Job Description

Thurstable School

Essex
32,916 - 51,048 per year


Expiring soon

Salary:

MPS/UPS + TLR 2A 3521

Job type:

Full Time, Permanent

Start date:

05 January 2026

Apply by:

14 October 2025

Job overview

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We are seeking an outstanding Head of Spanish to develop and lead a high-quality, knowledge-based curriculum and drive academic progress across all key stages

As Head of Spanish, you will be responsible for developing a high-quality knowledge-based curriculum, leading curriculum planning, and ensuring the academic progress and outcomes of all students in the department.

You will be an excellent classroom practitioner with a strong track record of success in student examination outcomes in Spanish. You will need QTS, strong subject knowledge and a commitment to excellence .

We are seeking a leader who will model our core values of Aspire, Respect, and Endeavour and contribute to our mission of 'Building Knowledge, Growing Character'.

Why join us?

Ofsted recently graded Thurstable as as good in all areas and a school in which staff " benefit from and appreciate the considerable support for their well-being and workload". (Ofsted, 2025). We are committed to staff wellbeing and adopting sensible approaches to workload e.g. we have a live marking policy rather than book marking. As a school of character, we recognise the efforts and achievements of all our staff and never take anyone's work for granted. Ofsted recognised that the school has "high expectations of behaviour" and we are committed that classrooms should be disruption free so that every minute counts. Supported by clear school wide routines, staff adopt a warm/strict approach and are strongly supported by senior leaders who also run the centralised detention system. We think you, the teacher, is the expert. We promote the importance of teacher led lessons based on brilliant subject knowledge, great explanations and skilful questioning. Our commitment to genuine development. Our evidence based model of teaching is based on the work of Rosenshine and Lemov, and all teaching staff receive high quality one-to-one coaching We are on a journey of which you can be a driving part. We believe this is an exciting time to join the school and help our students reach their undoubted full potential. If you can dream big, work hard and also have a sense of fun, we genuinely believe that you will really enjoy working at Thurstable.

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our students and all posts are subject to an enhanced DBS check.
Child protection policy
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Recruiter contact:

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About

Thurstable School

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Thurstable School

Maypole Road, Tiptree, Colchester
Essex
CO5 0EW
United Kingdom

+44 1621 816526

Context and Characteristics - Traditional Values, Innovative Practice

Based outside of Colchester, we are a semi-rural 11-16 school which serves Tiptree and its surrounding villages. We are an

Ofsted rated good in all areas (May, 2025) stand alone academy which allies traditional values with highly innovative practices e.g. a two week October half term break, CPD within the school day on a Friday with teaching completed by lunchtime and a Yondr pouch system that means we are a genuinely mobile phone free school. Above all though we pride ourselves on being a school that is kind and has heart.

Our Mission and Values

Thurstable School has a clear mission of building knowledge and growing character. Underpinning these are our strong values of aspire, respect and endeavour. They are part of our DNA and inform all of our interactions and decisions at the school from our reward system to our shared language.

Building Knowledge

We very much believe in gimmick free teaching and learning and we place the teacher as the expert in the classroom. Sustainable academic achievement comes from students developing the habits of success from Year 7 and building on these each year. We do this through our Morning Meeting programme which every year starts with the Cog Sci module on how to boost long term memory.



Academic scholarship, reading and writing are at the heart of our curriculum and all students in Years 7 and 10 enjoy our Thurstable Loves To Read (TLR) programme which ensures that students read on average for 20 minutes a day.

Growing Character

Equally important to our ethos is growing character and one of our mantras is "true character is doing the right thing when no one is looking". We believe that character is taught, caught and sought. Central to this is our Tutor Group Character Curriculum and Elective Programme. Students are able to attend from a range of over fifty after school clubs and societies. We are ready to submit our application to be a kitemarked school of character from the Association of Character Education.

High Expectations and Consistent Routines

We know that ensuring high standards of behaviour is key to a successful school and Ofsted (2025) recognised that

"the school has high expectations of pupils' behaviour". There are clear, simple and effective processes in place to ensure disruption free classrooms in which our students

"focus on their learning and strive to do their best" (Ofsted, 2025). Senior Leaders take the lead on behaviour and are visible on every transition, lesson and entry to and from school. We run a centralised on-call and detention system so that teachers can focus on preparing great lessons. Key to our culture is consistency of routine from the way lessons start to how we connect before we correct.

"Staff receive high quality coaching and training". (Ofsted, 2025)

We removed performance related pay five years ago and believe in professional growth at the heart of school improvement. One of the original Steplab Coaching Hub schools, we have been pioneers in Instructional Coaching and all colleagues receive regular coaching from one of our Lead Practitioners or senior leaders. Staff receive high quality coaching and training. Highly supportive of individual professional development, many of our colleagues have completed NPQML/SL courses etc

Guaranteeing your Well-being, Reducing your Workload

We pride ourselves on promoting the well being of all of our staff which Ofsted noted

"They benefit from and appreciate the considerable support for their well-being and workload."*
There are no after school meetings as there is 1h 25 minutes each week of CPD, much of which is allocated to departments to provide subject specific training, sharing of best practice and curriculum development We prioritise the collective production of lesson resources to save individual planning e.g. through booklets, centralised resources etc. We have prioritised the time for this to happen. No expectation of traditional book marking - we have a feedback policy which focuses on providing live feedback in lessons and whole class feedback. Half termly assessments in most subjects are multiple choice knowledge assessments that are automatically marked with no teacher input or workload. Two week October half term break with no reduction in the Summer holiday Only a maxim of two main summative assessments per year group. Centralised detention system Strong behavioural system based on systems not personality Laptop provided Discounts membership to Tiptree Leisure World. Free membership of the Education Assistance Programme from Education Support which includes: A range of counselling options including telephone, online or face-to-face sessions, and a mindfulness module A dedicated coaching service for line managers, aimed at developing soft skills and building confidence for handling challenging situations Financial, legal and practical support from qualified professionals on a range of personal issues Access to online health and wellbeing resources and a specialist information service Please note that you are wholly responsible for fact checking in respect of the information provided by schools. Please also check for the latest visa and work permit requirements that may apply. Tes is not responsible for the content of advertisements or the policies adopted by advertising schools. Tes asks that all schools follow

Tes' Fair Recruitment Policy

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