Teacher of English

Our School

Salesian is a co-educational 11-18 Catholic comprehensive school and is part of the Xavier Catholic Education Trust.

Standards at the school are very high and students achieve exceptionally well. In last year’s GCSE examinations 47% of all grades were 7-9, 92% 4-9 and our overall Progress 8 was +0.96. At A’ level 32% of grades were A*-A and 68% A*-B.”

The school has 1400 students and is situated on two sites approximately one mile apart, near to the centre of Chertsey. The main school is situated at Guildford Road and our Sixth Form College has 467 students on its own site at Highfield Road.

A great deal of emphasis is placed on the co-curricular life at Salesian and outside the formal curriculum there are numerous opportunities for students to take part in a wide range of activities – drama, sport, music, exchanges, away days, Duke of Edinburgh, retreats and trips.

We work hard to ensure that staff and students are well looked after but we also set exceedingly high expectations of everyone at the school and underperformance is always challenged. When you get the balance right between challenge and support you get great teaching, when you have great teaching, the school becomes heavily oversubscribed and when this is the case parents believe in what you are trying to do and support you in doing it.

Salesian was designated as a Teaching School in September 2014 (since becoming a Teaching School Hub) in recognition of our track record of success in training teachers and supporting schools in difficulty. The Teaching School Hub offers a range of exciting opportunities for staff to engage in professional development and school-to-school support activities. Since 2015 we have been accrediting our own trainee teachers as part of the Teach South East SCITT partnership.

Candidates are welcome to contact the school to find out more information about specific departments or pay us a visit. We take recruitment very seriously and want to do all we can to find the best staff for our students.

I believe Salesian is a fantastic place to work and I am excited about the prospect of appointing a colleague with whom we can work closely in order to drive the school forward. I am hoping that you will be that person.

God bless,

Paul Gower | Headteacher

To commence: 1st September 2025

Closing date:  27th January 2025 but applications will be reviewed on receipt

Salesian School is seeking to appoint an exceptional individual to teach English. We welcome applications from trainee teachers and experienced colleagues alike, including those looking for positions with additional responsibility. If you are energetic, enthusiastic and love teaching children then we’d be delighted to hear from you. We are always happy to meet potential applicants prior to interview; please don’t hesitate to contact us (pcarr@salesian.surrey.sch.uk) if you would like any further information or to visit the school.

The English Department at Salesian

The English Department at Salesian is dynamic, progressive and has Learning and Teaching at the heart of everything it does. We are exceptionally proud of our results: last year 81% of our students achieved 5-9 at GCSE in English Literature, with 43% of these grades being 7-9.  In English Language, 76% of our students achieved 5-9, with 30% of these grades being 7-9.  At A Level, 86% of students secured an A*-B at  English Literature and 44% A*-B for English Language. We are passionate about constantly evaluating and improving our pedagogy and consider ourselves to be a department that is eager and honoured to drive whole school change.

At Key Stage Three we teach in mixed ability groups in Year 7 as we believe this is the optimum way for all students to settle into the school. Year 10 and Year 11 are taught in ability sets but consistency in the level of outstanding teaching remains the same; we expect every child to aim for the top grades regardless of what class they are in. At Key Stage Four we currently teach English Language and English Literature using the AQA exam board. We are fairly unique in the local area for offering both English Literature and English Language as two entirely separate A-Levels. Both subjects have a large uptake and the

range of classes and topics available to teach offers superb CPD opportunities for staff wishing to expand their teaching experience.

As part of a Salesian School we are also committed to extra-curricular projects. We are proud to have had winners at public speaking competitions in the past and run a debating club that has taken part in inter-school competitions this year. Theatre trips are run at every Key Stage and we encourage our most able and talented through university lectures. Passionate about improving standards of literacy, we run a highly successful mentoring programme between Year 11 and Year 8 and Year 10 and Year 7 students which has encouraged confidence in reading as well as allowing students who are considering a career in teaching a chance to develop key skills.

We are committed to teacher training and annually accept PGCE trainees from around London to take advantage of our exceptional training and support. We also host trainees from our own SCITT, Teach South East. We are always thrilled to receive NQTs for further training believing we benefit as much from their fresh ideas and creativity as they do our guidance and experience.

The successful applicant should be passionate about teaching English, and should be committed to continually developing their own Learning and Teaching. We are extremely proud of our department at Salesian and greatly look forward to welcoming a passionate colleague to join our successful and supportive team.

Amy Jackson

Head of English

ajackson@salesian.surrey.sch.uk