Zoe Johnson- Walker - Headteacher  

The staff of The Winston Churchill School form an outstanding team of professionals. I am looking for teachers who want to be innovative and creative and will contribute to the development of teaching and learning at Winston. At whatever stage you are in your career you will find both opportunity and support. Opportunity to contribute to our journey to become, on a daily basis, ‘outstanding’ and support to become the best leader of learning that you can be.

Our partnerships with other schools also enhances our provision in terms of leadership development and training activities. Working with three other secondary schools and our Independent school partner, Wellington College, creates a dynamic focus on our core business of teaching and learning. Developments in pedagogy are based on research and agents for change ensure that initiatives are focused on deep learning of interesting material or challenges and not on entertaining students.

There are a number of incentives that I can offer to encourage you to apply but the only one that really makes a difference is the opportunity that we will provide for you to be the outstanding teacher that you want to be, working with children, from across the ability range, who want to learn. Staff at Winston feel valued and supported and we share a clear vision. Teaching is a tough job and we all work hard but we learn so much from each other and we love what we do.

 

Miss L Hamilton

My journey at Winston began in 2019 as a SCITT trainee in the history department. It was clear quite early on that Winston was a place that celebrated individuality and promoted a supportive environment where I was sure that I would develop into the teacher I wanted to be. Throughout my first two years at Winston, with the guidance of excellent mentorship, I was able to hone in on my teaching practice. I was regularly welcomed into more experienced teacher’s classrooms where I could observe best practice and develop my teaching style through open communication and collaboration with others.

Once I had established my teaching style I was given the opportunity to share best practice with others, through mentoring of new colleagues and presenting at our schools teach meet. I have been offered numerous opportunities to develop at Winston, and have always felt appreciated for the work I do.

In my third year I successfully applied to become deputy head of year 11. My responsibilities with this involved supporting the head of year with day to day behaviours, organising the end of term celebrations and supporting students through the exam process. I greatly appreciated the opportunity to work with such a wider network of staff outside of my own department and felt proud of the trust that had been given to me to successfully do this role.

Now I am currently leading academic intervention for all of KS4. I work with a number of students and their parents to help them get the best grades possible, so they can go onto their next stages in life confidently. It gives me immense pride to know that I am making a difference to them, and the wider school community.

 

Mr A Harding

I joined Winston as a university graduate in September 2020, starting off as a Maths tutor. I very quickly discovered that I wanted to pursue a career in teaching at Winston so I successfully applied to become a trainee Maths teacher in January 2021. Since I started, I have been welcomed with overwhelming support from colleagues not just in my department, but across the school. It's this support network across the school that really helped me settle in at Winston and be able to push myself to new limits within my teaching.

Since achieving my Qualified Teacher Status, I have been presented with so many opportunities to further my teaching and get involved in the wider school communities. These opportunities include facilitating a PLC group for a small group of staff, running a TeachMeet session for colleagues from Winston and our partner schools, running sessions for Primary school students and their parents who are thinking of sending their children to Winston and going on a ski trip to Italy. It has been truly amazing how many opportunities I have been able to seize in such a short amount of time working at Winston.

Now, I have taken up the role of DofE Co-ordinator, overseeing the programme at our school. I get to work with some fantastic students and feel incredibly honoured that I get to share their experiences of helping out in the local community. I am very thankful that I have the opportunity to make a difference to our students both in and out of the classroom and I know that the support from colleagues around the school will continue as I further my career at Winston.

Mr C Drake

I joined The Winston Churchill School in September 2014 as Subject Leader for Music. I had spent 8 years in my previous post but was ready for a new challenge and the vision and passion that I was met with on my interview at Winston sold the post to me. Since then I haven’t looked back.

As soon as I had started it was clear that the support I needed to turn my vision for the Music department into a reality was there. My line manager and SLT link have both been invaluable in ensuring that I have received the time, space and resources necessary to carry out my job. This has included the appointment of a music technician to work in our recording studio and radio station which has allowed me to make full use of the excellent facilities the department has.

As well as thinking about the department I also feel that my own professional development is valued at Winston. There are regular CPD sessions for all staff as well as training within departments. In addition to all of this I have been lucky enough to be given the chance to work on a research project with The Jubilee Centre at Birmingham University and have attended a PiXL conference. Both of these are fantastic development opportunities and they’ve only come about because of the schools vision.

Of course a school isn’t a school without the pupils and staff. The pupils are some of the most enthusiastic and creative young people I have ever encountered. On a day to day basis I am amazed at the standard of work that they are able to produce and the level of commitment that they have shown to extracurricular music making has been phenomenal. The staff are friendly and encouraging and are happy to work together, collaborating on big projects like the whole school musical and supporting the numerous other events that take place throughout the year. The Winston Churchill School is a friendly and exciting environment in which to teach and I am proud to be a member of staff here. I feel both supported and appreciated and know that I will be given every opportunity to move up in my career.

 

Mr T Harrington-Tucker

I started my career in secondary education with The Winston Churchill School in April 2015. From the moment I arrived I felt welcome, the students were friendly and the staff went out of their way to promote a strong sense of community.

Initially, I started work within the support staff team as a cover supervisor. I found this was the perfect opportunity to experience what it was like to work in a classroom. Immediately it was clear that staff were willing to support me in my professional development and offer me opportunities to get involved in the wider community of the school. Within months I was assisting with the large scale school productions and helping to plan school trips and events.

Each academic year, I was offered new opportunities to succeed within my career. After a year in cover, I was offered a place as an assessment only trainee teacher. This route into teaching suited me, as I was able to immediately begin teaching my own classes. The team responsible for teacher training were incredible, with weekly sessions designed to further my understanding of teaching and learning. 

Once I had finished with my training, I was offered a position of leadership as a Deputy Year Leader. Again, everything I needed to work within my new role was provided for me and I was able to further my own goals as a professional in an environment that promoted the success of everyone. 

I had always admired the Drama Department at Winston. The students are so dedicated, talented and enthusiastic and the uptake of those taking Drama as an option was always strong. Within six years of working at Winston as a teacher, I was offered the position I had always aspired to; Head of Drama. Even now, I still feel as though the leadership team at the school is passionate about my development and will do everything to they can to further my skill as a teacher, just as they did when I first started.