Lead Practitioner

Wembley High Technology College; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Professional development

NPQ programmes

Structured training

Job summary

Wembley High Technology College in Greater London is seeking a reflective Lead Practitioner in English to extend students' engagement with literature, writing and oracy beyond the classroom and to mentor trainee and early-career teachers. You will model exemplary practice and contribute to a culture of reflective, collaborative improvement within a professional Trust.

You will lead department development, coordinate assessments, and champion co‑curricular opportunities while supporting staff

Qualifications

• Qualified teacher with QTS and English specialism.
• Experience leading English department or provision.
• Experience mentoring trainee teachers.
• Ability to develop co-curricular English and enrichment opportunities.

Responsibilities

• Mentor trainee and early-career English teachers.
• Model exemplary practice and support reflective improvement.
• Lead assessment and data analysis to track student progress.
• Coordinate co-curricular enrichment and English clubs/societies.
• Support Oxbridge and university applications where relevant.
• Collaborate with Leadership Group to drive department improvement.

Skills

Mentoring

English teaching

Assessment data analysis

Co-curricular leadership

Inclusion & SEND

Education

QTS (Qualified Teacher Status)

Bachelor's degree in English or Education

Job description

A key aspect of the role will be to enhance the co-curricular offer in English, helping to extend students' engagement with literature, writing and oracy beyond the classroom. The Lead Practitioner will also play a central role in mentoring and supporting trainee and early-career English teachers, modelling exemplary practice and contributing to a strong culture of reflective, collaborative improvement. This is an exciting opportunity for a reflective, inspirational practitioner to influence teaching and learning at scale, working within a highly professional department and a school that values expertise, collaboration and continual improvement. Professional Development Through the Training School Hub, leaders at all levels of the Trust benefit from exceptional professional development, including fully-funded, DfE-accredited NPQ programmes. These gold-standard qualifications empower our leaders to grow, drive change and make a meaningful impact within their departments and across the Trust. If you are excited by the prospect of shaping the next generation of digital thinkers and innovators, and you enjoy working within a culture of high aspiration and shared best practice, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Why Join Us

We welcome applications from qualified teachers. All teachers at Wembley High receive a comprehensive, structured training programme, delivered by highly trained mentors and bespoke to the individual's needs. If you are keen to develop into an outstanding teacher, enjoy sharing best practice with a community of dedicated peers and believe that all pupils can and should succeed, we would love to hear from you.

• Foster, by example, a spirit of academic inquiry and curiosity.
• Evaluate and implement the most effective teaching strategies in order to maximise subject learning.
• Meet throughout the year with your line manager to discuss agreed public examination targets for the department, and strategies being employed to achieve them.
• Meet formally with the Headteacher to review public examination results and progress towards agreed departmental targets.
• Coordinate assessments across all year groups. Lead in the scrutiny of academic data in order to track and promote student progress across the department.
• Be a part of the six-week cycle analysis at each reporting period, and utilise this as a means to impact student attainment within your subject.
• Be active in pursuing students whose attitude, learning or behaviour is giving any subject teacher cause for concern.
• Champion and ensure a flourishing presence of co-curricular activities for the subject, including trips and visits, an academic society, and associated clubs.
• Champion and ensure opportunities for student enrichment and extension are readily available for students across all year groups.
• Liaise with the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) to ensure relevant enrichment materials are available and being utilised by students to further their own exploration of your subject.
• Model excellent inclusive teaching within your practice, offering an 'open door policy' to all staff within your department.
• Ensure all staff are aware of and implement appropriate strategies for students' individual needs, including any SEND, Medical, or Pastoral contexts, those for whom English is an Additional Language (EAL)
• Ensure a full programme of university support is available and tailored to individual students who wish to apply for your (or related) higher education courses, including ambitious support for Oxbridge applicants.
• To ensure the department engages with the mentoring of students engaged with enrichment or additional curriculum courses, such as Theory of Knowledge or Extended Essay.
• Ensure departmental classrooms encourage behaviour for learning from students, and showcase the ambitious curriculum with which students are engaging.

Staff Performance and Development

• Assist with probation, appraisal, and professional development for all members of the department, focusing on its impact on student outcomes.
• Ensure all relevant processes are followed and completed for any Unqualified Teachers (UQTs), Early Career Teachers (ECTs), or SCITT teachers, under the direction of the Leadership Group.
• Conduct regular learning walks of the whole Department identifying best practice to share
• Conduct a formal lesson observation of each department teacher
• Intervene swiftly where there are concerns around staff performance in line with our teacher competencies, liaising with LG where appropriate.
• Conduct regular book reviews and learning scrutiny, focusing on individualised and effective use of formative and summative feedback to students, ensuring best practice is celebrated among the department, and intervene where marking policy is not being followed.
• Ensure effective cover for lessons where staff are absent.
• Develop a sense of teamwork throughout the department through the effective delegation of tasks and responsibilities.
• Ensure the appropriate provision and attendance of staff at both in-house and external professional development.
• Ensure, by example, that all staff in the department engage with teaching across year groups in order to further their own subject knowledge and expertise.
• Encourage, by example where possible, uptake as external examiners.

Departmental Impact

• Strive to better understand your subject and its development, including developments and opportunities in available external examination syllabi.
• Assist in managing the departmental budget, ensuring cost effective spending of funds in line with student outcomes and development plan priorities
• Ensure each year group's Schemes of Work are fully prepared before each academic year, with an emphasis on adaptive teaching.
• Meet with their line manager to discuss departmental progress.
• Lead co-planning meetings or delegate this responsibility to the progress leaders in the department
• Meet as a Quality of Education committee half-termly
• Update and maintain all procedural documentation pertaining to the effective management of the department and in preparation for inspection.
• To feed-in to whole school academic strategy decisions through the Quality of Education committee and through the Leadership Group, as required.
• Prepare for and lead on marketing events and, as a marketable asset of the school, ensure displays are innovative, student-centred, and captivating

All staff have a responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The postholder will follow current statutory requirements and WMAT procedures relating to health and safety. The postholder will immediately notify the College of any circumstances that may affect their eligibility to maintain the required DBS clearance. This job description is subject to variation depending on the needs of WHTC. Please note that this is illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of the role. It is not a comprehensive list of all tasks that the teacher will carry out. The postholder may be required to do other duties appropriate to the level of the role, as directed by