Class Teacher

Valentine Primary School & Nursery, Southampton, Hampshire, SO19 0EQ

89 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  1 September 2026

• Closing date

  31 May 2026 at 12pm (midday)

• Date listed

  3 March 2026

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Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher
  • Suitable for early career teachers
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Key stage 1, Key stage 2
• Working pattern: Full time: Monday to Friday
• Contract type: Permanent
• Pay scale: Main Pay Scale 1 to Upper Pay Scale 3
• Additional allowances:

  TLR is available for an experienced candidate. We are happy to negotiate this based on the candidate's skillset and the school's profile of need. We are particularly interested in an 'Oracy Lead' and 'Technology Lead'

What skills and experience we're looking for

• Qualified Teacher Status with strong subject and curriculum knowledge

• Evidence of securing strong progress for all pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or have SEND

• High expectations of presentation, behaviour and academic precision

• Ability to teach with clarity and explicit instruction, breaking learning into manageable steps

• Secure understanding of early reading, writing development and mathematical fluency

• Experience of using assessment to adapt teaching responsively

• Commitment to inclusive practice and adaptive teaching

• Strong classroom management rooted in warmth and consistency

• Willingness to embrace innovation, including the use of technology to enhance learning

• Openness to coaching, feedback and continual professional growth

• Resilience and a solutions-focused mindset

• Strong organisational skills and professional reliability

• Ability to work collaboratively within a team while maintaining personal accountability

• Commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children

What the school offers its staff

• A culture that is ambitious, innovative and unapologetically focused on doing what works for children

• A fully resourced curriculum with sequenced planning and adaptive materials provided, reducing unnecessary workload

• Streaming in reading, writing and maths to sharpen instruction and reduce cognitive overload for teachers

• Investment in technology, including class sets of iPads and laptops and access to immersive VR to enhance curriculum delivery

• A specialist cookery and food technology suite and on-site polytunnels embedded into curriculum provision

• A state of the art library at the centre of school life, placing reading at the heart of our community

• A year-round nursery provision from 6 months to 5 years, offering a unique 0–11 educational journey

• Structured instructional coaching and meaningful professional development focused on improving classroom practice

• Clear career progression pathways including subject leadership and wider leadership development

• Wellbeing days available at staff request during the academic year

• A leadership team that values professional dialogue, accountability and growth

• A collaborative staff culture where innovation is encouraged and ideas are taken seriously

• A Good Ofsted judgement in 2025 with a clear and ambitious trajectory towards excellence

• A school that acknowledges mistakes, adapts quickly and continually refines its practice

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

If you want safe, predictable and compliant, this is not your school.

If you want ambitious, creative and relentlessly focused on doing what works for children, read on.

At Valentine, we do not treat education as a fixed script. We are proud to think differently. Not for the sake of novelty, but because our community deserves more than a narrow, outdated model of schooling.

Why Valentine?

This year alone:

• We installed a fully equipped cookery and food technology suite capable of teaching classes of thirty. Why? Because children told us they wanted to become chefs and we took them seriously.

• Every child has one hour of gardening each week. Our polytunnels are not decorative. They are part of our curriculum.

• We transformed our oversized entrance hall into a state of the art library, placing reading at the centre of school life.

• We opened a year-round nursery in 2025, welcoming children from 6 months to 5 years old and building a genuine 0–11 learning journey.

We invest where it matters.

• 400 new laptops and iPads across the school.

• 90 VR headsets enabling immersive curriculum hooks. Launch a geography topic by standing in Australia. Begin history by walking through ancient civilisations.

• A fully resourced non-core curriculum, planned and sequenced, with adaptations ready to go. You will not be left reinventing everything at 10pm.

We are serious about teacher workload

We stream for reading, writing and maths. Not to label children. To reduce cognitive overload for teachers and make instruction sharper and more precise.

You will teach within a structure that protects your energy and increases impact.

We provide:

• Wellbeing days at your request across the year. Go to the concert. Have your birthday off. Attend the event that matters.

• Real professional development. Coaching that is developmental, not performative.

• Leaders who will challenge you and support you in equal measure.

• Childcare between 6 months and 5 years at a competitive (50%) discount for staff.

We are not perfect

We make mistakes. We adjust. We learn. We expect you to do the same.

We were judged Good by Ofsted in 2025. That was not an end point. It was the starting line.

We are building something exceptional and that requires teachers who:

• Care deeply about children.

• Want to refine their craft.

• Believe curriculum can be ambitious and joyful.

• Are prepared to work hard and grow.

If you want to be part of a school that is expanding, evolving and unapologetically ambitious for its community, we would welcome your application.

Valentine Primary School & Nursery - Growing something extraordinary.

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.

Applying for the job

This job requires you to download an application form, you will be able to upload the application once complete.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Additional documents

If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.

Classroom Teacher - Role Profile.pdf - 284 KB (opens in new tab)

About Valentine Primary School & Nursery

• School type: Local authority maintained school, ages 0 to 11
• Education phase: Primary school
• School size: 511 pupils enrolled
• Age range: Not given
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Valentine Primary School & Nursery website
• Email address: daniel.constable-phelps@valentineprimary.co.uk
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/valentine-primary-school

Arranging a visit to Valentine Primary School & Nursery

To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email daniel.constable-phelps@valentineprimary.co.uk.

School location

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