We are seeking to appoint a dynamic and innovative candidate to join our excellent English Department which comprises of eight teaching staff. Each member of the department is seen as an integral part of the team, working together, sharing ideas and developing resources cohesively. The successful candidate will have the capacity to bring innovative ideas to the classroom and show a strong record of raising student attainment through their teaching. The post is a 1 year maternity cover.
The English Department is a close team who work hard to teach lively and engaging lessons, seeking to help pupils of all abilities develop their competence and enthusiasm for the key areas of reading, writing and speaking and listening. Enrichment is provided by extra-curricular activities in drama, debating, public speaking, a journalism club and theatre trips. Underpinning all our work is the school’s ethos of ‘cura personalis’ (the care of the individual).
Applications are welcome from both experienced and newly qualified teachers able to teach throughout the age and ability range.
Wimbledon College is a popular and oversubscribed school which prides itself on its exam results at both GCSE and A level with results significantly above national averages. As a Jesuit school, our ethos can be summed up by St Ignatius Loyola’s vision for Jesuit schools as being “for improvement in living and learning for the greater glory of God and the common good.” Central to St Ignatius’ vision and to the College is the education of the whole person, providing each pupil with the opportunity to strive for excellence in all that they do.
The school is accommodated in striking Grade II listed buildings on Edge Hill, above the parish church of the Sacred Heart, on a spacious green site in a conservation area. Private and public funds have facilitated a substantial development of the facilities of the College over the last fifteen years.
The College currently has close to 1300 boys on roll including 270 in the Sixth Form. It is a great place to work with a supportive, committed staff who share the school’s high expectations. All teachers are specialists in their subjects and there is a well-established CPD programme which encourages staff to work collaboratively on self-identified areas of research and pedagogy.
Wimbledon College has a strong system of pastoral care and discipline. All teachers are form tutors and work with Heads of Line in ensuring every boy is supported, cared for and challenged to progress academically and become involved in the wider life of the school. The school’s intake is truly comprehensive academically, socially and economically and ethnically. It draws from across southwest London and from Surrey and north of the Thames also. Last year saw boys join the College from over 40 different schools. Places in Y7 are regularly oversubscribed threefold.
We encourage all of our boys to be involved in extra-curricular clubs and activities and we offer over 80 different such opportunities to the boys. The school has a strong tradition of drama and music as well as a very extensive sports programme in the school, financially supported by parents’ donations to the School Fund.
Rhetoric (Y13) Leavers’ reflections on their time at the College
“I am very proud for having being part of a Jesuit school. It not only brings a sense of belonging in the sense of feeling part of the Jesuit family. All the boys have a real sense of community and I have made long standing friendships”
“The opportunities I have had this year to go so much further into the life of the school has made me realise how much people really do care about it. Especially the staff, who have inspired me to love my subjects and would go so far to get what’s best for each and every pupil. The daily interactions with them are invaluable.”
“I feel very proud to call myself a student of Wimbledon College. Whether it was doing up my tie in the morning with seven stripes or holding my hand on my heart above the Wimbledon College logo when I was preparing for a football game for the school, I always knew that my identity was a Catholic student of Wimbledon College, and I aimed to show that in everything I did, in and out of school. Every member of staff along the way encouraged me, and influenced me to work to my strengths, furthering my admiration of the subject, and overall, the teachers made me feel a sense of pride about my God-given talents.”
“I don’t believe any other school focuses on the men that we shall become and how we will impact the world around us, and for that reason I am proud to have attended the College. I have been able to achieve targets in and out of the classroom which I am very proud of, and there have been teachers along the way that I have always been able to turn to. Wimbledon College has furthered my development into a young man who is ready for the next step in his life, and I believe that is all a school is there to do”
“Every opportunity that comes my way to help my fellow students in need is an integral part of life at Wimbledon College. The school encourages us to live for the success of not only ourselves, but our colleagues likewise.”
“Wimbledon College has given me opportunities that I never dreamed of doing and has taught me how to be a better man through respecting other, listening and adapting myself to challenging situations.”
“The College has allowed me to become an individual who acts as a natural leader, sharing success with peers. Wimbledon College brings out the philosophical side, and allows for a deeper meaning of our world, that will encourage us to explore more when we leave.”