Head of Subject - English Secondary

About The Role

The Head of Subject English (Secondary) provides authoritative educational leadership for their programme, under the pan-programme leadership of the AC+ Education Director. The Head of Subject for English Secondary is responsible for the programme’s educational quality and impact across Ark schools and the wider partnership and shares responsibility with Ark Schools colleagues for improving subject outcomes across the network. They will work as an integrated part of an Ark subject leadership team to establish a shared vision for subject excellence that underpins how their programme is understood, implemented and developed, and will work across AC+ to ensure that this vision informs implementation support and the programme’s ongoing evolution.

They will contribute directly to Ark Schools’ work to improve subject outcomes across the network, including providing school support and undertaking an agreed allocation of work directed by the Ark Schools’ Director of Curriculum and Assessment. They will ensure that insights from this work inform the programme’s ongoing development, supporting a live and responsive partnership between Ark Schools and AC+. The Head of Subject (English Secondary) will lead their subject within the Programmes team, keeping the team up to date with educational thinking and coordinating all ongoing programme maintenance, including high-quality assessment writing.

They are also hands‑on, working alongside the design team on curriculum writing, pedagogical quality assurance and coaching of design team members. They will also build the programme’s external profile by sharing its curriculum and pedagogical thinking, contributing to national subject conversations and developing strong advocates for AC+ approaches.

The Head of Subject– English (Secondary) will report into Programmes Director. This role is currently operating hybrid working in our West London Office on a permanent basis working full time.

Key Responsibilities

• Contribute to and implement the organisation’s strategy and mission, working closely with the Product Strategy Director, Education Director and Heads of Product to develop and implement a programme strategy that supports the organisation’s mission, strategic priorities and long-term sustainability
• Lead the strategic design and ongoing development of the English Mastery Secondary curriculum, ensuring that it is ambitious, coherent, carefully sequenced, inclusive and responsive to developments in curriculum, assessment and the wider education landscape
• Establish and maintain a strong programme of subject‑specific professional learning for AC+ colleagues, building subject expertise and knowledge of the pedagogical approaches used across Ark Schools and AC+ programmes
• Work closely with the Education Director and wider Ark subject team to establish a shared understanding of how educational principles translate into secondary English, and establish and uphold a vision for subject excellence that underpins how the programme is understood, implemented and developed over time
• Establish and facilitate regular Subject Panels, recording and sharing outcomes in line with agreed structures, and maintain a rigorous understanding of the implementation, impact and perceptions of their programme through subject panels, assessment outcomes, school visits, feedback, metrics, data points and other user feedback mechanisms
• Provide school support across the Ark network, using AC+’s codified school‑support model and adapting support in collaboration with Ark stakeholders to strengthen implementation and subject outcomes
• Lead the subject assessment strategy, including diagnostic, formative and summative assessment, and oversee the development and quality assurance of assessments, mark schemes, exemplification, standardisation and re‑teach materials, ensuring that assessment evidence informs programme improvement
• Approve the content and sequencing of subject induction, CPD, school support and conference provision, signing off content at agreed milestones and before publication
• Develop clear curriculum and pedagogical rationales and briefs, and train and support colleagues across the Programmes and Design teams, alongside external curriculum designers and authors, to produce consistently high‑quality educational content
• Build the programme’s external profile by sharing its curriculum and pedagogical thinking, developing advocates for AC+ approaches and contributing expert subject content to marketing and communications campaigns as appropriate

Key Requirements

• Right to work in the UK
• Educated to degree level, with a relevant degree or equivalent subject expertise in English or a closely related discipline
• Qualified Teacher Status or an equivalent teaching qualification
• Strong commitment to ongoing professional development and specialist qualifications, with a strong understanding of progression in English across the primary‑secondary transition
• A minimum of three years’ successful teaching experience in secondary English, including Key Stages 3 and 4
• Deep knowledge of secondary English curriculum design, sequencing, subject pedagogy, curriculum and assessment requirements
• Experience of leading curriculum development or improvement beyond an individual classroom, including designing or quality assuring English assessments, mark schemes and standardisation materials
• Knowledge of inclusive curriculum design and approaches supporting pupils with SEND, EAL and lower prior attainment
• Experience of leading complex, cross‑functional projects, with the ability to manage competing priorities and reprioritise effectively
• Strong stakeholder management, negotiation and external partnership skills, with excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate complex educational ideas clearly to different audiences
• An experienced and confident leader with a proven ability to lead and implement sustainable change
• Ability to probe, challenge and question appropriately and strive for continual improvement
• Strong professional judgement and the confidence to make and communicate difficult curriculum decisions

Benefits

• Our flexible working model offers the best of both worlds, balancing in person collaboration, either in our state of the art West London office or through visits to our schools, with the flexibility of remote working
• In addition to flexible working arrangements, employees can request to work fully remotely for up to 10 working days a year, whether this be in the UK or abroad
• Our flexitime policy allows you to work your hours around our core hours of 10.00 - 16.00, helping you prioritise your work‑life balance and personal commitments
• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face‑to‑face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest‑free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

About Us

Ark Curriculum Plus is a not-for-profit education venture set up by the Ark Multi Academy Trust to improve subject outcomes. We’ve now been going for over ten years, using what we learn in Ark to support over 1,000 schools nationally. Our mission is to empower teachers to give every young person, regardless of their background, the subject knowledge and skills that will allow them to succeed.

We now have subject excellence programmes in English, Maths, Science and Geography, at primary and secondary. A team of subject experts work with partner schools to empower teachers to achieve subject excellence using an ambitious curriculum combined with CPD, teaching and assessment resources.

Our programmes, including Mathematics Mastery and English Mastery, have been shown to have measurable impact in evaluations by the EEF, FFT and The Brilliant Club.

Diversity and inclusion

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this

Safeguarding statement

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this

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