Head of Drama
Cumberland Community School, London, E13 8SJThis job expired on 10 May 2026 – see similar jobs
Start date details
September 2026
Closing date
10 May 2026 at 11:59pm
Date listed
27 April 2026
Job details
Job role
- Teacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Subject
- Drama
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £48,928.00 - £71,107.00 Annually (Actual) Salary includes a TLR2C Inner London
Head of Drama job summary
The Community Schools Trust is committed to expanding an ambitious and inspiring creative arts offer for every student, and this is an exciting opportunity for an exceptional Head of Drama to shape that vision at Cumberland Community School.
Drama at Cumberland benefits from outstanding facilities, including two purpose-built studios with stage lighting, alongside access to the main school hall for large-scale productions. The department is enhanced by a dedicated arts technician working across music and drama, as well as specialist media expertise for display, publicity and film-making.
You will join a vibrant and collaborative creative arts team spanning drama, art, music and design technology, working together on an acclaimed annual school production and a rich programme of performance opportunities. Across the Trust, you will work alongside the cross-Trust Drama Lead and the Regional Director for Creative Arts, contributing to innovative curriculum development, student engagement and ambitious enrichment.
As part of Community Schools Trust, students and staff take part each year in a summer showcase at a professional theatre, where schools from across the Trust come together to share performance work. This flagship event is a celebration of talent, creativity and collaboration, and a defining moment in the creative arts calendar.
We are determined to make drama at Cumberland a centre of excellence and are looking for a visionary leader to drive that journey forward. If you are passionate about building something exceptional and want to play a leading role in shaping the future of drama within a dynamic and creative community, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Cumberland Community School is part of Community Schools Trust. We serve a wonderfully diverse community, many of whom face challenges through no fault of their own. It is for this reason we want to level the playing field for all of our students, regardless of their background, by providing a world class education.
We care about outcomes. We know good grades lift life chances and impact health, wealth and even mortality. We know that teachers have the greatest impact on pupil outcomes and so we take professional development seriously, whatever our role in the school. Whether we have taught for two months, two years or twenty years, we believe in our capacity to always improve in the classroom.
Our professional development provision is fundamental to our commitment to improve. We invest in our own and each others’ development and use principles of instructional coaching to provide feedback to each other. Our training involves deliberate practice, video models of excellent practice and lots of fun! The desire to improve a little bit everyday permeates the culture in our school.
Our approach to teaching is evidence informed. We avoid ‘discovery learning’ methods and instead, we teach explicitly. Our teachers are experts in the classroom and lead from the front. We focus on perfecting routines for behaviour, like entry into lessons and transitions between tasks so that we can maximise time spent on learning. We have excellent behaviour systems which mean teachers can focus on what we love doing most - teaching!
As well as excellent outcomes, we want our students to be well rounded individuals who will thrive beyond school years; that’s why we deliberately teach prosocial behaviours like making eye contact when greeted, listening attentively and showing gratitude. We know these skills will set all of our students up for life, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
When students fall behind, our teachers run interventions outside of their lessons. We provide an extra session after school for all year 11 students so their families don't have to worry about paying for a tutor. Teachers work hard here. Our students deserve nothing less and we expect the highest of standards from them because we know they are capable of achieving them.
But we invest in working smart too: we have a 3 week Christmas holiday, no retrospective book marking, no student report writing and a 4 and half day week.
We recognise talent and impact. There are lots of opportunities for promotions within the school and Community Schools Trust. Our staff body at all levels is a true reflection of the makeup of the community we serve - we are proud of this and welcome anyone who will add value to our wonderful school community.
Cumberland Community School Safeguarding Policy
The Community Schools Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. In line with Safer Recruitment guidelines, all appointments are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and satisfactory references. We are an inclusive employer and welcome applications from all sections of the community.
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.
About Cumberland Community School
- School type
- Academies, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- School size
- 1346 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Cumberland Community School website
School location
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