Job Description
Our highly focused five-year strategy aims to build on our existing strengths and heritage and deliver our ambitious growth strategy which aims to bring in a further five academies over the next five years. We are now seeking to appoint a dynamic and forward-thinking teacher to provide exceptional strategic and operational support to the Assistant Headteacher – Director of Sixth Form at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls in September 2026. Applicants should state the subjects they teach and must be able to teach to KS5.
This role is designed as a springboard for an aspiring senior leader. It offers a rich and varied portfolio of responsibilities that will enable the successful candidate to develop the skills, experience, and confidence required to progress to a Head of Sixth Form or senior leadership position within the next two years. The post holder will have genuine agency to lead significant aspects of post-16 provision, including Sixth Form academic intervention
and transition.
We offer the opportunity to work in a thriving school with passionate, motivated students who are deeply committed to their learning, and to join a dedicated, supportive, and highly professional staff team. Ours is a vibrant community, proud of its history and traditions yet outward-looking, innovative, and creative. We are a happy and caring school that values diversity, celebrates individuality, and fosters a strong sense of belonging.
Our Sixth Form delivers an A Level–only curriculum across 18 subjects. Subjects such as Art, Music, French, and German are taught in collaboration with two neighbouring King Edward VI grammar schools. Most of our Year 11 students choose to continue into the Sixth Form, and a further 40–50 students join us from approximately 400 external applicants. This creates a year group of around 205 students—large enough to offer breadth and opportunity, yet small enough to maintain a close-knit community. The blend of local identity, inclusivity, and collaborative spirit is central to the character of our Sixth Form.
Sixth formers play a pivotal role in shaping school life. Whether decorating form rooms for Christmas, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, or Diwali; producing the school’s academic journal; or gathering to celebrate iftar, students contribute richly to the cultural and intellectual life of the school. Leadership opportunities are extensive: students run many of our 70+ extracurricular clubs, deliver character education sessions as Form Prefects, and organise visiting speakers ranging from MPs to medical professionals. The Beacon, our student-led magazine, has won national awards at the Shine Media Awards for the past five years. Outside the Box, a weekly student-run celebration of neurodiversity, has also received both local and national recognition.
Around 90% of Year 13 students apply to university, with the majority securing places at Russell Group institutions. Each year, approximately 25–30 students’ progress to Medicine or Dentistry, while Law, Psychology, Optometry, and Pharmacy remain consistently popular pathways. In addition, 5–10 students annually secure highly competitive Degree Apprenticeships with leading employers such as Microsoft and L’Oréal.
We are seeking someone who is passionate about transforming the lives of young people and who approaches their work with integrity, humility, and unwavering positivity. If our vision, ethos, and ambition resonate with your own, we encourage you to download the job description, information for applicants, and person specification from our website to learn more about the role and our school. Visits are warmly welcomed and can be arranged by contacting the Head’s PA, Mrs S Harvey.
How to Apply
To apply, please complete the Academy Trust application form—including the names and contact details of two referees—and address it to the Headteacher, Mr D Goodwin. CVs will not be accepted. In the statement section of the application form, please outline how your experience to date has prepared you for this role and how, through this position, you would contribute to our vision and ambition.
A full job description and an application pack for this post, can be found at: https://kingedwardvi.bham.sch.uk/vacancies/
or can be obtained from:
King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls
Rose Hill Road
Handsworth
Birmingham
B21 9AR
Tel: 0121 554 2342
Email: [email protected]
