Package Description: Required for: September 2026
Location: Deans Yard - Westminster School
Contract: full-time, temporary (one-term sabbatical cover from September to December 2026).
Salary: Westminster School has its own salary scale, and new members of staff are placed at a point relevant to their qualifications and experience. Details of salary will be discussed at interview with those candidates who are shortlisted.
The deadline for applications is 09:00 on Monday 23rd February. Interviews will take place in-person on Thursday 26th February 2026.
We are looking for a well-qualified English Teacher to provide sabbatical cover for one term, commencing in September 2026.
The successful candidate will be an inspiring passionate teacher, who will deliver outstanding English teaching and learning for our wonderful pupils. Teaching experience is a positive attribute, but the successful candidate might well be new to teaching. We have previously employed both qualified and unqualified teachers and there is a great deal of support within the department and through the School’s Professional Studies programme, for people looking to begin a career in teaching
They will maintain Westminster’s very high academic standards while also continuing to develop and refine curriculums and pedagogy in English in light of the School’s commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion. Successful applicants should be able to expand upon the range of texts and topics presently taught at the School. Applicants should be able to work equally well in considering the needs of Lower and Upper School pupils.
There are currently ten English teachers at Westminster with a diverse range of experiences and specialisms, many with additional responsibilities beyond departmental teaching. The department balances use of traditional and digital resources effectively and purposefully: candidates will need to be able to innovate in response to emerging technological tools. They will encourage cross-curricular work between departments and contribute to partnership work in English, including via Westminster’s Platform+ programme.
In addition to their academic duties, the successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the pastoral and co-curricular life of the School.
The Teacher of English (one-term sabbatical cover) is expected to:
Teaching and Learning
- Plan, prepare, teach and evaluate lessons, activities and learning and teaching strategies in line with Schemes of Work.
- Apply, where appropriate, technology capability to enhance learning and teaching.
- Provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment in which consideration is given to the individual development of all pupils.
- Differentiate learning and teaching and associated resources in a manner that challenges and interests the pupils and is appropriate to their needs and skill levels.
- Apply any recommendations and guidance for pupils with specific learning or welfare needs or disabilities, as directed by the Director of Teaching and Learning/SENCO, or on the pupil’s personalised learning plan.
- Contribute to and maintain consistency with internal and relevant external marking schedules and moderation procedures.
- Engage pupils fully in the assessment and self-evaluation process.
- Carry out a range of formative assessments of pupils’ attainment to acknowledge and inform progress.
- Record and report on pupil progress and achievements in accordance with the School’s requirements, including formal reporting points such as parents’ evenings and written reports.
All teachers at the School are expected to
- Promote and support the School’s Aims and Vision and School Development Plan.
- Adhere to and support the School’s policies and procedures.
- Accept responsibility for the welfare and care of all pupils, at all times.
- Undertake break and supervisory duties as designated by Senior Management
- Cover classes for absent colleagues as directed by Senior Management.
- Attend staff meetings, parents’ evenings and other meetings and school events, such as the Carol Service and school concerts, outside normal hours.
- Attend relevant school trips, normally including one residential visit per year.
- Undertake any other duties or tasks as the Head Master, the Under Master or the Governing Body may reasonably require.
- Engage positively in and contribute to INSET activities offered by the School.
- Be involved in new initiatives within the School as part of ongoing professional development.
- Take an active interest in maintaining subject knowledge, learning networks and current educational research.
- Respect all members of the school community, irrespective of position, gender, age, ethnic background or any other protected characteristic.
Pastoral care and pupil management
- Put pupils at the centre of everything you do, taking a pastoral interest in pupils around the School, so that they feel valued and cared for.
- Monitor the welfare of class pupils, providing guidance, advice and support, and fostering self-esteem.
- Motivate pupils through rewards opportunities.
- Actively maintain the high standards of behaviour and uniform of pupils in the classroom and in all school locations and activities.
- Write and maintain relevant records for individual pupil files and writing reports.
- Communicate, respond to and consult with parents on a regular basis maintaining records, as appropriate.
- Communicate and consult with other departments or members of staff to implement recommendations, policies or guidance.
Co-curricular English activities
Depending on expertise and experience, to take responsibility for duties which might include:
- UPCs/Oxbridge
- Creative writing offer
- Platform+ in English
- Departmental publications (e.g., YARD, Voce)
- Trips and visiting speakers
- Subject advocacy and pupil recruitment
- Participate in the Option and Cultural Perspectives programme
The English Department
The English Department at Westminster is highly qualified, creatively-minded and fully committed to developing excellent practice in teaching and learning. Our approach is progressive and self-scrutinising, both in designing curriculum content and considering pedagogy. Drawing on our academic specialisms and breadth of learning, we aim to encourage an enthusiasm for Literature that extends far beyond the classroom, while developing in Westminster pupils’ skills that will enable them to read situations and to understand complex behaviour. Pupils learn how to respond critically to the uses of language they encounter, not only in literary texts, but also in the world around them. We encourage ambitious wider-reading and believe in the importance of developing a personal, creative and critical voice. Discussion forms an important part of our practice; many classes are taught in seminar style groups.
English is a highly successful and popular subject at the heart of the School. All pupils take English Language and English Literature in their first three years. These studies culminate in the sitting of the OCR 9-1 English Language and CAIE IGCSE English Literature examinations at the end of Year 11. Approximately 120 pupils across Year 12 and 13 then follow the Eduqas A-Level English Literature course. The Department is successful in encouraging a high number of pupils to read at English at leading universities, both in the UK and overseas.
The English Department supports a wide range of co-curricular activities, including local literary walks, theatre trips, and museum visits, creative writing workshops and publications, and pupil-led societies. The Department contributes enthusiastically to outreach partnerships and literacy programmes alongside its academic work.
Equal Opportunities
We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.
Safeguarding and Child Protection
Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Working at Westminster
Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of around 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.
Our staff are friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.
There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.
At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.
As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.
Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.
The School
Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.
While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more.
The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.
From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence.