Deputy Director of Sport

Package Description

Required for: September 2025

Location: Dean's Yard - Westminster School

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: Westminster School has its own salary scale, and new members of staff are placed at a point relevant to their qualifications and experience. Details of salary will be discussed at interview with those candidates who are short-listed. 

The deadline for applications is 09:00 on Thursday 6th March. Interviews will take place w/c 10th March 2025.

Job Introduction

Westminster School is seeking to appoint an innovative, inspirational and experienced Physical Education teacher who is fully committed to assisting the Director of Sport in maintaining the positive profile of sport at the School, whilst also working towards the changes associated with both Westminster School and Westminster Under School becoming fully co-educational, a process which begins at the Under School in 2026. The successful candidate for Deputy Director of Sport will support the strategic leadership and operational management of the School’s extensive sports programme and work closely with the Director of Sport, the Girls’ Fitness Lead and the Sports Centre General Manager and Sports Centre Staff to promote and develop sport for girls as well as boys. This role requires exceptional organisational, logistical and leadership skills to ensure smooth coordination and delivery of a high-quality sports education for all pupils across a range of locations and activities during the transition to full co-education.

Reporting to the Director of Sport, the successful candidate will delivering high quality PE lessons and sports sessions at Westminster School.  The candidate will be expected to coach teams in one or more sports - including Saturday fixtures – with high-quality specialism in at least one of Football, Netball, Hockey, Cricket and/or Tennis.  In addition, they should have had significant experience teaching PE to girls in co-educational and/or single sex environments. This is an ideal position for someone looking to become a Director of Sport in the future who is ready to develop their skills in leadership and management through this role. The ability to teach an academic subject would be advantageous and candidates should be prepared to contribute also to the RSHE and Wellbeing and Options and Cultural Perspectives programmes. Therefore, they should be confident in teaching students from Years 9 to 13 both inside and outside of the classroom. A willingness to lead by example and be proactive in dealing with changing environments is essential.

Sport at Westminster School

All pupils at Westminster participate in a wide variety of sporting activities (known as “Station”) on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons (and a number of Saturdays if involved with a competitive Station with regular fixtures).  Historically, the principal sports at the School are Football, Cricket and Rowing (known as “Water”).  All three have a long tradition at Westminster, dating back to the eighteenth century and the distant origins of these sports.  Thus, Westminster School made an important contribution to the early development of sport in Britain.  

The competitive Stations at Westminster have full fixture lists of matches against other schools. In these sports, gifted individuals can participate at local, regional or national levels, and almost all of these Stations benefit from the involvement of professional coaches, several of whom have represented their countries internationally, including at the Olympic Games. 

Every effort is made throughout the Station programme to give pupils the opportunity to learn important life skills by working both independently and as part of a team through participation and/or competition. Similarly, qualities such as respectfulness of others, politeness, determination, initiative and communication skills can be developed through competing against other individuals and teams, as well as learning how to become both a ‘good loser’ and a ‘gracious winner’.

It is hoped that upon leaving Westminster School all pupils will take physical activity onwards with them into adulthood as a core life skill essential to both their physical and mental wellbeing. Also, it is hoped that during their time at Westminster, Station will feature as one of the most enjoyable and rewarding areas of a pupil’s experiences. It is the wide variety of sporting activities on offer at the School – far wider than many of our traditional competitors – that ensures that this is predominantly the case.

Facilities

Westminster School is extremely fortunate, given its location in central London, to possess a great deal of outdoor and indoor space for sport. Our playing fields at Vincent Square house three main Football pitches plus a training pitch and grids, 2 Cricket squares and 7 astroturf nets, and court areas large enough to provide 5 Tennis courts and 2 Netball courts. Also, we have a  large and well-equipped Sports Centre that offers over 6,000m² of indoor space, housing a multi-use movement studio, a rowing training suite, fencing pistes, indoor cricket nets, a fully equipped gym, a free weights room, two climbing walls, a dojo, a table tennis area and courts for basketball, netball, five-a-side football, volleyball, hockey and badminton. On the river, there is the Boat House in Putney for the rowers, and in addition to this, there are several Fives courts on the main School site along with a Shooting range.

