Leader of Design and Technology
Hedingham School and Sixth Form, Halstead, Essex, CO9 3QH14 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 September 2025
Closing date
8 May 2025 at 12pm (midday)
Date listed
24 April 2025
Job details
Job role
- Head of department or curriculum
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
Subject
- Design and technology
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Pay scale
- TMS/UPS
Additional allowances
TLR 2 £7894
What skills and experience we're looking for
Main Responsibilities:
- To be responsible for the leadership, management, progress and development of the Design and Technology Learning Area.
- Strategically map improvement priorities through subject development planning, carefully monitoring impact and next steps.
- Ensure that the curriculum offered not only follows exam board requirements but is also inclusive, sequential, coherent and contextually appropriate.
- Monitor and evaluate the quality and impact of teaching and learning in relation to curriculum development.
- Provide ‘CPD’ opportunities for staff to enhance teaching and learning pedagogy.
- Track and monitor the progress of students and provide systems of intervention and support where required.
- Explore enrichment opportunities for students to add value to their curriculum experience.
- Support the wider culture of the school as part of the team of middle leadership.
Person Specification
- Subject Leaders should have the necessary experience and capabilities to be ‘lead practitioners’ within the school.
- As a successful Subject Leader, you will require excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to lead and manage through clear structures, effective two-way communication and the ability to inspire and motivate your team for the benefit of the students.
- You will be able to discuss, analyse, debate and formulate policy and subject development with other Subject Leaders and with SLT.
- Your ‘passion for learning’ and team-working skills are central to the success of the role as is your understanding of students needs and of pedagogical issues.
Above all you should have an ability to work in an ‘emotionally intelligent’ way with staff and students and to model the principles of the school
What the school offers its staff
We care about your well-being:
At Hedingham School and Sixth Form, our teachers’ well-being really matters. That’s why our leadership team carefully consider the impact that every decision will have on staff workload (Ofsted – March 2023). We value the importance of our staff and recognise the direct impact that they have on shaping the futures of our students. As such, we continually try to forge an environment in which they can flourish and develop.
Twice a term, we also have well-being weeks, which clear the calendar and enable staff to indulge in yoga, badminton, art classes or whatever encourages them to unwind and interact with colleagues.
Opportunities for career progression:
Staff are consistently offered opportunities to progress their career within the school as well as undertake whole school temporary projects as a stepping stone to wider responsibilities. Many of our staff that have taken on leadership roles in the school have progressed from within.
Training Opportunities:
We have a strong commitment to continuous professional development, using both internal and external expertise, with currently more than 20 team members undertaking National Professional Qualifications supported by the school. Many of our staff are Lead Subject Mentors for the local ITT hub. We encourage staff to lead CPD with colleagues but offer remission time to plan and refine their training sessions on the recognition that one hours high quality delivery often requires 5 hours in the planning.
Be involved in our broad curriculum offer:
As a teacher, often part of the enjoyment of working with children comes from experiences out of the classroom. We offer opportunities for staff to be involved in trips and visits including water sports trips, ski trips, theme park visits, New York, Duke of Edinburgh as well as more local visits that are built into subject curriculum offer as well as our wider personal development programme.
Further details about the role
All students up to the age of 14 study Design and Technology with a large proportion of students opting to study the subject at GCSE level. Students can make a wide variety of products using materials such as timber, metals, plastics, textiles, electronics and food. A significant number of students go on to study Design and Technology at ‘A’ Level. Students work on a range of projects where they design and make products which could be sold commercially. As well as learning about materials and equipment, all students are expected to work under Health and Safety guidelines.
Technician staff are encouraged to work with both teaching staff and students in the preparation of materials and equipment for lessons.
Ofsted recognised the work of the department by quoting that “the level of commitment and teamwork amongst teachers, including their support staff is highly commendable. Overall, this is a very good department”.
Curriculum Intent
Our curriculum is structured to provide all students with the opportunity to design and make a wide range of products using a diverse range of skills and equipment to develop their interests and confidence across the varied focus areas within the department.
Students will learn how to generate and present their own design ideas and then realise their design intentions by independently working with a wide range of media and materials to produce unique practical solutions to design challenges.
We aim to develop each student’s interest and curiosity for the subject by enabling students to work with an increasing level of autonomy to enable students to respond individually to real life design opportunities.
The KS3 and 4 curriculum maps are available on the school website.
Disciplines at KS3 and KS4
Graphics
Three Dimensional Design
Textiles Design
Food Preparation and Nutrition
The department is made up of 5 members of teaching staff who at KS3 teach across all disciplines and specialise in at least two areas at KS4.
Our current exam board for GCSE is OCR with the intention to move to EDUQAS September 2025.
KS5
Three Dimensional Design (OCR) is taught at A Level. Currently two specialist teachers support with our Post 16 DT offer.
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
Please download the application form using the link below, and once completed send to personnel@hedingham.essex.sch.uk
CVs are not accepted.
Additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Hedingham School and Sixth Form
- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 18
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 1138 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 18
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Hedingham School and Sixth Form website
- Email address
- hed.suttont@hedingham.essex.sch.uk
- Phone number
- 01787460470
Hedingham School and Sixth Form is an over-subscribed, independent Academy situated in an attractive village in North Essex (within easy reach of Braintree, Chelmsford, Colchester and South Suffolk). Our students are polite and engaged and love to learn and our parental body is highly supportive. As one student recently put it when speaking to an Ofsted inspector, “The school values shape us into adults.”
We are a school that values its history, maintaining traditional events and initiatives that are deep rooted in the local community whilst embracing new technologies, such as our offer of T-level Digital Business Services in our new state of the art T-level building, alongside our rural vocational centre supporting students towards pathways into local.
Hedingham School provides a high-quality educational experience for all students and strives to ensure that each individual’s academic and personal development is fulfilled.
We offer a vibrant learning environment where students are encouraged to ‘think’ and explore strategies to grasp and apply knowledge.
The curriculum offered is purposeful and stimulating, allowing students to build a range of skills as they progress through school.
We want our students to be resilient and take on the challenges of the 21st century. We encourage them to approach school with confidence and participate fully in all aspects of school life.
At Hedingham School, our students support and care for each other and display high levels of respect for all members of the community. Hedingham School has a strong ‘culture’ which actively promotes equality of opportunity, allowing all students to pursue their ambitions.
We believe in building strong partnerships with parents, based on trust and confidence.
Arranging a visit to Hedingham School and Sixth Form
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email hed.suttont@hedingham.essex.sch.uk.
School location
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