Head of English
Wetherby Pembridge
Olympia, London
- Salary:
- Salary in line with top independent schools in London.
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- September 2025
- Apply by:
- 19 January 2025
Job overview
Inspired Education is the leading global group of premium schools, with a portfolio of over 119 premium private schools spanning six continents which utilise proven educational practices, ensuring over 90,000 students receive a world-class learning experience from Kindergarten to Year 13.
In over 25 countries, Inspired schools are individually developed and anchored in the vibrant cultures of their respective locations. They collectively form an international family of schools that nurtures each student's academic and personal development in a progressive, dynamic, and innovative learning environment.
By joining our award-winning team of over 13,000 employees, you can work in state-of-the-art facilities alongside industry-renowned educators and leaders in some of the world's most desirable locations. We invest heavily in our team members who enjoy industry-leading professional development, exceptional career opportunities, and mobility across our group.
The School:
Wetherby Pembridge is the latest demonstration of Inspired's commitment to providing the highest academic excellence, curriculum rigour, extensive premium co-curricular facilities, and the very best support in accessing the top universities in the world.
This exceptional co-educational senior school will open in Olympia, London in September 2025 and will enable students to gain access to Inspired’s global best practices in teaching and learning, as well as global exchange and summer camp programmes, providing students with even more opportunities to transform and broaden their horizons.
The school will build on the academic success and heritage of our Wetherby and Pembridge Hall Pre-Prep and Prep Schools. Wetherby Pembridge will provide a premium, academic senior school pathway for students who are looking for an academically excellent, London co-educational senior school.
The school will feature state-of-the-art learning environments with future-ready classrooms and labs, a library with an eight-floor glass atrium, professional-standard theatre facilities, STEAM Maker Spaces using the latest AI and VR technology, a vibrant Creative and Performing Arts programme and outstanding provision for sport both onsite and nearby.
The Role:
We are delighted to welcome applications from outstanding, dynamic and suitably experienced individuals for the role of Head of English, to be in post ready for the school opening in September 2025. This is a rare opportunity for the right candidate to work with the Founding Leadership Team to develop a world-class, innovative whole-school English curriculum from the ground up. The successful candidate will have responsibility for all aspects of both curricular and super-curricular English in the school, and will have considerable autonomy in developing an innovative, ambitious and comprehensive provision for this exciting new chapter in the Wetherby Pembridge journey.
The key responsibilities of the role include:
- Being responsible to the Deputy Head (Academic) for all aspects of English provision within the school
- Developing a robust and innovative English curriculum, which will serve to inspire and motivate academically able, intellectually curious students while also ensuring that they are thoroughly prepared for public examinations
- Developing comprehensive associated Schemes of Work
- Line managing all teaching staff within the English Department
- Developing and annually updating the departmental handbook
- Taking responsibility for standards of teaching and learning within the English Department, including conducting regular lesson observations
- Organising and chairing regular departmental meetings and playing an active role in meetings of Heads of Department
- Assisting the Headmaster and Deputy Head (Academic) with the shortlisting, interviewing and appointment of teaching staff as required
- Ensuring the provision of a comprehensive super-curricular offering from the English Department, and fostering a culture in which broad and regular super-curricular engagement is a routine aspect of student life
- Teaching an appropriate period allocation of English, including the preparation of classes for public examinations; there may be some opportunity to teach Drama for suitably qualified candidates
- Creating annually a departmental timetable that ensures an appropriate and equitable spread of teaching across the Department
- Overseeing and promoting a culture of Continuing Professional Development within the Department
- Working with the Admissions Department to develop and mark assessment papers for candidates for entry to the school via the standard entry route and via Scholarship
- Working closely with the SENDCo and with the Admissions Department to ensure that appropriate provision is made both in entry assessment and in the Department’s Schemes of Work for candidates and students with additional needs
- Liaising with the Examinations Officer to ensure that all public examination entries are made correctly and in a timely manner
- Arranging for the setting and marking of internal examinations as required
- Taking overall responsibility for the departmental budget
- Leading on ensuring that the English Department is routinely an organised, tidy and inspiring learning environment
- Liaising with the Director of Performing Arts and others as appropriate to develop and support Community Partnership opportunities
The ideal candidate will have:
- PGCE, QTS or equivalent with strong academic credentials, including a minimum of a Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university
- Significant experience of delivering outstanding English provision in a high-performing school environment
- Ideally, current experience as a Head of English or Second in Department in a high-performing school
- The ability to teach English Literature to A Level and English Language and Literature to GCSE
- The resilience, drive, strength of character and sense of both humour and perspective to thrive in a fast-paced, demanding and ambitious environment
Safeguarding:
Inspired Education Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, volunteers and other third parties to share this commitment. Safer recruitment practices and pre-employment background checks will be undertaken before any appointment is confirmed.
About Wetherby Pembridge
Welcome to Wetherby Pembridge School
Wetherby Pembridge builds on the renowned academic legacy of the Wetherby and Pembridge Hall schools to ensure students achieve their most ambitious future plans and gain access to the very best universities in the world.
As part of Inspired’s global education group, Wetherby Pembridge students benefit from shared best practices and meaningful global connectivity with 119 of the world’s best schools, educating 85,000 students across 6 continents. This unique combination of proven track records both locally and from all around the world is setting a refreshing new standard for education in the competitive heart of London, embracing the individuality of every student, and preparing the leaders of the future.
