United Learning Hiring for Head of Religious Education Job at Walthamstow, England Full Time

Opportunity to play a role in the development of our highly successful Academy. We seek an outstanding and innovative Head of RE to lead a dynamic department. We are looking for someone who is committed to securing high standards of learning and teaching in order to raise academic achievement. At Walthamstow Academy, RE is a core subject that is key to our curriculum; all students study it at Key Stage 3 and then at Key Stage 4 in order to gain their GCSE qualification, and at Key Stage 5 it is studied through the PSHRE curriculum. Our students value and enjoy their RE lessons here, and are passionate about learning.

As Head of RE you will be an outstanding practitioner with the ability to be a strong leader of people who will look to you for outstanding line management, support and challenge. We know that outstanding leaders have transferable skills and are confident and effective in all aspects of their leadership but we also recognise that as a Head of RE, you will need support and challenge yourself so that you can grow to be the best you can be – we will make this happen.

We need someone who is passionate about making a difference. Our students are amazing, so are our staff. If you have the qualities to be part of the team to take outcomes for the Academy to the next level, please get in touch.

Main Responsibilities

to set high expectations for standards of teaching and learning and to model good practice in RE

to promote the building and sharing of good practice and successful innovation across your team

to ensure the consistent application of teaching and learning strategies that meet the needs of all learners

to ensure the ongoing development and evaluation of appropriate specifications and schemes of work and that these are followed by all teachers

to monitor and evaluate standards of teaching and learning of RE through classroom observation, sampling student work and seeking student feedback

to oversee effective assessment, recording and reporting of pupil progress in RE

There will also be the opportunity to contribute to our large enrichment programme and share expertise across a growing group of Academies and independent schools within United Learning.

Working for us

Walthamstow Academy opened its impressive new building in 2006 and since then we have achieved excellent results both at GCSE and at A Level. In 2022, Walthamstow Academy students achieved a Progress 8 score of 0.5. At A-Level, our students achieve excellently with between 25% and 50% typically progressing to Russell Group institutions. Because we are so successful, the school is now full and oversubscribed on first choices alone. We do not achieve these results by accident. At Walthamstow Academy, we believe in the best in everyone. We have a relentless focus on high expectations and aim to identify barriers to success and provide necessary support as quickly as possible to ensure our students achieve. We do not accept excuses and always strive for the best.

The Academy is proud of its multi-cultural character, and we celebrate the diversity of heritage in our community. 89% of our students are from minority ethnic groups, many coming from African, Caribbean, Eastern European, Turkish and Pakistani communities.

Within the community served by the academy there is social and economic disadvantage with 37% of students being eligible for Pupil Premium. Almost 60% have a first language other than English and a significant number have low levels of literacy on entry. Many students enter the Academy with low levels of attainment and the staff work hard to add value to their performance. Standards across the Academy are above national averages in most subjects.

The Academy is located close to the North Circular Road, M11 and both Blackhorse Road and Walthamstow Central underground stations from where it takes about half an hour to get into central London. The Academy is situated in a part of London where property prices are still relatively inexpensive and within easy access of Epping Forest, the Lee Valley and rural Hertfordshire and Essex.

Walthamstow Academy has achieved the CPLD Gold Award in recognition of our investment in professional development, because we know that without our wonderful staff, what we have achieved would not be possible, so thank you for your interest in coming to work with us. It starts with someone like you believing you can contribute further to our community.

What we Offer

Here at Walthamstow Academy, we are committed to ensuring our employees feel valued and appreciated and this includes your employee benefits.

We work with Perkbox to offer you over 250 exclusive benefits, all through their easy-to-access platform and app. Featuring a huge range of perks, from discounted cinema tickets and holidays, to money off meals out at restaurants nationwide, and savings on food, technology and clothes shopping.

Discounted Gym Memberships through Perkbox, you can access a range of gym membership discounts at over 3000 sites across the country. We also provide free use of our school gym 24/7 with weekly participation of sporting tournaments on offer. We also have our own gym in the academy!

Cycle2Work Scheme provides you with a bicycle and equipment such as lights, locks and panniers so that you can cycle to work and in your spare time! As this is a salary sacrifice scheme, you can save money through income tax and NI deductions.

Tax-Free Childcare you can get up to £500 every 3 months (up to £2,000 a year) for each of your children to help with the costs of childcare. This goes up to £1,000 every 3 months if a child is disabled (up to £4,000 a year)

Car Lease Scheme, as a Group, we have partnered with SG Fleet to launch the Novalease scheme for all staff, providing you with access to great discounts on car leasing through a direct debit scheme. You can also exchange a portion of your gross salary in return for any lower CO2 emission car of your choice.

Support and Continuous Professional Development is available for staff at all stages of their career

About United Learning United Learning is a unique group of independent and state schools working together to achieve the best in everyone. Our vision is to provide excellent education so that all young people are able to make a success of their lives and, if we are to realise this vision, we need to make sure we attract, develop and reward the key ingredient – you.