13 days remaining to apply

  • Start date details

    September 2026

  • Closing date

    24 June 2026 at 9am

  • Date listed

    11 June 2026

Job details

Visa sponsorship

Visas cannot be sponsored

Subjects

Drama, English

Working pattern

Full time

Contract type

Fixed term

Full-time equivalent salary

£32,916.00 - £51,048.00 Annually (FTE) Main scale/UP scale (pending pay award)

Teacher of English & Drama (Maternity Cover) job summary

Start date: September 2026

Closing date: Wednesday 24th June, 9.00am

Shortlisting date: Wednesday 24th June

Interview date: Tuesday 30th June

Contract: Fixed term

Working hours: Full time, 32.5 hours per week

Salary Range: Main scale/UP scale (pending pay award)

You will guide students through the exploration of text, language, and performance, providing stability and high-quality instruction during a key period of maternity leave. At Kingsdown School, English and Drama are not standalone subjects; they are core avenues for student voice and community connection. Your presence in the classroom will directly sustain our momentum in developing articulate, confident young people who see their potential reflected in both analytical and creative fields.

What You’ll Bring
  • Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) with a specialism or strong capability in teaching both English and Drama across key stages.

  • A commitment to collaborative planning, working efficiently with colleagues to use and adapt existing resources rather than recreating them from scratch.

  • Evidence-informed classroom practice, maintaining an environment rooted in respectful relationships, clear routines, and high expectations.

  • An inclusive approach to learning, ensuring all students—regardless of their starting points—can engage meaningfully with demanding texts and performance tasks.

  • An interest in community-focused arts, supporting our established departmental traditions of celebrating student performance and creative expression.

The "Why Us" Difference
  • Centrally Planned Curriculum: We provide high-quality, centrally planned curricula and shared resources baseline banks, removing the burden of individual lesson preparation and allowing you to focus on classroom delivery

  • Performing Arts Community: Our team actively celebrates student achievement, most recently demonstrated by our multi-musical Performing Arts Showcase, which brought together students from across the school.

  • Integrated CPD: Professional development is built directly into the school day rather than tacked on as an afterthought.

For more details, please see the Job Description in the pack attached. If you would like to know more about this opportunity, or to arrange visit or a call please contact recruitment@kingsdownschool.co.uk

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

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.

View advert on external website (opens in new tab)

About Kingsdown School

School type
Academy, ages 11 to 16
Education phase
Secondary school
School size
1029 pupils enrolled
Age range
11 to 16
Ofsted report
View Ofsted report

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

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