The Opportunity

Portsmouth is a vibrant, historic island city with deep-rooted connections to continental Europe, sitting as a major gateway for international maritime trade, travel, and cultural exchange. We are seeking an articulate, linguistically precise French Teacher to join an established foundation school. In this role, you will challenge students to master a vital global language, building both conversational fluency and rigorous grammatical accuracy while utilizing the city's unique geographic and cross-channel profile to show how multilingualism opens doors to international careers.

The School

Operating as a foundation secondary school, our governing body maintains direct control over our site assets, manages our own admissions policy, and acts as the direct employer of our staff. This independence allows us to foster a highly stable, community-centric learning environment tailored precisely to the aspirations of our families. We implement clear, consistent school-wide behaviour systems that keep classrooms quiet and productive, ensuring that language teachers have the optimal environment required to lead active oral practice and high-concentration listening exercises.

The Department & Modern Languages Culture

• You will join a supportive, collaborative Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) faculty that prioritizes authentic communicative proficiency alongside examination success.

• The department utilizes dedicated languages classrooms fully equipped with multimedia tools, interactive digital listening banks, and modern translation software.

• Our curriculum focuses on systematic vocabulary acquisition and structural phonics from Key Stage 3, ensuring students have the confidence to speak naturally before tackling complex GCSE prose.

• Staff benefit from shared planning pools and collaborative resource creation, allowing the team to deliver creative cultural units while keeping individual marking workloads highly manageable.

Core Responsibilities

1. High-Challenge Language Instruction: Planning and delivering rigorous French lessons across Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 (GCSE), pushing students to achieve exceptional academic outcomes.

2. Authentic Phonics & Oracy: Leading dynamic speaking and listening workshops that build student confidence, correct pronunciation, and spontaneous conversational fluency.

3. Structural Grammatical Precision: Systematically breaking down complex linguistic rules—from verb conjugations to tense shifts—making the mechanics of the French language accessible to all learners.

4. Data-Driven Intervention: Utilizing granular assessment tracking to identify reading and writing gaps early, providing targeted feedback to maximize performance in terminal GCSE examinations.

5. Form Tutor Duties: Leading a dedicated form group, acting as the primary point of academic, pastoral, and holistic support for a cohort of students.

The Successful Candidate We are looking for an enthusiastic subject specialist who loves francophone culture and possesses the pedagogical skill to make language learning active, logical, and empowering. Your profile should include:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and a strong honours degree in French, Modern Foreign Languages, or a closely related discipline.

• Track Record of Progress: Proven experience or clear capacity to secure excellent progress metrics at Key Stage 4, with a thorough understanding of current exam board specifications.

• Rigorous Classroom Management: The ability to implement school routines with warmth and clarity, maintaining an inclusive environment where students feel safe making mistakes when speaking.

• Collaborative Ethos: A positive team player who enjoys co-planning cultural events, sharing teaching strategies, and contributing to whole-faculty development.

Why Join Our Faculty?

• The distinct professional satisfaction of teaching within an independent foundation school that respects teacher autonomy and values community connection.

• Comprehensive, evidence-based professional development focusing on cognitive load in language acquisition, retrieval practice, and pathways to middle leadership.

• The fantastic lifestyle benefits of living and working in Portsmouth—a historic coastal city offering an outstanding quality of life, beautiful waterfront districts, and rapid direct rail links to London and across the South Coast.

• A realistic, sustainable approach to teacher workload featuring centralized detentions and streamlined feedback policies that protect your personal well-being.

How to Apply

Please submit your current CV to begin the application process.