Teachers who want to found something, not simply join it
A founding staff is small, and every appointment shapes the school. Three things matter most to us.
Faith at the centre
The school has a Catholic ethos, and we are looking for staff who embrace Catholic values and are glad to see them lived out in an ordinary school day: daily Mass, the sacraments, and the patient formation of character. Practising Catholics are especially welcome; what is essential is a wholehearted commitment to the ethos.
The highest academic standards
We want teachers who love their subject and expect a great deal of their pupils. Our pupils will sit eight or nine GCSEs, with Latin and great books at the heart of the curriculum, and they must leave at sixteen able to hold their own anywhere. Subject mastery counts for more here than any particular teaching orthodoxy.
Range, and a builder's temperament
In the first years, every teacher will cover more than one subject and help write the schemes of work they teach. That suits people who enjoy breadth, take responsibility readily, and would rather shape a curriculum than inherit one. It will not suit someone who wants a settled department from day one.
Small classes, a serious curriculum, and time to teach it properly. Photograph by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash.
Pay and conditions
We intend to pay a good salary, benchmarked against national teachers' pay scales for England and reviewed annually. Affordability for families is central to this school, but it is not to be achieved by paying teachers poorly: a lean school means modest overheads, not modest salaries.
The teaching week is thirty 55-minute periods. We plan a maximum of 25 contact periods for a full-time teacher under the leaner curriculum, and 27 under the broader one, with at least a tenth of teaching time protected for planning, preparation and assessment. Most homework is replaced by supervised study in school, and the school takes a deliberately low-tech approach.
What we can also offer: small classes, a serious curriculum, genuine influence over what is taught, time for scholarship, and colleagues who share the same purpose. What we cannot yet offer: the certainties of an established school. We would rather say so plainly.
The shape of the founding staff
Three teachers open the school in September 2027, alongside the Headteacher. The staff then grows with the year groups: to five or six teachers in 2028–29, and six or seven at full size in 2029–30.
| Post | Expected start | Likely teaching |
|---|---|---|
| Headteacher |
Ahead of opening | Leads the school and its registration. Teaches around six periods a week under the leaner curriculum; largely non-teaching under the broader one. |
| Teacher of Mathematics and Science |
September 2027 | Mathematics and science across Years 7 to 9; natural science too under the broader curriculum. |
| Teacher of English and Humanities |
September 2027 | English and history, with geography and art under the leaner curriculum; the wider humanities and a modern language under the broader one. |
| Teacher of Latin and Religious Education |
September 2027 | Latin and religious education throughout the school, plus a modern language; Greek as well under the broader curriculum. |
| Visiting teachers: music and physical education | September 2027 | Part-time or sessional under the leaner curriculum, including choir and ensembles. Covered by the teaching staff under the broader one. |
| Two further teachers | September 2028 | Science as a post in its own right, and a second humanities or languages post, as Year 10 arrives. |
| Oxygen lead (broader curriculum only) | September 2028 | Our enrichment programme, with art, music and natural science alongside it. |
| Final teaching post | September 2029 | Completing a staff of six or seven as the school reaches five year groups. |
Of the founding three, Latin with religious education is the combination we expect to be hardest to fill, so it is the conversation we would most like to start early. Alongside the teaching staff we will also need a chaplain from 2027, a teaching assistant and a part-time science technician from 2028, and an examinations officer from 2029.
We are not hiring yet — but we are listening
There is no application form and no vacancy to apply for. If any of the posts above interests you, write to us and we will keep in touch as the plans firm up.
- Send a CV and a covering letter to jobs@hfsoxford.org.uk. In the letter, tell us which subjects you teach — including any second subject you could teach well — what draws you to a classical school with a Catholic ethos, and the sort of role you are looking for. A page is plenty.
- We reply, and keep you posted. We will acknowledge every message and add you to a confidential list of interested teachers. You will hear from us as the curriculum, the site and the funding fall into place.
- Posts are advertised properly when we recruit. Once the school is registered and funded, each post will be advertised with a job description, a person specification and a salary, and everyone on our list will be told first. We expect to recruit the Headteacher and the founding three between March and June 2027.
- Appointments follow safer recruitment. All posts will be subject to an enhanced DBS check with barred-list information, satisfactory references and the other checks required by Keeping Children Safe in Education.
Interested in teaching here?
Write to jobs@hfsoxford.org.uk with your CV and a covering letter. We read everything we receive, and we reply to everyone.
For anything that isn't about teaching posts — the project generally, the site, or supporting the appeal — please use info@hfsoxford.org.uk instead.