Head of Year

The Cornerstone Academy, Poole, Dorset, BH15 4BQ

21 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  1 September 2026

• Closing date

  17 April 2026 at 12pm (midday)

• Date listed

  27 March 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher
  • Head of year or phase
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Key stage 3, Key stage 4
• Subjects: Biology, Chemistry, English, Humanities, Mathematics, Physics, Science
• Working pattern: Full time: 37.5hrs per week/ 5 days a week
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full-time equivalent salary: £38,040 to £53,040 depending on teaching experience
• Additional allowances:

  TLR for Head of Year responsibility

What skills and experience we're looking for

Head of Year

Start date – September 2026

Location: Poole Dorset, BH15 4BQ

Salary: Highly competitive United Learning Pay Scale (PT or EPT – depending on experience)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time, 37.5hrs per week

We are seeking an inspirational Head of Year to be responsible for the organisation and operation of a Year group, supporting their progress and addressing barriers to learning so that our students can achieve their full potential. Do you have a proven pastoral track record or looking to develop your career in this area? Preference will be given to outstanding teachers of Maths, Science, English or Humanities.

The Cornerstone Academy is part of United Learning; a large and growing group of schools aiming to offer a life changing education to children and young people across England. Schools within United Learning work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. By collecting expertise and combining resources, we help to make the tough job of teaching a little easier. With a shared curriculum and lesson plans from around the group available to all, our teachers have strong foundations to lead the engaging, rounded education our children deserve. Our intranet site, United Hub, is just one example of how we share these resources and communicate across sites, helping to simplify processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance. We reward our staff with wide career opportunities – between Primary and Secondary, Academy and Independent – better pay, benefits, and ultimately the satisfaction of helping every child at each of our schools to succeed and reach their full potential.

As a school we are passionate about improving life chances for our students and strive to ensure that they can be the very best they can be.

If you share our ambition and are an outstanding classroom practitioner, it’s an exciting time to join the academy.

For further information about this post and to apply please visit The Cornerstone Academy website

Vacancies | The Cornerstone Academy

or

United Learning Careers website https://unitedlearning.org.uk/A-Career-In-Our-Group/vacancies 

Please note we do not accept CVs

Visits to the academy are welcomed, please contact Samantha Arnold HR Manager to arrange.

Closing Date: Friday 17.4.26 (noon)

Interview date: Friday 24.4.26

Note – We reserve the right to interview and offer to a strong candidate prior to the closing date. It is strongly recommended that candidates submit their application as soon as possible. No further applications will be accepted once closed.   

This school is committed to Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff, governors and volunteers to share the same commitment. All posts are subject to an enhanced DBS clearance.

What the school offers its staff

You will have the opportunity to work with a staff team that is supportive, friendly and dedicated to providing the best for our students.

‘Big School Offer; Small School Ethos’ is our mantra and visitors often comment on how distinctive the school is. We do provide a high quality of education at the school, with an extensive extra-curricular offer and are proud of our care and compassion, that clearly permeates our work in all the best ways. Imagine, then, how transformative that environment is for the children who study and grow into adults here. This also applies to our staff; we have a fantastic team and we are all very proud to be working at Cornerstone.

As part of a cluster, you will also benefit from being able to work closely with colleagues across five United Learning secondary academies in Bournemouth and Poole.

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

Apply for the job by following the link below.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Additional documents

If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.

Head of Year job description 2026.pdf - 282 KB (opens in new tab)

About The Cornerstone Academy

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 16
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 682 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 16
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: The Cornerstone Academy website
• Email address: arnolds@cornerstoneacademy.org.uk
• Phone number: 01202 676789
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/the-cornerstone-academy

People often say after their first visit to The Cornerstone Academy how distinctive the academy is, how pioneering we are and yet also how our care and compassion clearly permeates all our work in all the best ways. Imagine, then, how transformative that environment is for the children who study and grow into adults here. This also applies to our staff; we have a fantastic team and we are all very proud to be working at The Cornerstone Academy.

As part of a cluster you will also benefit from being able to work closely with colleagues across five United Learning secondary academies in Bournemouth and Poole, and the potential to become a Specialist Leader of Education (SLE) or Lead Practitioner.

Arranging a visit to The Cornerstone Academy

To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email arnolds@cornerstoneacademy.org.uk.

School location

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