Head of English
| Posting date: | 02 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 12 January 2026 |
| Location: | Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 2AU |
| Company: | Teaching Vacancies |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 4015c71f-ed43-41a3-bd37-cb29147d2265 |
Summary
What skills and experience we're looking for
English at Helena Romanes School:
The English and Media Faculty at Helena Romanes School is a high-performing department with a proven track record of delivering strong academic outcomes for its students. We maintain a clear ethos of high standards, expecting and fostering hard work, resilience, and ambition in the classroom. This success is underpinned by an expert team possessing a wealth of collective experience, which is actively utilized for robust, in-house Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and continuous departmental improvement. Furthermore, the team is integral to promoting strong literacy skills across the curriculum and fostering a genuine love of English through engaging initiatives, including theatre trips, book swaps, and reading challenges.
The faculty's curriculum is challenging and meticulously planned across all key stages, utilizing AQA specifications for our core courses. At GCSE, both English Language and English Literature are taught in mixed ability groupings. Our Literature texts of choice are established classics including Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, and the 'Power & Conflict' poetry cluster. This focus on rigour yields excellent results, as demonstrated by the 2025 GCSE English Language outcomes where 74% of students achieved Grade 4 or above, and almost 20% achieved the top Grades 7-9.
At Key Stage 5 (A Level), we offer the successful AQA combined English Language and Literature course, featuring stimulating texts such as The Handmaid’s Tale, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Kite Runner. Looking ahead, we are excited to introduce the OCR English Literature course in 2026 to further broaden student choice and academic depth. The faculty also leads a successful and growing Media Studies programme spanning from Year 9 through to successful GCSE and A Level uptake, adding a vibrant and popular dimension to our provision.
Successful candidate profile:
• Exceptional Curriculum Leader and Subject Expert: Proven ability to lead the strategic development and delivery of a challenging English curriculum across KS3, KS4 (AQA), and KS5, including an awareness of contemporary educational shifts (e.g., the introduction of OCR at A Level).
• Inspirational Classroom Practitioner: A highly effective teacher with a track record of implementing high-quality teaching and learning strategies that significantly raise achievement and maintain an ethos of hard work, resilience, and ambition (evidenced by strong outcomes like the 74% Grade 4+ at GCSE).
• Collaborative and Developmental Coach: Skilled in utilizing the team's collective wealth of experience to drive robust, in-house CPD and foster a culture of professional growth and high standards among colleagues.
• Visionary for Literacy and Enrichment: Ability to champion the importance of literacy across the curriculum and lead engaging enrichment initiatives (theatre trips, book swaps) that successfully foster a genuine love of English among students.
• Effective Faculty Manager: Proven capability to successfully oversee and develop the broader faculty provision, including leading the popular and growing Media Studies programme alongside the core English curriculum.
What the school offers its staff
Benefits from working at Helena Romanes School include:
• The school is a popular and successful all through comprehensive situated in the beautiful North Essex countryside with good communication links to London and the South East and is approximately 7 miles from Stansted Airport.
• The school is currently located adjacent to the town’s leisure centre, of which we receive a discounted membership, and we have ample on-site parking.
• We are proud to offer our staff a 50% discount on wraparound care for their children in the primary school, helping to support work-life balance. This benefit provides significant savings on before and after school care for children, ensuring that our team can feel confident and supported both at work and at home.
• Our Staff benefit from an Employee Assistance Programme, delivered by Education Support.
This is an exciting time to join the school:
• It is confirmed that Bowmer & Kirkland will commence our new school building shortly, funded by the Department for Education. This building will be to the highest specification with brand new equipment and a fully resourced technology area. The school is set to open to the primary phase in 2026 and the secondary and sixth form phase shortly after.
• Helena Romanes has also made excellent progress with the support of Saffron Academy Trust towards being judged by Ofsted as a Good school (Oct 2023). Working with the talented senior leadership team that is in place across all phases of the school, and drawing on the commitment from staff to provide the best possible outcomes for the pupils.
