Head of Department (Religious Education)

Grace College, Gateshead, NE9 6LE

35 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  September 2026

• Closing date

  7 May 2026 at 10am

• Date listed

  2 April 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Subject: Religious education
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £46,001.00 - £60,947.90 Annually (Actual) M3 - UPS3 plus ESF3 (£8,901)

Head of Department (Religious Education) job summary

Grace College are looking to recruit a Head of Department (Religious Education) who will enthuse pupils to learn with a combination of great subject knowledge, energy and dedication; owing to the particular characteristics of the post and the ethos of the school, there is an occupational requirement that this post-holder is practicing Christian.

We have high expectations for our students as they grow and develop and all our staff provide important role models to them in terms of positive attitude, work ethic and diligence.

The Head of Religious Education is responsible to the Vice Principal: Quality of Education of:

The rapid progress and exceptional academic achievement of all students in Religious Education with a particular emphasis on:

• being a visible example of our ethos, core virtues and leadership expectations that we hold;
• ensuring decisions are driven by data relating to quality of provision and student progress;
• building a cohesive staff team where the development of staff as teachers (both subject knowledge and quality of instruction) and leaders (career development and succession planning) is a core part of your practice.

Implementing an exceptional Religious Education curriculum and providing opportunities for students to experience and develop their understanding of the Christian faith beyond the school classroom with a particular emphasis on:

• ensuring the curriculum contains a clear progression from KS2 to KS4 and beyond and that all staff can articulate what is taught, why it is taught at that point in the curriculum and what it will lead to next for the students;
• leading and developing opportunities for students to engage with the Christian faith, through supporting the development and delivery of the College’ s collective worship programme including the daily act of worship and whole school events such celebrating Christian festivals such as Christmas Carol Service and the Easter Service;
• implementing schemes of work that clearly define the substantive and disciplinary knowledge and vocabulary that students need to master and which lead to consistently exceptional teaching;
• building meaningful curriculum links to local faith organisations, as well as a wide range of enrichment opportunities to engage all groups of students and build their cultural capital.

Ensuring Religious Education teaching is consistently exceptional with a particular emphasis on:

• ensuring that schemes of work and lesson resources support consistently exceptional teaching and are regularly reviewed and improved through collaborative planning;
• leading regular quality assurance of effectiveness of teaching across the department, continually identifying examples of best practice to be disseminated and areas for improvement to be addressed through collaborative planning and support;
• creating a culture of reflective practice and improvement and professional dialogue across your team so that staff are motivated and supported to develop their own skills and subject knowledge, and to support each other
• ensuring that exceptional teaching and learning leads to an increased number of students studying full course RE over time.

Further information is available in the job description and person specification.

Join us and in addition to working with committed and helpful colleagues, the Trust can offer access to the following benefits:

• Defined benefit pension scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Daily lunch allowance
• Access to our exclusive Benefits Hub
• Free parking
• Employee centred and family friendly policies and practices that support you in and beyond the workplace
• Enhanced sick pay, maternity leave and paternity leave (dependent on length of service)
• Cycle to work scheme
• Funded eye tests and glasses for DSE users (subject to T/Cs)

Grace College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment. Where the post is engaged in regulated activity, and/or an opportunity for contact with children the position will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. In addition, as part of the shortlisting process, and in accordance with statutory guidance, we may carry out an online search (for publicly available material) to help identify any incidents or issues that have happened which we may want to explore with shortlisted applicants at interview.

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

Grace College is committed to the safeguarding of children and all staff are expected to ensure that the College is a safe and secure environment for our students. All applicants are referred to the Safeguarding Statement which is to be found within the Policy section of the Grace College website.

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 Grace College

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 1146 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Grace College website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/grace-college

As an 11-19 secondary school serving nearly 1,300 students in central Gateshead, we have a clear vision for excellence in character education, the examined curriculum and in service to our community, grounded in our Christian ethos. We are part of the Emmanuel Schools Foundation, which opens exceptional opportunities for knowledge sharing and career development. We have a clear model for school improvement to provide outstanding education for all students and are relentless in the pursuit of this goal. You will be central to delivering our strategy, as you transform both the school and our students’ futures.

We are committed to realising the potential of our students and staff alike. Our hope and expectation are that each person will be deeply valued as infinitely precious, challenged to grow in character and inspired by learning together to achieve their personal best in whatever they do.

Join us and you can expect to be nurtured, supported, and encouraged at every step of your career. We put staff professional learning and development front and centre of everything we do in our partnerships with outstanding regional and national organisations. Ultimately, we are looking for the school leaders of tomorrow who will contribute here at Grace College and across the Emmanuel Schools Foundation.

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