Teacher of MFL (maternity cover)

Teaching Vacancies; Barnsley; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 40,000; Full time

Job summary

A local academy is seeking a Teacher of Spanish for maternity cover starting in February 2026. The role requires expertise in MFL up to GCSE and a passion for teaching. Ideal candidates will possess a teaching qualification and recent experience. The academy offers extensive support and professional development opportunities within a thriving community atmosphere.

Benefits

Membership to Teachers’ Pension Scheme

Access to online GP services

Gym & fitness discounts

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• A good degree related to MFL.
• A teaching qualification with Qualified Teacher Status.
• Strong subject knowledge in MFL to GCSE.

Responsibilities

• Plan and deliver MFL lessons.
• Assess and evaluate students' progress.
• Contribute to curriculum development.

Skills

Strong subject knowledge in MFL

Teaching experience

Use of teaching strategies

Ability to work in a team

Confidence in ICT

Education

Degree in an appropriate discipline

Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)

Tools

Standard computer packages

SMART board or Promethean

Job description

What skills and experience we're looking for

Essential

• A good degree in an appropriate discipline related to MFL (A/C)
• A teaching qualification together with Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) (A/C)
• A strong and secure subject knowledge in MFL up to GCSE (A/I)
• Recent and relevant teaching experience (A/I/R)
• Experience of assessment at key stage 3 and 4 (A/I/R)
• Awareness of the strategies available for improving the learning and achievement of all students (A/I)
• A good understanding of curriculum developments in MFL (A/I)
• Able to use a range of teaching and learning strategies (A/I)
• An understanding of how assessment for learning can improve student performance (A/I)
• Confidence in the use of standard computer packages and how these can be used to enhance student learning (A/I)
• Able to use student level data to raise standards (A/I)
• Able to work independently and collaboratively as a member of a team (A/I)
• Enthusiasm for your subject area (A/I)
• Creative in problem solving together with willingness to take on and try new approaches and ideas (A/I)
• Ability to relate to students in a pleasant and sympathetic manner and to recognise potential safeguarding issues (A/I/R)
• Able to communicate both orally and in writing to students and their parents (A/I/R)
• Able to communicate high expectations to all students (A/I/R)
• Willingness to share good practice across the department and beyond (A/I/R)

Desirable

• Strong ICT skills including SMART board or Promethean (A/I/R)

Key: C – Certificate; A – Application Form; I – Interview; R - Reference

What the school offers its staff

As a Trust, we have developed an extensive range of employee benefits that focus on your Financial, Physical and Mental Wellbeing. Here are just a few examples in each area…

Financial Wellbeing:

• Membership to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme
• Technology scheme and Vehicle Leasing Scheme*
• Access to an extensive discounts platform

Physical Wellbeing:

• 24/7 access to an online GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner for you & your household
• Gym & fitness discounts
• Cycle to Work scheme*
• Free annual flu jab

Mental Wellbeing:

• Access to an industry leading Employee Assistance Programme
• Menopause Support Service
• Trained Mental Health First Aiders in all our settings

*Subject to ensuring NMW is maintained

Further details about the role

Teacher of Spanish (Maternity Cover) Job description

Darton Academy are looking to appoint a Teacher of Spanish to join our academy in February 2026 on a full time, temporary basis to cover Maternity Leave.

OUR VISION

At Delta Academies Trust we understand the importance of learning a modern foreign language and we believe that every single one of our pupils should have that opportunity. We have invested significant time, expertise, and money in the creation of an outstanding curriculum offer which has increased pupil engagement, and as a result the number of pupils studying MFL in our 17 secondary academies has risen dramatically.

OUR CURRICULUM

We have created carefully sequenced five year curriculum plans for both French and Spanish using the national curriculum and the key recommendations of the 2016 MFL Pedagogy Review, and we regularly update them. Each one is fully resourced, with detailed lessons prepared for you to adapt to the needs of your classes. We use an online coursebook to underpin our teaching, along with our trust knowledge organisers. Every unit of work includes a cultural topic to help instil a love of languages as well as promote a desire to get to know more about people from those countries. We subscribe to an online learning platform to support the learning of vocabulary. Perhaps our biggest and most impressive investment is in our team of modern language assistants. We currently have 17 native speakers in our academies and our pupils love working with them!

HOW WILL WE SUPPORT YOU

Our Senior MFL director is a specialist in both French and Spanish and leads a team of two MFL directors and a lead teacher. They are all based in our academies working to support teachers and pupils on a daily basis. We recognise the value of high quality CPD and the director team run subject specific CPD every half term, meaning that staff from across our trust can meet to share best practice and stay up to date with research findings and national developments. Although our curriculum model is standard across our trust, we are all individuals, and you will have the opportunity to develop as a professional in your own right. We pride ourselves on recognising and developing talent and are passionate about sharing our love of teaching languages.

OUR FUTURE

Our director team are held in high regard and have worked with the DFE and the examination boards in consultation about the existing and new GCSEs. We are passionate about languages in any way, shape or form and have recently had four academies approved to join the DFE Latin Centre of Excellence programme. We are currently preparing a bid to become one of 15 MFL hubs in England which would give us the opportunity to help shape the future of MFL teaching at a national level.

OUR ACADEMY

Darton Academy is an exciting place to learn and as soon as you enter the building you can feel a buzz of enthusiasm. There is a sense of purpose, the academy is calm and orderly, with state of the art facilities. We are a close knit community, and we pride ourselves on knowing our pupils well and doing our utmost to ensure everyone fulfils their true potential.

We aim to ensure that our pupils can learn in a safe and supportive environment, where everyone values academic achievement and has a positive attitude to learning. As a result of our journey of continuous improvement Darton Academy continues to outperform all other local schools and is now the highest performing school in the area. According to the Department for Education, Darton Academy achieved a Progress 8 score of +0.37 last year—the highest in Barnsley. Pupils at Darton Academy made nearly half a grade more progress than students with similar KS2 starting points.

Provisional local authority data confirms that once again, Darton Academy pupils have achieved results well above both local and national averages. This year, the Academy has also secured the highest attainment in the area for 5+ (strong passes in English and mathematics). We are proud that 65% of pupils achieved a Grade 5 or above in both English and mathematics combined and 79% achieved a Grade 4 or above.

In February 2023 Ofsted graded us Good with an outstanding personal development offer. We strongly encourage our pupils to take part in enrichment activities so they can discover all their strengths and talents, and run over forty clubs, as well as pupil support sessions and interventions. We also regularly organise whole school events and educational visits so that our pupils have a broad experience of learning beyond the classroom.

We believe in rewarding pupils for good behaviour, attendance and achievement and run multiple celebration events throughout the year, from “Super September” to our summer “DartFest”. We place learning at the heart of everything we do and use our core values of respect, responsibility, and resilience to build a positive ethos

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.