Brightwell cum Sotwell CofE Primary School

Brightwell-cum-Sotwell is in many ways the ideal English village. It is a peaceful place with many thatched cottages, a duck pond and the pubs halls and churches that are the hallmarks of rural life in this part of the world. It is near the historic market town of Wallingford, which is a small and traditional market town with lots of quaint buildings, situated on the banks of a particularly pretty stretch of the Thames.

Oxford is a great city to spend time in and is only about 15 miles away, as is Reading. Didcot Parkway, which is ten minutes from Brightwell, links these communities by rail. From there it is only 45 minutes to London by train. The quality of life in the area is very high indeed, being a pleasant combination of a rural setting close to such different towns, as well as the capital.

The school

Brightwell is a small village school of around 100 children serving a community of families that are aspirant, care about education and who bring their children up well. Behaviour and manners in the school are very good indeed. It is a school where really good teachers can take risks in lessons that children appreciate and make work.

The school has decided to become an academy this summer and has begun to work with a very strong and popular 11-18 school in Wallingford. The headteacher of Brightwell was previously Deputy Head at Wallingford and has gradually picked up the role while being mentored by an experienced and very able serving primary head.

We recognise that we need very talented people, who are ambitious for the children they work with as well as themselves, to help make this into the best little school around and that comes with significant investment. 

We believe the successful applicants will look back on this as the crucial stage in a very successful career indeed. Not just a happy part of their career but the place where a small school helped develop the skills and understanding of the profession that enables them to build a very successful career in teaching.