Curriculum Leader of Performing Arts
John Smeaton Academy, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS15 8TAThis job expired on 18 March 2026
Start date details
September 2026 (or earlier)
Closing date
18 March 2026 at 11:09am
Date listed
23 February 2026
Job details
Job role
- Head of department or curriculum
Visa sponsorship
- Skilled Worker visas can be sponsored
Key stage
- Key stage 3
Subject
- Drama
Working pattern
- Full time: 32.5 hours per week
Contract type
- Permanent
Pay scale
- MPR/UPR
Additional allowances
TLR 2B
What skills and experience we're looking for
John Smeaton Academy is seeking to appoint an exceptional and inspirational leader to the role of Curriculum Leader of Performing Arts. This is a fantastic opportunity for a passionate practitioner to shape, grow and lead a vibrant department within an academy that places creativity, character and ambition at the heart of its culture.
Performing Arts is a thriving and much-loved area of our curriculum. Over the last five years, we have built a strong and ambitious provision across both Music and Drama, with both subjects consistently popular in our options process. Our students are enthusiastic, committed and eager to perform, and we are proud of the culture of excellence and participation that has been established.
Beyond the classroom, our enrichment offer is flourishing. Each year our academy stages full-scale productions that capture the imagination of our community — recent performances have included Matilda, Beauty and the Beast and Oliver! — providing students with unforgettable opportunities to develop confidence, resilience and creativity. Our students also proudly represent the academy at the GORSE Shakespeare Festival, showcasing not only their talent but their deep appreciation for literature and performance.
We are equally proud of our recent investment in the Performing Arts. In Summer 2025, we opened two brand-new music classrooms, dedicated peripatetic practice rooms, and a second drama studio — significantly enhancing the facilities available to both staff and students. These purpose-built spaces provide an inspiring environment in which creativity can truly flourish.
This role offers the chance to build on strong foundations and lead the next phase of development for Performing Arts at John Smeaton Academy. We are looking for a colleague who shares our belief in the transformative power of the arts and who is committed to ensuring every student can discover and develop their talent.
If you are ambitious, creative and ready to lead within a forward-thinking academy, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Potential applicants should have:
- Qualified Teacher Status
- A Successful teaching record with very good teaching practice demonstrated consistently.
- A passion for education and making a difference.
- The ability to put vision into practice.
What the school offers its staff
As a trust, we want to ensure that professionals at every stage in their career have the opportunity to enjoy expert support and training. We are pleased to offer a generous benefits package to our team – as we work together to create a rewarding future for all including:
- Membership of a teacher or local government pension scheme, depending on the role.
- A commitment to continued investment in our professionals, supporting every member of staff throughout their career in the trust.
- Access to an Employee Assistance Programme which provides confidential professional advice and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- £2k Cycle to work scheme.
Further information about the job
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.
Additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About John Smeaton Academy
- Organisation type
- Academy, ages 11 to 18
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- Size
- 677 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- Website
- John Smeaton Academy website
- Email address
- enquiries@johnsmeatonacademy.org.uk
I am delighted to welcome you to our John Smeaton Academy page.
Our school website found at www.johnsmeatonacademy.org.uk provides useful information for students, parents/carers & our community and gives a sense of the truly exceptional transformation that we embarked upon on 1 September 2021 when we joined The GORSE Academies Trust.
When we did so the Ofsted ratings of previous years became formally a part of the past and our new, fresh-start future began, a future in which the students and community of John Smeaton Academy will work together in partnership to ensure our students achieve outcomes aligned with their top performing peers nationally. These outcomes will, in turn, give them access to progress into their chosen, high-quality destinations in Education, Employment and further Training (EET) and ultimately to go on to study in some of the best universities in the world.
At the heart of all that what we do is our core values. Through the values of: Kindness, Ambition, Dedication and Respect, our students, their parents/ carers and our colleagues are committed to the mission of the academy; one where we together ensure that all young people ‘Secure the Gift of Choice’ regardless of socio-economic background.
John Smeaton Academy aspires for all young people to leave their time with us having secured ‘The Gift of Choice’. Our key drivers that enable us to achieve this are centred around five key areas within the curriculum. Our curriculum is designed to instil exceptional standards, equipping our students with ambitious standards. It is designed to remove barriers so our students can maximise progress and access appropriate challenge, build resilience by ensuring that students are routinely exposed to challenging and difficult concepts and ideas (the Purple Zone). It is carefully crafted so that students can apply the knowledge they have acquired to different and challenging contexts and is designed to deliver awe and wonder. This is fundamental to promote creativity in the classroom; to inspire and engage our students so that they develop a passion and enthusiasm for learning not just in the classroom, but beyond. It develops the skills necessary to fulfil individual potential; developing independence and autonomy so that students are not over reliant on the support of others, including their teachers.
The academy is a truly exceptional place for students to study and for colleagues to work. We take pride in making decisions that are needs based and context specific, doing the right thing at the right time. Whether you are accessing our website as a prospective student, a parent/carer or a prospective colleague I hope you find this information useful.
I encourage you to join us for one of our annual Open Events or arrange a visit to look around our academy and see for yourself our exceptional school which enables all students to ‘Secure the Gift of Choice’.
Principal
Mr. Andrew Moncur
School location
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