English Leader

Location: Heath Farm School, Charing Heath, Ashford, Kent.

Salary: £35,000 - 45,000 (dependent on experience)

Hours: 8.30am – 4.30pm, Monday to Friday Contract: Permanent, Term Time only

About the role

 We are seeking to appoint an ambitious and innovative English Leader to play a key part in delivering English across for our KS3 and KS4 classes. You will be skilled at engaging and motivating pupils who find learning a challenge in this all age special school for pupils with behaviour and learning difficulties including SEMH and ASD.

You will play a key role in the school as we strive to further develop new curriculum pathways and effective provision to engage all pupils. This role will also include being a class tutor and will involve leading on well-being, SMSC and Skills teaching with the group.

About the Group

 We are part of Acorn Education and Care and can promise you plenty of challenges, and a rich variety of opportunities to develop your career.

We provide Education and Care across a number of schools and residential homes nationally. Our specialist SEN provision, coupled with our expertise within residential care means we offer thousands of vulnerable children and young people across the UK a holistic, wraparound care, residential and education service, empowering them with everything they need to flourish. It is by no accident that 94% of our homes are rated as Outstanding or Good.

We welcome staff who share our commitment to help children experience better days and better lives. Through ongoing development and training, we ensure our staff are well prepared for their jobs and given every opportunity to extend their skills.

Acorn Education and Care is part of the Outcomes First Group.

About the School

It is an exciting time to join Heath Farm School. Under the leadership of the forward-thinking head teacher, the school and its team have recently redesigned and created a purposeful and unique ‘Heath Farm Curriculum’ that fully meets the holistic needs of our students.

We are now in the stage of fully embedding this across the school. We are an independent SEN school that offers a unique and stimulating environment where every pupil is able to make outstanding progress in their personal development and enjoy success in their education.

Our students present with a wide range of needs, including social and emotional issues, learning difficulties, mental health problems and associated conditions. However, they can enjoy extraordinary outcomes and be happy at school.

All classes have excellent ratios of at least 2:1 students to adults. Typically classes have between 6-8 students. As an independent SEN school we are far removed from the bureaucracy found in so many other schools and we are able to abandon ineffective and traditional methods in favour of new, highly effective and tailored initiatives – essentially we do what we know is right for the students in our care.

Information about the school Heath Farm School offers a unique and stimulating environment where every pupil is able to make outstanding progress in their personal development and enjoy success in their education. With modern, well-resourced classroom pods, the expertise of the dedicated staff team ensures that each child can put past failures behind them in a calm and settled atmosphere.

Each student is motivated through a personalised curriculum and clear targets. Heath Farm lies in a spacious rural setting near Ashford, and attracts pupils from across Kent, neighbouring counties and parts of London, because of its growing reputation for success.

Pupils with a wide range of needs, including social and emotional issues, learning difficulties, mental health problems and associated conditions, are able to enjoy extraordinary outcomes and be happy at school. From its nurturing approach for primary pupils through to the relaxed working environment of the specialist 6th Form Centre, all students are encouraged to reach high standards in every aspect of their lives. Students move on from Heath Farm to college courses, apprenticeships and jobs, confident they can lead happy and meaningful adult lives.

What can we offer you?

  • A commitment to support you in developing new skills through a wide range of professional development opportunities and experiences.
  • The opportunity to make a huge contribution to the education and lives of children who respond very positively to high quality teaching.
  • A friendly and inclusive working environment.

Who are we looking for?

Above all else we are looking for someone with the right attitude and outlook on what education should be about. Ultimately this is about an unconditional love and care for our students, a commitment to meeting their needs and providing them with the best education possible, and a passion for developing and demonstrating the skills students will need in order to be successful in later life. If you are a professional with the ability and ambition to deliver outstanding learning for children and young people with special education needs, then this is the role for you.

How to Apply

Visits to the school strongly recommended and we are certain that you will be even keener to apply once you see the fabulous and caring approach, we take with our students along with our excellent and modern site.

To arrange a visit and/or speak to the Headteacher, please call Jason Pearn on 01233 712030. Acorn Education and Care are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All successful applicants will be subject to fully Enhanced DBS. We expect all our employees and volunteers to share this commitment and strive to achieve the best outcome possible for everybody in our care. A full application form must be completed with all employment dates accurate and gaps in employment accounted for.


Apply now