Head of English 

Full or Part-time hours available

Main or Upper Pay Range  £31,650 - £49,084 + TLR (£16,553)

Matthew Arnold is a thriving community school on the outskirts of Oxford looking to appoint a talented and inspirational Head of Department to lead our English Department in September 2025. This is an exciting opportunity for those looking to start or further develop their career.

Matthew Arnold is an oversubscribed, inclusive 11-18 school with over 1,300 pupils, serving both urban and rural communities across west Oxford. The school prides itself on high achievement and improving outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged students. This success has been driven by a focus on continuous staff development.
The school is part of the Acer Trust. All schools in the Trust collaborate to ensure each one is a great place to learn and work.

Job Purpose

The core purpose of the curriculum leader is to provide professional leadership and management for English to secure high quality teaching, effective use of resources and improved standards of learning and achievement for all students. These responsibilities are in addition to those set out in the National Standards for qualified teachers.

The Curriculum Leader of English  is responsible for the leadership and management of English from KS3 to A level and is line managed by a member of the Leadership Team.

Strategic direction and development of English 

• Within the context of the school’s aims and policies, to develop and implement policies and practices for English which reflect the school’s commitment to high achievement, effective teaching and learning;

• Create a climate which enables other staff to develop and maintain positive attitudes towards English and confidence in teaching them;

• Use data effectively to identify students who are underachieving in English and, where necessary, create and implement effective plans of action to support them;

• Establish, with the involvement of relevant staff, short, medium and long term plans for the development and resourcing of English ;

• Monitor the progress made in achieving subject plans and targets, evaluate the effects on teaching and learning and use this analysis to guide further improvement;

• Develop the curriculum to ensure that it is meeting the needs of all learners from years 7 to 13. 

Teaching and learning

• To be able to confidently teach English to students aged 11-18

• Contribute to the development of teaching and learning in the department by teaching consistently good, or better, lessons;

• Ensure that records of individual students’ progress are being maintained by all staff according to departmental and school policies;

• Ensure that schemes of work are being delivered appropriately and teachers are clear about the learning outcomes of lessons;

• Provide guidance on the choice of appropriate teaching and learning methods;

• Establish and implement clear policies for assessing, recording and reporting on student achievement;

• Evaluate the quality of teaching and standards of achievement, setting targets for improvement .

Leading and managing staff

•  Help staff through constructive working relationships with students and encourage an acceptance of accountability through team working and mutual support; devolving responsibilities and delegating Tasks, as appropriate;

•  Undertake the performance management of staff as required by school policy;

•  Audit the training needs of staff;

•  Lead the professional development of staff through example and support and co-ordinate the provision of high quality professional development by methods such as coaching;

•  Where necessary, set work for absent staff (our policy is for staff to email work to school where absent) and work with the leadership team where there are staff concerns;

•  Provide suitable induction for new staff and organise the role of mentorship within the department;

•  Hold regular departmental meetings with agenda and action points arising from each meeting;

•  Ensure that, through regular line management meetings, the Leadership Team is well informed about English  policies, plans and priorities; success in meeting targets, subject-related development plans

•  Apply all relevant HR policies in the management of staff within the department.

Efficient and effective development of staff and resources

• Keep accurate records of departmental stock, inventories and advise the Leadership Team on the resources and needs of the department;

• Liaise with the school timetablers on the deployment of staff;

• Allocate available resources with maximum efficiency to meet the objectives of the school and subject plans to achieve value for money;

• Use accommodation to create an effective and stimulating environment for the teaching and learning of the subject;

• Ensure there is a safe working environment in which risks are properly assessed.

We are looking for staff who:

• Want to be excellent practitioners in their subjects

• Can inspire other teachers to deliver excellent learning

• Want to keep learning and growing throughout their career

• Are committed to helping all our young people to be exceptional, well-qualified and well-rounded people who make a positive contribution to our school, our community and the world

What we will offer:

• Committed department teams with the autonomy to innovate, within an effective aligned approach to teaching

• Access to high quality CPD 

• A genuine commitment to staff wellbeing – wellbeing is a core value and staff wellbeing is one of our strategic priorities. We care about our staff as teachers and as people. 

  
  

If you would like to learn more about this post or arrange a visit, please contact Jeremiah Hayman at hrwest@acertrust.org.uk .  Please apply through My New Terms.