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Language Assistant (French)
Highcliffe School, Christchurch, Dorset, BH23 4QD10 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 January 2026
Closing date
17 October 2025 at 12pm (midday)
Date listed
7 October 2025
Job details
Job role
- Teacher
- Teaching assistant
- HLTA (higher level teaching assistant)
- Learning support or cover supervisor
- View all Suitable for early career teachersjobs
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
Subject
- French
Working pattern
- Full time, part time: 13 hours over a 3 day timetable.
Contract type
- Permanent
Actual salary
- £7,897.23
What skills and experience we're looking for
You will be responsible for supporting the teaching team to ensure that the students are exposed to a high quality of spoken and written language to support their language learning and exam preparations.
The ability to speak fluent French is essential. Good written and oral communication skills are a must, as is the ability to prioritise and plan your own workload in the context of conflicting priorities and to work on your own initiative. Previous experience of working with children would be an advantage.
What the school offers its staff
Highcliffe is a remarkable school with a special atmosphere. We are very highly respected in our community, with whole generations of families coming here for over 50 years from Christchurch and the New Forest. Former students, current students and their parents frequently speak of their powerful emotional bonds to our school lasting a lifetime. Although we have raised our PAN twice in recent years, demand for places still exceeds availability. This is a result of our caring and aspirational ethos combined with our engaging curriculum and excellent extra-curricular opportunities, although our track record of exam success is surely another factor. Our students are lovely young people to work with who respond enthusiastically to good teaching and are keen to learn.
Former students go on to work in international finance, law, education, politics, engineering, medicine, science, and in the Paris fashion houses, or as great chefs, carers, artists, musicians, mechanics, gardeners and much more – but not before they have thrived at Highcliffe academically, creatively and socially. We have an excellent record of success placing students into the top universities in their chosen field. Every year for the last 12 years at least on of our Sixth Form students have gone on to study at either Oxford or Cambridge universities; In the last 3 years, 10 students have had the opportunity to progress to Oxford or Cambridge. Our Sixth Form achieved an ALPS Gold Award in 2024 for value-added outcomes inside the top 25% nationally. We have successful programmes for students accessing careers in medicine, the law and engineering. We are an outwardly focused community with extensive school links in France, Spain and Japan including a unique exchange programme with a school in Hiroshima.
Our teaching staff are highly experienced, knowledgeable professionals who work together superbly. Our SEND, pastoral, clerical, financial, technical and site staff, who also form a strong team, are extremely good at their jobs and committed to the school’s success. We are a friendly, welcoming and supportive environment in which to work or learn, located in a great part of the country. As part of the HISP Multi Academy Trust we offer our team extensive opportunities for professional development; direct collaborative working with other schools in the Trust, and enhanced employee wellbeing benefits through the Trust’s Schools Advisory Services package – including access to private GP appointments, 24 hour medical helpline, counselling, physiotherapy. Career progression routes are available associated with our development as a regional Hub for school improvement and professional development providing the local ECTE programme and as the local Hun for Initial Teacher Training through Inspiring Future Teachers. We are a happy and upbeat school, characterised by warm and trusting relationships between staff and students. We recently completed a £1.8 million capital project improving heating and hot water, and in December 2022 successfully entered the School Rebuilding Programme to replace 18 classrooms with brand new buildings, which we expect to take the first steps towards during 2026.
We have a strong focus on staff well-being and an exceptional in-house professional development programme for teachers, ensuring that Highcliffe is a positive and supportive working environment for our staff. Visitors and new staff remark on how we feel like ‘one big family’.
We welcome applicants who share our ethos, bring outstanding professional skills and personal qualities, and have an unshakeable drive to make a difference to young lives through education. Unfortunately, we will not be able to contact every applicant who applies and take this opportunity to thank you for considering our school.
Flexible working opportunities
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
HISP MAT is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share in the commitment. This appointment is subject to an enhanced DBS check, social media check and positive references.
Applying for the job
This job requires you to download an application form, you will be able to upload the application once complete.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
Upload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Highcliffe School
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 19
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 1565 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 19
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Highcliffe School website
- Email address
- aparsons@highcliffeschool.com
- Phone number
- 01425 282323
Highcliffe is a remarkable school with a special atmosphere. We are very highly respected in our community, with whole generations of families coming here for over 50 years from Christchurch and the New Forest. Former students, current students and their parents frequently speak of their powerful emotional bonds to our school lasting a lifetime. Always popular, and usually over-subscribed, in the last two years our identity and success has attracted a rapidly growing number of admissions requests for Year 7. Although we have raised our PAN twice in three years, demand for places still exceeds availability. This is a result of our caring and aspirational ethos combined with our engaging curriculum and excellent extra-curricular opportunities, although our track record of exam success is surely another factor. Our students are lovely young people to work with who respond enthusiastically to good teaching and are keen to learn.
Former students go on to work in international finance, law, education, politics, engineering, medicine, science, and in the Paris fashion houses, or as great chefs, carers, artists, musicians, mechanics, gardeners and much more – but not before they have thrived at Highcliffe academically, creatively and socially. We have an excellent record of success placing students into the top universities in their chosen field. Every year for the last 10 years at least one of our Sixth Form students have, for example, gone on to study at either Oxford or Cambridge universities. We have successful programmes for students accessing careers in medicine, the law and engineering. We are an outwardly focused community with extensive school links in Germany, France, Spain and Japan including a unique exchange programme with a school in Hiroshima.
Our teaching staff are highly experienced, knowledgeable professionals who work together superbly. Our SEND, pastoral, clerical, financial, technical and site staff, who form a good team, are also extremely good at their jobs and committed to the school’s success. We are a friendly, welcoming and supportive environment in which to work or learn, located in a great part of the country. As part of the HISP Multi Academy Trust we offer our team extensive opportunities for professional development; direct collaborative working with Thornden School in Chandler’s Ford and more widely across the Trust region; and career progression routes associated with our development as a regional Hub for school improvement and professional development delivering NPQs, the local ECT programme, the Science Learning Partnership. We are a happy and upbeat school, characterised by warm and trusting relationships between staff and students; one big family. We recently completed a £1.8 million capital project improving heating and hot water, and in December 2022 successfully entered the School Rebuilding Programme to replace 18 classrooms with brand new buildings.
School location
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