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), medical, online and social media, prohibition from teaching, right to work, satisfactory references, suitability to work with children. You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
English at Helena Romanes School:
The English and Media Faculty at Helena Romanes School is a high-performing department with a proven track record of delivering strong academic outcomes for its students. We maintain a clear ethos of high standards, expecting and fostering hard work, resilience, and ambition in the classroom. This success is underpinned by an expert team possessing a wealth of collective experience, which is actively utilized for robust, in-house Continuing Professional Development (CPD) and continuous departmental improvement. Furthermore, the team is integral to promoting strong literacy skills across the curriculum and fostering a genuine love of English through engaging initiatives, including theatre trips, book swaps, and reading challenges.
The faculty's curriculum is challenging and meticulously planned across all key stages, utilizing AQA specifications for our core courses. At GCSE, both English Language and English Literature are taught in mixed ability groupings. Our Literature texts of choice are established classics including Macbeth, A Christmas Carol, An Inspector Calls, and the 'Power & Conflict' poetry cluster. This focus on rigour yields excellent results, as demonstrated by the 2025 GCSE English Language outcomes where 74% of students achieved Grade 4 or above, and almost 20% achieved the top Grades 7-9.
At Key Stage 5 (A Level), we offer the successful AQA combined English Language and Literature course, featuring stimulating texts such as The Handmaid’s Tale, A Streetcar Named Desire, and The Kite Runner. Looking ahead, we are excited to introduce the OCR English Literature course in 2026 to further broaden student choice and academic depth. The faculty also leads a successful and growing Media Studies programme spanning from Year 9 through to successful GCSE and A Level uptake, adding a vibrant and popular dimension to our provision.
Successful candidate profile:
• Exceptional Curriculum Leader and Subject Expert: Proven ability to lead the strategic development and delivery of a challenging English curriculum across KS3, KS4 (AQA), and KS5, including an awareness of contemporary educational shifts (e.g., the introduction of OCR at A Level).
• Inspirational Classroom Practitioner: A highly effective teacher with a track record of implementing high-quality teaching and learning strategies that significantly raise achievement and maintain an ethos of hard work, resilience, and ambition (evidenced by strong outcomes like the 74% Grade 4+ at GCSE).
• Collaborative and Developmental Coach: Skilled in utilizing the team's collective wealth of experience to drive robust, in-house CPD and foster a culture of professional growth and high standards among colleagues.
• Visionary for Literacy and Enrichment: Ability to champion the importance of literacy across the curriculum and lead engaging enrichment initiatives (theatre trips, book swaps) that successfully foster a genuine love of English among students.
• Effective Faculty Manager: Proven capability to successfully oversee and develop the broader faculty provision, including leading the popular and growing Media Studies programme alongside the core English curriculum.
What the school offers its staff
Benefits from working at Helena Romanes School include:
• The school is a popular and successful all through comprehensive situated in the beautiful North Essex countryside with good communication links to London and the South East and is approximately 7 miles from Stansted Airport.
• The school is currently located adjacent to the town’s leisure centre, of which we receive a discounted membership, and we have ample on-site parking.
• We are proud to offer our staff a 50% discount on wraparound care for their children in the primary school, helping to support work-life balance. This benefit provides significant savings on before and after school care for children, ensuring that our team can feel confident and supported both at work and at home.
• Our Staff benefit from an Employee Assistance Programme, delivered by Education Support.
This is an exciting time to join the school:
• It is confirmed that Bowmer & Kirkland will commence our new school building shortly, funded by the Department for Education. This building will be to the highest specification with brand new equipment and a fully resourced technology area. The school is set to open to the primary phase in 2026 and the secondary and sixth form phase shortly after.
• Helena Romanes has also made excellent progress with the support of Saffron Academy Trust towards being judged by Ofsted as a Good school (Oct 2023). Working with the talented senior leadership team that is in place across all phases of the school, and drawing on the commitment from staff to provide the best possible outcomes for the pupils.
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), medical, online and social media, prohibition from teaching, right to work, satisfactory references, suitability to work with children. You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.