Westminster School is a busy and vibrant place to work. There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school, many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.
Classics is thriving at Westminster, both in the classroom and via its rich and extensive co-curricular contribution. The department comprises six full-time colleagues in total and has an enthusiastic, dedicated and supportive atmosphere, with a strong commitment to rigorous and stretching language teaching. At all levels the pupils learn to translate into the target language, and all Upper School pupils study prose composition. Schemes of work take the pupils far outside and beyond the linguistic and literary prescriptions of the public examinations, roving across the gamut of the Classical disciplines. Our focus on high standards of teaching and learning leads our pupils to exceptional results at GCSE, A level and university entrance.
Currently all pupils study Latin in Year 9 and the majority also study Greek; in subsequent years both subjects are optional. Typically each year about pupils sit GCSE Latin, about GCSE Greek. In the Upper School, about pupils per year group study Latin, about 8 Greek; typically around pupils per year secure places to study Classics at the most prestigious universities.
All Westminster Classicists have the opportunity to take part in visits to museums and universities, as well as cross-disciplinary initiatives with other departments and trips further afield and abroad. Other Classical co-curricular activities include in-house theatrical productions, publication of an annual magazine, our hosting of an annual London-area Classical reading competition, and pupil-led lunchtime talks.
The role
We are looking for a well-qualified Classics graduate who will be able to teach throughout the School at all ages and ability levels. They need to be able to teach Latin and Greek language and literature, ideally up to A Level with expert knowledge and insight and to inspire in the pupils a lively enthusiasm for the cultural riches of Classical antiquity. A readiness to teach Latin or Greek prose composition would be advantageous. Aside from planning, teaching and evaluating lessons, the successful candidate will be expected to carry out a range of formative assessments of pupils’ attainment to acknowledge and inform progress. They will be required to attend staff meetings, parents’ evenings and school events, outside normal hours, and accompany relevant school trips, normally including one residential visit per year.
The ideal applicant will be an excellent communicator who is able to develop a strong rapport with pupils and to motivate and support them with their studies. Prior teaching experience is highly desirable, but the department welcomes candidates who are new to teaching. We have previously employed both qualified and unqualified teachers, and there is a great deal of support within the department for people at the beginning of their teaching career. A bachelor’s degree or above in Classics or an equivalent subject, including both Latin and Greek
language, is essential.
This role can be part-time or full-time and will run for one term only, from January 6. Part-time candidates must be able to commit to % of the timetable, taking place across Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturday mornings.