Head of Department - Art

Washwood Heath Academy, Birmingham, West Midlands, B8 2AS

14 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  Summer Term 2026 or Sooner

• Closing date

  2 February 2026 at 8am

• Date listed

  19 January 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Subject: Art and design
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: MPS/UPS + TLR 1D
• Additional allowances:

  MPS/UPS + TLR 1D

Head of Department - Art job summary

Are you able to energise all stakeholders - with meaning and purpose, to push educational boundaries in achieving educational excellence?

We have an outstanding opportunity for a highly effective, motivated and experienced Art Teacher to lead our vibrant and successful Art Department.

Are you an inspirational and enthusiastic Teacher looking for a new challenge? Do you have the teaching skills and personality to motivate and energise learners? Are you passionate about the Art curriculum and nurturing the next generation of Artists?

This is an exciting time to join our enthusiastic, passionate Art department. The team are highly motivated and dedicated to improving learners’ outcomes. As the department leader for Art, you will focus on leading a team and supporting them in developing their knowledge and classroom practice. You will also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Head of The Arts Faculty.

The successful candidate will be capable of inspiring pupils through their passion for the subject, have excitement and drive for teaching and learning, and desire to maximise student outcomes.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join an established Art team and contribute to a department and faculty that seeks to provide a first-class education for all its learners. For all pupils to achieve academic excellence, we deliver a knowledge-rich curriculum where teachers are the experts, and their role is to convey their knowledge and expertise to pupils. We believe all pupils are entitled to learn about ‘The best, which has been thought and said’ (Matthew Arnold).

Our school is in a central location, with wonderful and enthusiastic pupils and fantastic staff who always go the extra mile for their classes. Our friendly, family feel is part of why parents choose Washwood Heath Academy for their children and why many staff are long-term employees. We are part of the Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust, a family of local schools located within 15 minutes of one another: 4 Primary schools, 2 Secondary schools and 1 All-through school. This will allow you to grow and develop professionally with a fantastic Academy Trust that is very supportive and collaborative with a strong sense of community.

The successful candidates will:

• Be an inspiring teacher with real passion and enthusiasm for the subject with excellent subject knowledge.
• Be committed to delivering an excellent standard of teaching for all students.
• Set themselves and their students high standards and have high expectations.
• Be a good communicator and a strong team player.
• Have a willingness to contribute to the department and whole school projects, including the extracurricular life of the Academy.
• Have a thorough knowledge of present curriculum developments, particularly those relating to Art.

We can offer you:

• A collaborative and inclusive culture, where team members will upskill you and give you regular opportunities to learn from each other in a safe and collaborative environment.
• An opportunity to undertake structured CPD via access to the National College online CPD platform and/or apprenticeships such as [the CIPD or Coaching via our Apprenticeship Levy-amend examples based on roles].
• Access to Career Pathways and Pledge to help you plan for and make your goals a reality via our Professional Growth and Performance process.
• A wellbeing culture, with paid and unpaid time off to support life events via our Life Leave Policy, access to a Wellbeing Champion and the opportunity to participate in our annual staff wellbeing survey with Edurio, so we know and can respond to views.
• Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), which includes confidential counselling, access to wellbeing advice and a lifestyle app called “My Possible Self”.
• Access to a suite of supportive policies, such as Life Leave, Wellbeing, Career Break and Family Friendly.
• Access to a generous pension scheme known as the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS).
• Access to a comprehensive employee rewards package including Long Service Awards, Employee Referral Scheme, Cycle to Work Scheme and contribution to glasses and eye-sight tests for eligible display screen users.
• Opportunity to be part of key Trust-wide collaborative groups such as the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI working group) and Wellbeing working groups, including menopause support and neurodiversity support.
• Onsite parking at all schools.

As a Disability Confident Committed Employer we have committed to:

• Ensure our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible
• Communicating and promoting vacancies
• Offering an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for the job
• Anticipating and providing reasonable adjustments as required
• Supporting any existing employee who acquires a disability or long term health condition, enabling them to stay in work.

Informal conversations are warmly welcomed.

Closing Job Early:

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

N.B. CVs will not be accepted.

We value our people and are dedicated to making sure that everybody feels empowered to bring their authentic self to work. We have an outstanding opportunity to work at Washwood Heath Academy as Head of Art.

We promise to treat all candidates fairly, consistently and with respect throughout the application, assessment, and selection process.

We are also “happy to talk flexible working” subject to the operational requirements of the role.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.

This post is covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) and therefore the ability to speak fluent spoken English is an essential requirement for this role.

Washwood Heath Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this commitment. An enhanced DBS check is required for all successful applicants.

Please click here to refer to our Privacy Notice for Candidate

As part of our recruitment process, we carry out rigorous online searches in line with (KCSIE) Keeping Children Safe in Education.

Please note that applications must be the creation of the candidate applying. While technology, including artificial intelligence, may be used to help the candidate select certain phraseology, if substantial use of AI is used, the application will be disregarded.

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

This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

About Washwood Heath Academy

• School type: Academy, ages 4 to 18
• Education phase: All through school
• School size: 1706 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 4 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Washwood Heath Academy website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/washwood-heath-academy

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