About the School

Kingsmead is a large, oversubscribed school that, despite serving a postcode in the top 20% most deprived parts of England: 

• Has an ambitious curriculum, with almost an almost exclusively GCSE KS4 and A Level KS5, aiming for 90% EBacc while also having a performing a visual arts specialism. 
• A track record of above average progress scores in spite of the challenge posed by such an ambitious curriculum. 
• Exceptional behaviour, with a consistent approach that combines explicit boundaries with the space to build relationships and support those children who need it. 
• A thoughtfully constructed wider school experience for the children, with an ambitious combination of clubs, trips, careers guidance and wider enrichment. 

English at Kingsmead School and Sixth Form

The English department at Kingsmead is pupil-centred and the curriculum we teach is thematically built in order to best support our students in finding, keeping and growing their love of our subject and achieving their best possible academic outcomes within it.

Within the context of our large and diverse secondary school and sixth form, the English curriculum at Kingsmead is built around the themes of culture and identity in Year 7, ideas about hierarchy in Year 8 and gender in Year 9. Through these themes, our children read and write both fiction and non-fiction texts, finding themselves and their community within them. In continuation of this approach at Key Stage 4, Year 10 students study and enjoy the new AQA Worlds and Lives poetry anthology and return to ideas of gender and hierarchy through their study of Macbeth, Jekyll and Hyde and An Inspector Calls and at Key Stage 5 our students are offered two routes – Language and Literature combined or Literature.

Students make strong progress in English at Kingsmead. Last summer’s GCSE results were our strongest ever, as 73% of children achieved a grade 4 or higher in English Language and 81% of children achieved the same in Literature.

The department is comprised of 13 members of hard-working and dedicated staff who believe, absolutely, in the ability of every child to succeed in our subject and who arrive at every lesson, each week, full of passion for the subject we teach. 

The school reserves the right to close this vacancy early if a suitable candidate is found prior to the deadline date for applications, therefore it is strongly advised that all applications are made early.