Head of English
Madeley High School, Crewe, Cheshire, CW3 9JJ14 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 April 2026
Closing date
22 January 2026 at 9am
Date listed
7 January 2026
Job details
Job role
- Head of department or curriculum
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Key stage 1, Key stage 2, Key stage 3, Key stage 4
Subject
- English
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- M1-UPS3, £32,916 - £51,048 plus TLR2B £5,868
Head of English job summary
We are seeking to appoint an enthusiastic and inspiring Head of English to lead our innovative and collaborative department. The successful candidate will be an exceptional classroom practitioner with the ability to deliver high-quality lessons across the full age and ability range. They will also demonstrate a strong commitment to continuous professional development and educational excellence.
At Madeley, our English department prides itself on being a supportive and forward-thinking team, united in our pursuit of excellence. We work closely together to adapt and refine our standardised, aligned curriculum, ensuring it meets the needs of all our students and leads to the best possible outcomes. Our collaborative ethos has enabled us to lead on several Trust-wide curriculum initiatives, and we value the opportunity to work with other outstanding departments across our network to raise standards.
As Head of English, you will lead a team of experienced, dedicated professionals who are passionate about their subject and committed to ongoing improvement. You will play a central role in shaping the strategic direction of the department, embracing challenge, driving innovation, and modelling outstanding leadership.
Why Madeley?
· One of the top-performing schools in Staffordshire - our GCSE results are exceptional, with Maths ranked number 1 in the county and overall Progress 8 scores significantly above the national average.
· Oversubscribed and thriving - Madeley is the number one school of choice in the region, receiving 299 applications for September 2025, with 190 as first-choice preferences.
· An electrifying culture of excellence - students cannot speak highly enough about their school; they are inspired, ambitious, and driven to succeed.
· An expertly crafted and engaging curriculum - our curriculum is described as "ambitious, immersive, and designed to excite and engage pupils", ensuring hands-on, real-world experiences.
· Innovative and forward-thinking leadership - our self-evaluation was described as "pinpoint accurate", our approach to teaching "exemplary", and our relentless drive for success embedded in every decision we make.
· A school that feels like home - students feel safe, valued, and driven to exceed their own expectations, supported by a team that goes above and beyond every single day.
Take this opportunity to be part of an inspiring journey - where your expertise, passion, and innovation will make a lasting impact!
Madeley School is an academy within Shaw Education Trust, the Trust is led by an Executive Leadership Team steeped in school leadership and improvement experience. They are committed to the continued professional development of all members of staff and the sustained successful performance of all its academies.
Our relentless focus on ensuring the highest academic standards has placed us amongst the top performing schools in the area based on sustained improvement. We strive to keep our core values at the heart of all we do on our collective mission of inspiring excellence
In addition to providing the highest quality teaching for successful learning in lessons, we are passionate about providing excellent enrichment opportunities beyond the classroom, so that all of our students have a rewarding and enjoyable time with us as they develop their interests and talents. In addition to providing the highest quality teaching for successful learning in lessons, we are passionate about providing excellent enrichment opportunities beyond the classroom, so that all of our students have a rewarding and enjoyable time with us as they develop their interests and talents.
A positive growth mindset underpins our approach to developing a learning culture where effort, resilience and learning from our mistakes are seen as the key to unlocking outstanding attainment.
Shaw Education Trust are a thriving mix of diverse and growing schools including Primary, Secondary and Special Schools all working together to improve the lives of young people in our communities. We are sponsored by Shaw Trust a charity organisation that focuses on transforming lives. We’re a growing group of dynamically awesome academies providing education to children of all ages and abilities. Staff across our team of schools are dedicated to ensuring that every child has the opportunity to be successful, whatever their starting point in life.
In our secondary schools, we pride ourselves on our innovative approach to curriculum design, to ensure all our schools have breadth and ambition for all students, regardless of their starting points and barriers. Standard curriculum models don’t always engage all students, so we constantly seek to innovate and provide better opportunities to develop both knowledge and skills for life. We want our students to believe their curriculum is bold, exciting, purposeful, and ultimately leads to something meaningful for them. Some examples of our innovation include moving towards an extended school day, to provide a world class enrichment programme and more opportunities for essential skills like reading and cultural capital. We are also introducing vocational and technical pathways, which run through the normal school curriculum but attract support from leading employers and universities to develops work-readiness in our students, so that they can progress onto T Levels and apprenticeships.
We know our people are the key to our success and so we’re committed to ensuring the employment experience at Shaw Education Trust is a rewarding one.
Colleagues within the Trust benefit from: Access to a full range of courses both in-house and professionally accredited. These courses include a variety of the National Professional Qualifications and the Early Carer Teacher Programme delivered by Shaw Education Trust as a delivery partner for Ambition Institute.
- •Experienced leadership and subject-specific support.
- Guidance from former HMIs and serving Ofsted Inspectors within the Trust.
- Access to the Trust’s Institute of Education and SCITT.
- Opportunities to work with different schools within the Trust as a Professional Advocate.
- Participating in peer reviews.
- Access to a suite of online courses.
- Placement projects within our family of schools.
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.
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.
View advert on external website (opens in new tab)About Madeley High School
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- School size
- 769 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Madeley High School website
Madeley School has an excellent reputation locally and is oversubscribed. Our OFSTED report in December 2019 praised pupils’ exceptional attitudes to learning in a school where they achieve strong outcomes.
School location
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