The Quality First Education (Q1E) Trust seeks strong primary class teachers who share our vision of an excellent education for all.  We recruit as a Trust, so there are multiple positions available across our five schools. 

We welcome Early Career Teachers (ECTs) and we think our trust is a really great place to start a teaching career.

“I haven’t come across any  other Trusts offering this level of  training and it’s made me feel like I’m  in good hands at the start of my new career.” (Q1E Early Career Teacher)

The Alton School is a one form entry inclusive primary school, right next to Richmond Park in southwest London. It has have extensive facilities that offer children a wide array of fantastic, vibrant and diverse opportunities.

The Alton team works hard to ensure the children love learning, enjoy school and develop self-esteem so they feel safe and understand their uniqueness and ability to make a difference in their own lives and the lives of others. The Alton is also home to a Resource Base for children with autism and associated learning difficulties. 

Ofsted (2025) say:

• A happy and inclusive place that fosters development and well-being. Pupils are confident, considerate of their peers, and polite.
• Pupils make a strong start to their education. They rise to meet high expectations and achieve well across the curriculum. 
• The school makes a considerable contribution to supporting staff with their workload. Leaders have streamlined processes enabling staff to focus on the delivery of the curriculum. Staff appreciate that they get to work collaboratively with colleagues from other schools within the trust.

The Alton is part of our primary-only Trust of five schools in London, with a vision of an excellent education for all. We pride ourselves on our 'quality first' provision, for our children, staff, and schools.

At Q1E, we believe that ‘the quality of an education system (or school) cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” (McKinsey 2007). We provide excellent opportunities for class teachers, with outstanding professional development and support from the outset.

We ensure our teachers have the resources they need to do an excellent job, supported by a high quality, well sequenced curriculum. We provide you with plans for all lessons, in all core and foundation subjects.

If you are new to teaching, you will be supported every step of the way. We are very proud of the support we provide for Early Career Teachers, starting with a paid three-week induction programme in July.

Our staff and schools are supported by great leaders, as well as our central team who provide ongoing pedagogical support and training.

“Staff across the Trust’s schools work together to plan their teaching. This sharing of expertise and resources is of much benefit to pupils and keeps staff workload manageable.”  (Ofsted).

Our trust is big enough to have excellent support and resources, and a great network of colleagues to work with and learn from - but small enough for colleagues to know each other really well, and provide bespoke support.

Your application 

We recruit every year for new teachers to join us in September. Recruitment is open and ongoing until positions are filled., but to be included in our first round of shortlisting, please apply by midday on Monday 5th January 2026. We encourage an early response, as applications are shortlisted regularly.

We recruit as a Trust, so there are multiple positions available, but your placement at a school will be agreed in discussion with you. In your personal statement, it would really help us if you can indicate which of our five schools you are interested in (it may be all of them!). We review applications at Trust level and then share them with our school teams. 

Download our teacher recruitment brochure to find out more about teaching with us.