Main Responsibilities

The successful applicant will be required to carry out a wide variety of duties to assist the Director of Sport at Westminster School, which include the following: 

• Support in the administration of the sports programme within the sports policy of the Schools, as well as planning for and encouraging wider participation in Station across the School.
• Teach and coach to the highest standard, with particular focus on the quality of girls’ sport on offer, working closely with the Girls’ Fitness Lead.
• Assist with the staffing and management of the School’s Station programme and help to determine the School’s Station staffing requirements for the forthcoming year.
• Help to organise pupil Station choices and the allocation of pupils to Stations throughout the School year.
• Assist the Director of Sport in managing and keeping updated, in conjunction with individual Station Heads, the online Station lists, and the management of pupils changing Stations.
• Meet regularly with each of the Heads of Stations and assist them as appropriate in planning and co-ordinating School fixtures & Inter-House competitions, as well as booking facilities, catering and transport arrangements in conjunction with the Sports Administrator.  
• Encourage, support and offer advice to all Heads of Stations, teachers and team coaches, and take a lead particularly in developing skills and competencies around girls’ sport.  
• Work with the Director of Sport to ensure that all coaches/teachers check attendance at Station sessions, completing Station Registers and reporting unauthorised absences.   
• Encourage and help (where appropriate) with the organising of sports tours, liaising closely with the Heads of individual Stations.
• With the Director of Sport and Heads of Stations, co-ordinate appropriate Health & Safety measures for sports activities in line with the recommendations of the national governing bodies of each sport.
• Support each Station, providing effective information about sporting activities at Westminster to pupils, teachers and parents.
• Working with the Sports Administrator, manage and keep updated SOCS Sport as well as the Almanack and Sports Results sections on the School Intranet.
• Assist the Director of Sport with managing and supervising the awarding of Sports colours. 
• Assist the Director of Sport with the reviewing and updating of all literature about sport at Westminster.  
• Be a ‘face’ for Westminster Sport, particularly the development and promotion of girls’ sport.  As appropriate, sit on committees and represent Westminster at any relevant internal/external conferences and meetings on sporting matters.
• Assist the Director of Sport with the recruitment and engagement of all professional coaches at Westminster, working with HR to ensure best practice and compliance.
• Liaise with the Elizabethan Club Committee (Alumni) to maintain and develop good relations between the School and the Old Westminster (OWW) sports clubs and encourage pupils to join the latter upon leaving the School.
• Promote and monitor sporting links with preparatory and other schools through networking, refereeing/umpiring, coaching, and coordinating prep school tournaments hosted by Westminster. 
• Be an integral part of drawing up, implementing, and monitoring plans for the strategic development of sport and sporting facilities at the School, 
• Liaise closely with the Director of Sport, Head Groundsman and Sports Centre General Manager over the allocation and usage of Westminster School’s sports facilities.  
• Undertake any other reasonable tasks required by The Head Master in association with the above role. 

The post-holder’s responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young people for whom they are responsible, or with whom they come into contact will be to adhere to and ensure compliance with the School’s Safeguarding Policy and Procedures at all times. 

Training

• To attend INSET training outside the School where appropriate to increase competence, proficiency and safety awareness. 
• First Aid Training as required. 

Please note that there may be some changes and additions to the above, which will be discussed before implementation and changes may occur as the post develops. This document is designed to provide applicants with an overview of the position and responsibilities.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) person specification.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

About The School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Our teaching staff — the Common Room — are friendly and welcoming and all new teachers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here, both inside and outside the classroom. Common Room social events are regular and varied, with plenty of opportunity to socialise outside working hours.

It also does not matter where you come to us from. Some teachers come to us straight from university or having just taken a PGCE. Some have taught in independent schools before while others come from the state sector, or another industry altogether. The common ground is that all our teachers have a great knowledge and love for their subject and are willing to be fully involved in the life of the School and the lives of the children who study here. The School has a vibrant co-curricular programme that offers a wide range of opportunities beyond the academic curriculum. We welcome candidates who can contribute their energy and expertise to the co-curricular life of the School as well as the academic.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. However, we know we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more. 

The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence.