Role: Second in English
Academy: Outwood Academy Hemsworth
Start Date: 01/09/2026
Salary: £32,916 - £51,048 plus TLR 2.2 £5876
Working Pattern: 1 FTE
We are seeking a dynamic and dedicated Second in Department to provide cohesive leadership and motivating direction within our faculty. In this pivotal role, you will support the Head of Department in driving innovative strategies to enhance the quality of learning, teaching, and student achievement. As a model of the Academy’s vision and values, you will be a key driver in our journey to becoming an 'outstanding' school, championing best practice and fostering a collective approach to problem-solving and curricular development.
Welcome from the Principal:
I am proud to introduce you to Outwood Academy Hemsworth, an 11-18 Academy in the Historic Market Town of Hemsworth, West Yorkshire. We have a relentless focus on learning, underpinned by a curriculum designed to stretch and enrich every student.
As part of the Outwood Family since 2018, we provide the very best, holistic education within a safe and secure community. We recently completed a multi-million pound development, including a new 17-classroom teaching block, and are proud to hold Gold Status from the Carnegie Centre of Excellence for Mental Health.
We actively work to reduce staff workload, allowing more time to focus on our vision: students first, raising standards, and transforming lives. Whether you are ambitious for progression or determined to be an outstanding classroom teacher, this is the place for you.
If you share our passion for making a real difference, we would be delighted to welcome you to our team.
About the Department:
The English Department at Outwood Academy Hemsworth is a team made up of 11 teachers and 2 one-to-one tutors. The department is very welcoming and staff work collaboratively to put students first. They are a combination of ECTs, teachers who have recently completed their ECT years and more experienced staff, and all work hard to create an environment where everyone is supported. Some of the recent ECTs are already taking steps to becoming leaders; others are honing their craft in the classroom and supporting newer staff. There are many opportunities for staff to develop.
There are enough classrooms for English staff to teach entirely or almost entirely in one building. Although Outwood Academy Hemsworth has recently undergone a transformation with the building of a large new block, English is housed in a Grade 2 listed building, which is full of character. Classrooms are equipped with large television screens and visualiser lecterns to support high quality teaching and learning.
The curriculum has been redesigned for knowledge to be developed almost fully through the study of texts, and there has been great investment in new books. Chosen novels, poetry and plays are culturally interesting, ambitious and engaging, including those less often chosen like Asha and the Spirit Bird, which is taught in Year 7. We prepare students for GCSE and A-Level study with the range of reading but also with units such as Language Change in Year 8. We also have a well-stocked library and knowledgeable librarian.
There is a strong whole-school literacy strategy which aims to ensure that all students can gain the educational and personal benefits of reading. This includes reading in form time, Accelerated Reader and a variety of reading interventions for readers who are not yet proficient. The specialist literacy teaching assistant uses the Ruth Miskin phonics programme to support emergent readers.
As in all OGAT secondary academies, the department prepares students for Eduqas GCSE English Language and English Literature qualifications. The programme of study is fully resourced with high-quality materials produced by staff across the trust who know this specification well. We aim to make all our teachers ‘experts’ in preparing students for GCSE examinations, using our thorough and systematic methods devised over many years. We have the benefit of support from the trust’s team of expert English School Standards and Improvement Partners, who provide support, materials, advice, coaching and who model and team-teach in lessons alongside us to develop our expertise. Since becoming an OGAT school, students have made positive progress in English Language every year.