Head of Humanities
John Cabot Academy, Bristol, BS15 8BD40 days remaining to apply
Job start date
16 December 2025
Closing date
27 January 2026 at 11:59pm
Date listed
18 December 2025
Job details
Job role
- Head of department or curriculum
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Key stage 3, Key stage 4
Subjects
- History, Humanities
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- M1 - UPS3 (£32,916 - £51,084) + TLR 2BB (£8,020)
Head of Humanities job summary
Job Title: Head of Humanities
Actual Annual Salary: M1 - UPS3 (£32,916 - £51,084) + TLR 2BB (£8,020)
Contract Type: Permanent
Hours: Full-time, 32.5 hours per week
Provisional Start Date: April or September 2026
Your opportunity to lead Humanities and inspire the next generation of learners
As Head of Humanities, you will lead our department across Key Stages 3 and 4, shaping the curriculum, driving teaching excellence, and embedding effective assessment strategies to ensure outstanding student progress. This is a pivotal leadership role where you will inspire and support a team of dedicated teachers, fostering collaboration and innovation within the department.
If you are passionate about Humanities and committed to creating a positive, inclusive learning environment, we would love to hear from you. Experience as a History teacher is desirable, and we encourage you to highlight this on your application. However, we welcome applications from candidates across the Humanities specialisms.
About you:
You will bring:
- Strong subject knowledge across Humanities and an understanding of current curriculum developments.
- Proven teaching experience across Key Stages 3 and 4, with evidence of delivering high-quality lessons and achieving excellent outcomes.
- Leadership skills to inspire and motivate staff, with the ability to drive improvement through data analysis and targeted interventions.
- Excellent communication and organisational skills, enabling you to build effective relationships with colleagues, students, and the wider community.
- A commitment to professional development, reflective practice, and continuous improvement.
- A passion for inclusion, equality, and safeguarding, ensuring the welfare and success of all students.
Applicants are advised to refer to the full requirements of the role in the attached job description and person specification, prior to submitting an application.
About John Cabot Academy:
John Cabot Academy is an 11-16 academy in South Gloucestershire, close to the border of Bristol. We share our site and staffing with the CLF Post-16 provision, forming an 11-18 academy, which has earned a strong reputation both locally and regionally.
We want our students to thrive academically; flourish and grow as young people. When they leave us they will have a strong sense of self, their place in the world and the agency to fulfil their potential. To fulfill this ambition, our staff are inspired by learning and create a school where students are engaged, challenged and inspired.
We have a supportive and compassionate culture in which the whole person is nurtured and the voice of students is valued. We celebrate the diversity of the members our community by enabling them to learn from each other, by encouraging them to respect each other’s differences, and by providing opportunities to contribute to academy life and the wider community.
Why work at CLF?
We are a diverse and inclusive community of 36 academies across five cluster regions in the South West that is committed to excellence and making a positive impact. Our people bring unique perspectives, but we’re all driven by a shared moral purpose and a passion for making a positive impact, whether in a teaching, leadership or support role. We’re proud to foster a culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued, and make a meaningful difference to the lives of others.
We are an equal opportunity employer and proud to serve a diverse student population and our communities. We strongly believe that representation matters. Over 59% of the students who attend John Cabot Academy are from global majority groups, so we particularly encourage applicants from those groups in order to represent the students we serve, as well as wider underrepresented groups including gender, transgender, age disability, sexual orientation or religion.
We aim to remove any barriers to employment, ensuring everyone can compete on equal terms. Job share, part-time and flexible working opportunities will be considered.
What we can offer you:
- Access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
- Comprehensive induction and ongoing support for career development and wellbeing.
- Sector-leading professional development entitlement and opportunities.
- Collaboration with colleagues across the trust through subject communities and specialist networks.
- Shared CLF curriculum, written and curated by trust experts, reducing individual teacher workload.
- Career enhancing and progression opportunities within the trust and through the CLF Institute.
- A collaborative culture which supports workload.
- Well-being support through an Employee Assistance Programme.
- Health benefits, including wellness sessions, gym discounts, and flu jabs.
- A range of generous family leave options, including above industry average occupational maternity pay.
- Additional benefits like cycle to work scheme, on-site parking and many more!
Recruitment timeline:
- Closing Date: 27th January 2026
- Shortlisting Date: 28th/29th January 2026
- Interviews: 6th February 2026
We welcome visits from potential candidates. If you would like to arrange a school visit prior to the closing date, please contact the academy/site directly to arrange a suitable appointment.
As part of our commitment to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), we do not accept CVs – a full education and employment history must be provided through our application form.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, should we receive a high level of interest in the role. Therefore, candidates are advised to apply at their earliest convenience to avoid missing out.
As a Disability Confident Committed Employer, we are dedicated to equity and inclusion and commit to interviewing applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria. We aim to provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, and support employees throughout their employment. If you have a disability, are neurodivergent, or require any adjustments to support you through the application or interview process please let us know how we can assist.
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 John Cabot Academy
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 19
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- School size
- 1278 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 19
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- John Cabot Academy website
John Cabot Academy is an Academy based in Kingswood Bristol where staff and students alike are inspired by learning. John Cabot Academy provides education to 1125 students Key Stages 3 to 5 from a diverse community. We aspire for our students to thrive academically; flourish and grow as young people. When they leave they will have a strong sense of self, their place in the world and the agency to fulfil their potential.
School location
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