Maternity Cover

About the role

About the role

About St Catherine of Siena

Without fail, visitors to St Cath’s always comment on the warm, friendly, family feel that they encounter every time they enter the building.  Does this sound like the kind of school you would like to teach in?

St Cath's was recently graded as Good by Ofsted (September 2023).  We are a popular, oversubscribed one-form entry primary school, with extensive, beautiful grounds. Situated on the outskirts of Watford, we have excellent transport links to central London, the M1, M25, A405 and A41. 

This role is a maternity cover, from May half term 2024, to February half-term, 2025. There is a possibility of the position becoming permanent in the future, for the right candidate. 

Why work at St Cath’s?

• We are proud to have an extremely diverse school community and celebrating the heritages of our children and families is an integral part of our ethos.
• We invest in people, prioritising staffing.  All classes have dedicated teaching assistant allocation, in addition to SEND and intervention provision.
• TAs are paid from 8.30-4.30 to enable them to more fully support their designated class/teacher.
• Children leave at 1.35pm on Fridays, so that all teachers can have their PPA together (allowing for collaboration and support) on a Friday afternoon, along with their TA.

The successful candidate will:

• be prepared to uphold and promote our Christian ethos (all necessary support and induction will be provided to enable this and candidates of all faiths or none are welcomed);
• have high expectations of attainment, progress and behaviour; and
• have enthusiasm and passion for teaching and learning and pastoral care.

As a school we offer:

• Trust-wide support and high quality CPD, including subject leader best practice networks;
• pupils with extremely high standards of behaviour and positive attitudes to learning;
• high quality coaching and mentoring to develop practice;
• measures to reduce teacher workload, including high-quality schemes of work for all subjects;
• a friendly, caring staff with a good social life;
• a culture of supportiveness, continual professional development and school improvement;
• a wellbeing package (see attached); and
• an excellent indoor and outdoor learning environment (including a Farm and school puppy).

Diversity, equity and inclusion

At St Catherine of Siena, diversity, equity, and inclusion are at the core of who we are. We strive to be a place where all stakeholders (pupils, parents/guardians and staff) can be themselves.

We commit to attract, retain, and develop diverse talent and to respect and value differences arising from age, creed, culture, disability, educational background, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, nationality, race, religion and beliefs, sexual orientation, and other dimensions.  In order to reduce the potential for unconscious bias, applications will be anonymised prior to shortlisting.

Interview date: Wednesday 8th May 2024.

We reserve the right to appoint before the closing date, so early applications are strongly encouraged. 

The position is for June 2024 to February 2025 (half term). 

Visits to the school are welcomed and highly recommended. Contact Geri Phipps to arrange this, or for further information about the role, please email g.phipps@st-catherine.herts.sch.uk or calling 01923 676022.