Wetherby Pembridge, like each school in the Inspired group, remains firmly anchored in its unique cultural context, delivering the most outstanding senior school learning in London to enable the very best university progression. Inspired schools share a commitment to the highest standards and consistently guide learners to success in the classroom, onstage and on the sports field. The Three Pillars of an Inspired Education – Academics, Performing and Creative Arts and Sport – are essential to Wetherby Pembridge’s vision and unlocking every student’s full potential.
Our innovative and future-ready senior school sets the standard for senior school education, combining modern, purpose-built settings and exceptional resources to promote academic, sporting and creative excellence. Located in the bustling heart of Olympia, Central London, our school affords access to exciting cultural experiences and opportunities at the recently redeveloped Olympia Events exhibition centre and unparalleled transport connectivity via Kensington (Olympia) station on our doorstep.
Lower School
Our Lower School at Wetherby Pembridge offers gold-standard holistic education for boys and girls in a premium, purpose-built setting with the best resources. We equip learners with outstanding academic skills and the deepest knowledge to ensure personal success at GCSE and A Level.
Our world-class Lower School programme delivers excellent outcomes by combining the best teaching with a tailored, rigorously academic core curriculum. Lessons are carefully planned to ensure every student makes exceptional progress, elevated by our modern, state-of-the-art learning facilities.
Throughout the Lower School, students are challenged, nurtured and inspired to expand their abilities through a broad, enriching co-curricular programme, that caters to all interests and is led by professionals across our three pillars of academics, sport and performing arts – and beyond. An extensive club offering provides students with additional avenues for development and promotes in-demand skills in areas such as coding and languages.
From their first day in the Lower School, learners are taught to dream big and work hard to achieve their highest ambitions. They emerge confident, resilient and independent, with a thirst for knowledge and the drive to unleash their full potential.
Middle School
The Middle School is an exciting and stimulating time for our students as they embark on the GCSE curriculum. Despite being academically rigorous, our GCSE programme is enjoyable and inspiring as students begin to take greater responsibility for their studies while striving to achieve their highest ambitions.
Our GCSE offer provides students with a pathway to exceptional academic achievement. Lessons are meticulously crafted and delivered by outstanding teachers to ensure the highest outcomes in the GCSE examinations and a smooth transition into Sixth Form.
An exemplary co-curricular programme inspires, challenges and encourages each learner to extend their abilities, develop valuable skills and cultivate their personal interests across exciting disciplines.
Our students complete their GCSEs with a strong sense of independence, resilience, confidence and self-understanding, fully prepared for their future studies and a lifetime of unlimited opportunities.
Sixth Form
Sixth Form is the pinnacle of our students’ educational journey. It is a time when, with expert guidance from our dedicated teaching staff, they explore personalised programmes that reflect their unique characters and guide them to achieve their highest aspirations, including admission into the leading universities worldwide.
Outstanding academic provision with tailored, individual support prepares students to excel in their chosen A-Level courses, set high standards, and unlock their full potential.
Learners develop their abilities outside the classroom by exploring a diverse and highly stimulating student enrichment programme, which cultivates excellence in a wide variety of exciting disciplines and provides the tools for future accomplishment.
Upon graduating from Wetherby Pembridge, students are well-equipped to thrive in any field they choose to pursue, having garnered the most in-demand skills, strong personal qualities and a mindset geared towards success.
A message from our Headmaster
Welcome to Wetherby Pembridge! Thank you for your interest in our unique school. Building on the rich heritage of Wetherby and Pembridge Hall Schools, Wetherby Pembridge brings the very best in academically selective, co-educational secondary day education to the heart of London. Opening its doors to the first cohort of pupils in September 2025, Wetherby Pembridge will offer a rigorously academic programme that nurtures independent, resilient, adaptable students and ensures they are ideally prepared for entry to the world’s leading universities. Housed in brand-new, purpose build accommodation in Olympia, the school combines outstanding academic provision in inspiring, state-of-the-art teaching spaces, with first-rate pastoral care and an extensive co-curricular programme that benefits from world-class facilities.
People and community - staff, students, parents, alumni - are at the very heart of what makes Wetherby Pembridge truly special. Taking our values of Kindness, Respect, Resilience and Ambition as the lens through which we view every decision, every interaction, every choice, we build a culture in which our values as a community are truly embedded, and which provides our students with a clear and consistent framework for their future lives. Alongside our rigorous and demanding academic programme, we place a strong emphasis on developing the skills, character, adaptability and sense of service that will equip our students to be the leaders and changemakers of the future, people who will be a positive influence on the communities and organisations of which they will be a part.
Working at Wetherby Pembridge is a rare opportunity to be part of something truly special; to play a pivotal role in building a community, establishing a culture and embedding values from the outset. Teachers at Wetherby Pembridge are not just experts in their field, they are passionate about their subject and excited about the opportunity to play a part in crafting and delivering a genuinely world-class academic programme. Moreover, teachers at Wetherby Pembridge believe that schools should be places of joy. They believe in nurturing and challenging students every day to be the best and most authentic versions of themselves, and are committed to the fundamental importance of pastoral care and a robust co-curriculum to developing character and resilience in our students.
Nick Page
Further details on our school can be found on our website: Wetherby Pembridge
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