculum impact (work samples and progress data) to support departmental reviews or external inspections. Coordinate subject‑specific clubs or “beyond the classroom” opportunities to enhance student engagement and cultural capital.
• Staff Management: Serve as a lead practitioner, providing a model of excellence in subject‑specific pedagogy for colleagues, ECTs, or non‑specialists. Offer specialist expertise and professional dialogue to help colleagues develop subject knowledge and classroom delivery. Provide high‑quality, pre‑sequenced materials for colleagues to use during staff absence to ensure continuity of learning. Share subject‑specific induction materials with new staff or trainees.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Lead subject‑specific events (exhibitions, performances, competitions) to raise the subject’s profile and promote it within the school. Support the options process by advising pupils and parents on the value and requirements of the subject.
• Safeguarding: Observe obligations under the Trust’s Child Protection Procedure and the Guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’, and report any concerns regarding a child’s or young person’s welfare.
• Compliance: Adhere to policies and procedures related to child protection, health, safety, security, confidentiality and data protection, reporting concerns appropriately.
• Equal Opportunities: Support and promote equal opportunities for all and embrace diversity.
• Conduct: Respect the ethos, policies and practices of the school, maintaining high standards of attendance and punctuality. Perform any reasonable duties requested by the headteacher.
• Training and Development: Review the effectiveness of teaching and assessment procedures and refine approaches with feedback. Improve teaching through participation in training and development opportunities identified by the school or outcome of appraisal. Engage proactively in arrangements set out in the Appraisal Regulations.
• Mobility: The jobholder may be required to transfer to any suitable role within the Trust as operationally needed.