Key Teacher and English Lead

Job Description

Are you looking for a new challenge with greater flexibility of curriculum and teaching through a therapeutic approach where you really can make a difference?

This is an exciting opportunity to join our small and unique school working to support a CAMHS in-patient ward based within Rochford Community Psychiatric Hospital. We work closely with NHS colleagues and wider community teams to support and educate young people who are experiencing a severe mental health crisis leading to an in-patient admission. Ofsted inspected us in June 2025, rating us 'Good' in all categories but with an 'Outstanding' for Behaviour and Attitudes. Ofsted described us as "a school where kindness shapes daily life" and recognised that "warm, trusting relationships are at the heart of this school's community".

We are seeking a passionate and dedicated Teacher of English to join our team and lead and support colleagues with the delivery of this subject. You will need to be a very flexible person, capable of highly adaptive teaching, whilst being responsive to each young person's varied needs and abilities. The ability to form positive working relationships with our students is an absolute essential.

We operate a Key Teacher model at Poplar whereby each Key Teacher has responsibility for a small key group of up to 5 students co-ordinating and delivering their individual and bespoke timetable of lessons. Young people come from schools across Essex and beyond and can be in key stages 3-5, studying any combination of subjects or they come to us not in education, employment or training (NEET). Your role will be to co-ordinate their individual education as well as leading on the delivery of English.

Our students may display very challenging behaviours due to the impact of their mental health, so we need someone who is experienced in managing challenging behaviour in a positive, patient and proactive way. Joining Poplar Adolescent Unit means becoming part of a supportive, forward-thinking, and ambitious team that is deeply committed to helping both students and staff thrive.

Our success as a school reflects a strong sense of community, high standards, and a commitment to excellence in all we do. If you're ready to be part of our dedicated team and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of young people, we'd love to hear from you.

What we can offer you:

· The opportunity to be part of a highly supportive and caring school community

· A commitment to a personalised programme of CPD with opportunities which include attending an annual residential conference in Birmingham with other similar units across the country

· The opportunity to collaborate with our 'sister' unit (St Aubyn Centre) in Colchester

· A collaborative approach where you will contribute to decisions about how our school operates, the dynamic design of our curriculum, and our strategies for development.

For more information about the school, or to have an informal discussion, please contact the school by phoning Charlotte Baulch (Acting Headteacher) on 01702 538138. Candidates are advised to visit the centre before submitting an application, as we are such a unique setting.

Whilst there is a published closing date for this vacancy, we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive sufficient applications. Early applications are therefore strongly encouraged.

Information about the School

Poplar Adolescent Unit is a small, specialist education provision situated within Rochford Community Psychiatric Hospital, near to Southend on Sea. The Unit is an acute in-patient CAMHS ward for young people aged 11 to 18 with accute mental-health conditions which prevent them from attending their local schools, colleges or employment. The Unit is funded for 16 places. The education team comprises an Executive Head, Acting Headteacher, Acting Deputy Headteacher, three full-time teachers, 2 HLTAs, 2 university placement students and a part-time School Business Manager. Alongside the principal focus of maintaining home school and college curriculum links, we strongly encourage involvement in the arts, music and physical activity as part of our personal development curriculum alongside a range of 'life skills' based activities. We work in partnership with the ward multi-disciplinary team which includes doctors, nurses, a social worker, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, an Art Therapist, and a family therapist and we have significant partnerships for each pupil with community teams beyond the unit. The young people remain on the roll of their home school during their admission and are supported to re-integrate back into that setting as discharge from Poplar approaches. Additionally, those young people who are NEET, are helped to explore the next steps in their future planning.