English Teacher - Maternity Cover

Shire Oak Academy, Walsall, West Midlands, WS9 9PA

14 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  1 January 2026

• Closing date

  9 December 2025 at 11:59pm

• Date listed

  25 November 2025

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
• Subject: English
• Working pattern: Full time: 32.5 Hours Per Week
• Contract type: Fixed term - 31/12/2026 - Maternity or parental leave cover
• Pay scale: MPS/UPS

What skills and experience we're looking for

English Teacher - Maternity Cover

Closing date - 9th December 2025

Salary: MPS/UPS

Hours: 32.5 Hours Per Week, 52.14 weeks

Contract type: Fixed Term Maternity Cover Until 31/12/2026

English Teacher - Maternity Cover

Job Purpose

To raise standards of attainment and achievement of learners in English Literature and Language.

Part 1 – The professional

duties of a schoolteacher

You are required to carry out the professional duties of a schoolteacher as set out in the relevant paragraphs of the current School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD).

You have a responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of the children and young persons you are responsible for, or come into contact with.

You have a professional responsibility to be engaged in effective, sustained and relevant professional development throughout your career and have a contractual entitlement to this.

Part 2 - Professional standards for teachers:

As a qualified teacher you are required to fulfil the core standards, as set out in the STPCD.

Part 3 - Health and safety responsibilities:

As a classroom teacher you are required, as part of your role, to carry out such duties under the health and safety policy as are appropriate. These duties are specified in the health and safety policy. This policy can be found on the academy’s website.

Part 4 - Subject responsibilities

Teacher of English (Maternity Cover)

Come and see what Shire Oak Academy has to offer, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

For a more detailed look at our Academy access our website onwww.shireoakacademy.co.uk.

Further details are available by contacting the Headteacher’s PA by e-mail ons.read@soa.merciantrust.org.uk

The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Pre-employment checks include an enhanced disclosure and barring service check as a requirement of this post. Our Safeguarding Policy is available on our website, and we encourage applicants to review it before applying.

This position is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further details regarding this check are available from the school or by visitingwww.crb.gov.uk.

What the school offers its staff

At Shire Oak Academy, we will invest in you and support you to reach your potential. As a school we are only as good as the people we work with and to ensure that we get the best from our young people, we need to make sure that we also get the best from our staff. Relationships matter and this is at the heart of what we do every day in our school and as one of 12 schools within the Mercian Trust.

Shire Oak Academy is not the easier school to work in currently, but we encourage you to visit to see we are far more than our most recent Ofsted report. We have a new Leadership Team, led by experienced Headteacher Matthew Everett and we would welcome applications from those wishing to join us on the exciting journey that Shire Oak is currently on. We are a community secondary school in Walsall Wood and proud of our inclusivity. Our ethos is built upon #BeIncredible and we accept that young people are going to make mistakes, but through positive interactions and support we will help to ensure that they fall less often and can reflect and learn from their mistakes and #BeIncredible in all that they do . Through our House System, and form tutors, we provide the care and support that is needed for all individuals and their families, including healthy competition. Everyone within the academy is expected to be an active member of their house, students and staff alike!

As well as offering a knowledge rich curriculum, which includes the full spectrum of creative subjects, we also offer an extensive enrichment and extra-curricular programme. Our drama shows are as good as what you would see in the local theatres, our sports teams are committed and driven taking part in local and regional competitions, and our wide array of trips provide awe and wonder for our young people. If there is an opportunity to improve the cultural capital of our young people, we will always be open to ideas.

The design of our building is unique, a huge campus at the highest point in Walsall with incredible views and huge open spaces, with top of the range facilities, including sport, technology and photography spaces.

Come and see what Shire Oak Academy has to offer, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

For a more detailed look at our Academy access our website onwww.shireoakacademy.co.uk.

Further details are available by contacting the Headteacher’s PA by e-mail ons.read@soa.merciantrust.org.uk

The Mercian Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Pre-employment checks include an enhanced disclosure and barring service check as a requirement of this post. Our Safeguarding Policy is available on our website, and we encourage applicants to review it before applying.

This position is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure & Barring Service check (formerly CRB) under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Further details regarding this check are available from the school or by visitingwww.crb.gov.uk.

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.

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

Apply for the job by following the link below.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Upload additional documents

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

Teacher of English (Maternity Cover).docx - 90.5 KB (opens in new tab)

About Shire Oak Academy

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary
• School size: 1297 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Shire Oak Academy website
• Email address: hrmatters@merciantrust.org.uk
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/shire-oak-academy

School location

Get a job alert when similar jobs are listed

Find more school jobs in Walsall and West Midlands