Head of Food

Kingsdown School, Swindon, SN2 7SH

6 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  As soon as possible

• Closing date

  24 September 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  18 September 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher or lecturer
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Subject: Design and technology
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: £32,916.00 - £51,048.00 Annually (FTE) Plus TLR 2(2) £5,869 (Pay award pending)

Head of Food job summary

Start date: As soon as possible

Closing date: Thursday 24th September, 9.00am

Shortlisting date: Thursday 24th September

Interview date: Thursday 1st October

Contract: Permanent

Working hours: 32.5 hours per week

Working pattern: Monday - Friday

Salary Range: Main Scale/UP Scale plus TLR 2(2) £5,869 (Pay award pending)

We are seeking a resilient and creative leader who is passionate about removing barriers to learning and who thrives on the autonomy to drive departmental excellence. We are looking for someone who will raise standards of student attainment and achievement for all year groups within the department and to monitor and support student progress through the development of the curriculum.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven Impact: A track record of delivering excellent outcomes for students in Design and Technology or Food Preparation and Nutrition.

• Curriculum Expertise: A creative and well-researched approach to the Food curriculum, with the ability to build and refine practical, high-quality schemes of work.

• Leadership Potential: The resilience to tackle operational and classroom challenges head-on, along with the desire to mentor and develop colleagues.

• Evidence-Informed Mindset: A commitment to using professional research to improve classroom practice and practical pedagogy.

The "Why Us" Difference

• Professional Agency: We trust you as the subject expert. We provide the autonomy for you to lead your department and shape your curriculum without micromanagement.

• Leadership Training: We don’t just hire leaders; we build them. You will have access to bespoke leadership training and pathways to support your career progression.

• Workload-Sensitive Culture: We focus on what is genuinely impactful for pupils. This means prioritising effective feedback over "performative" marking and protecting your time for high-quality CPLD.

For more details, please see the Job Description attached. If you would like to know more about this opportunity please contact recruitment@kingsdownschool.co.uk

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

River Learning Trust and Kingsdown School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. We are an exempt employer under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

We actively value the "different contributions" you can make. We want you to be at your best during the application process; if you require any reasonable adjustments, please let us know.

Note: We do not accept CVs; please apply via My New Term. We reserve the right to interview and appoint exceptional candidates early.

Kingsdown School and the River Learning Trust

By joining our Kingsdown family you will join a team who genuinely cares and champions each and every student and each and every member of the Kingsdown team.

At Kingsdown, we know that staff and students thrive in a ‘healthy work culture’ and the wellbeing of staff and student outcomes is inextricably linked. We are committed to providing the best working and learning environment for all. The RLT has a staff charter and strong values, we uphold these values and commitments, and further build on these with our Wellbeing Strategy.

One of the core values of the RLT is that ‘everyone is learning’ and at Kingsdown we ensure each person has the personalised CPLD that they deserve. We do this through a variety of programmes that allows all staff to take a lead on their own professional development, with the support of colleagues within the school. We are also very excited to be launching our coaching model this year, to allow staff the opportunity to be coached and develop their teaching practice further, whatever stage of their career they are in. High quality CPLD and training are an integral part of our meeting schedule and time is given to curriculum teams to collaborate and learn from each other. Alongside this we have a personalised induction programme that allows for new staff members to join us feeling supported and welcomed from day one.

Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.

OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.

OUR ‘WHY?’ is that children and young people ‘only get one go’ in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible ‘go’ for our pupils.

OUR ‘HOW?’ is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.

Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our “Working in RLT” guide.

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 Kingsdown School

• Organisation type: Academy, ages 11 to 16
• Education phase: Secondary school
• Size: 1108 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 16
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• Website: Kingsdown School website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/kingsdown-school-sn2-7sh

Kingsdown is a mixed 11–16 Secondary School located in Stratton St Margaret, Swindon. It offers a vibrant learning environment, one in which its students take great pride in both their learning, their behaviour and their individual aspirations. Our teachers combine a high level of academic expertise with excellent teaching skills and a real and deep concern for the wellbeing of each and every student. Taken together, these allow us to recruit and retain the very best teachers.

Thank you for taking an interest in working with us at Kingsdown School. You are joining us at a very exciting time in our school’s history. At the end of January 2020, we had a two day Ofsted Inspection and were judged to be Good in all five categories under the new framework. This marked the end to over a decade of being judged Requires Improvement.

Kingsdown is a school that has been on a transformational journey. We had a two year P8 trend of -0.50 and this year we secured a P8 score of +0.04. We have also recently been shortlisted for the TES Secondary School of the Year award. Along with the Ofsted judgement, this transformation is truly wonderful for our students, our school and community. Now we are looking for talented and experienced colleagues to join our team as we journey to Outstanding.

Our vision for our school is “a school of excellence bursting with pride and ambition” and our mission statement is that we “champion each and every student”.

School location

Get a job alert when similar jobs are listed

Find more school jobs in Swindon