Required as soon as possible, subject to all clearances being in place.
Deputy Year Leader
As a Deputy Year Leader, you will quickly become part of our mission to transform the education and life chances of around 1,350 children in Birtley on the southern edge of Gateshead. You will join an ambitious and collegiate team of senior and middle leaders who are passionately committed to improving the school for the benefit of its students. The current leadership team has led a transformational programme of school improvement.
Our students are well known locally for their exceptional engagement in a wide range of sporting activities, and our visual and performing arts provision is particularly strong. Students take advantage of more than fifty lunchtime and after-school opportunities each week, and they have raised thousands of pounds for local and national charities. Opportunities for student leadership are plentiful. Classrooms are calm and settled, creating a purposeful atmosphere. Our professional development programme for staff is evidence-led and flexible. Colleagues at all levels value the opportunities to discuss, reflect on and develop their practice. This is a pivotal and exciting time to join our pastoral team.
Deputy Year Leaders are essential pillars of our pastoral structure. They help ensure both the academic progress and personal development of all students within a year group. Working closely with Year Leaders and tutors, Deputy Year Leaders coordinate the wellbeing and progress of students, while communicating with teachers and senior leaders, parents and carers. They support the Year Leader to enact the academy's vision and values and to drive progress towards our strategic goals. Under our current pastoral structure, the Year Leader and Deputy Year Leader for Year 7 remain consistent throughout each academic year. This continuity ensures robust, sustained support for students during the critical transition from primary to secondary school and into Year 8. The other year teams take their students from Year 8 through to Year 11.
Our students deserve the best and most effective pastoral support we can offer, so they can be happy and successful now and in the future. Working together, colleagues have significantly improved our culture for the benefit of our students. In recent years, attendance has risen by more than 6% and behaviour has been transformed. These improvements have created the conditions for far more effective teaching and learning. Despite local and national challenges, we continue to strengthen our culture, and Deputy Year Leaders are central to the next phase of this development.
The pastoral team at Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy brings together a broad range of expertise to support our students to grow, learn and succeed. As Deputy Principal for Pastoral Care and Inclusion, I hold overall responsibility for the pastoral team. Each year group has a teaching Year Leader and a non-teaching Deputy Year Leader, enabling the team to be proactive and visible throughout the school day. The pastoral team also includes attendance officers, a school counsellor and our learning support room team.
Our pastoral staff maintain strong relationships with external agencies and partners, ensuring that students receive effective and timely support with the challenges they face. In summary, you will join a well-resourced, proactive and highly committed team.
If you would like to discuss what it is like to work at Lord Lawson, to visit the school, or to have a broader conversation about this role, please contact us on
If you are interested in applying for this position, please detail in your application how your experience and skills meet the person specification. I look forward to hearing from you.
If successful you will be required to apply for an enhanced Disclosure.
Salary amounts quoted are from the 1 September to 31 August and therefore if you commence employment part way through the academic year, they are subject to an equated salary adjustment.
Please supply an email address for each of your referees, all references will be taken up and verified prior to interview.
Closing Date: 9am, Monday 9 March 2025
Shortlisting to take place: Tuesday 10 March 2025
Interview Date: Week commencing Monday 16 March, date to be confirmed
Application Forms: via .academy