Lead Practitioner of Literacy - King Edwards VI Balaam Wood Academy

“Pupils and staff enjoy belonging to a vibrant school community where caring, respectful relationships are the norm” – Ofsted (January 2024)

We are welcoming applications for the post of Lead Practitioner of Literacy at King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy, an academy recently graded as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in all four areas in January 2024. We are seeking an experienced, driven and bold practitioner to play a pivotal role in shaping the academic journey of our pupils from 28 April 2025 or an earlier start if possible.

The ideal candidate will be ambitious about improving outcomes in whole school literacy and reading, working closely with an expanding team, senior leaders responsible for teaching and curriculum, the SENDCo and our Librarian of our fully stocked library to ensure there is targeted literacy support available for all of our learners. The ideal candidate will be collaborative and confident in delivering CPD to colleagues on all strands of literacy to ensure a passion for reading is at the heart of our academy. Most importantly, you will be joining a small, kind and powerful community of Senior Leadership, Teaching and Support staff where “staff feel valued and appreciate how their workload and wellbeing are considered by leaders at all levels” as recently noted in our Ofsted Inspection Report.

King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy is a dynamic and forward-thinking school, recently recognised as the most improved school in the West Midlands by the Fairer Schools Index (January 2025). We are also incredibly proud to be the first Birmingham City Academy School in conjunction with Birmingham City Football Club, fostering a unique and inspiring environment for our pupils.

We are incredibly proud of the journey our academy is on and we are looking forward to meeting other like-minded professionals who want the best outcomes for our pupils who “know staff have high expectations of them and want them to be successful.” Both staff and pupils are “rightly proud of how much Balaam Wood has improved over recent years” in which “daily life reflects the school’s values of being bold, ambitious, collaborative and kind.” We are looking forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to our vibrant community.

King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy is located in south west Birmingham. The academy is rapidly improving and continuing to benefit from having joined King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham which has led to investment across the academy, including the availability of cutting-edge technology in each classroom. King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy is proud to be part of The Schools of King Edward VI Birmingham which supports its schools, faculties/departments and individual staff to work collaboratively. The successful candidate will benefit from a wide range of professional development opportunities encompassing the potential to experience schools across the Foundation and to pursue professional qualifications. There will be opportunities to collaborate with other schools and to benefit from their expertise and resources.

King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy has the highest aspirations and expectations for all members of its community. As a member of staff, you will be valued, challenged and supported in making a difference to the lives of our young people. We expect the same of our pupils. We demand courtesy, endeavour and resilience from all of our pupils and the support of their parents and carers.

We are exceptionally proud of our academy and our young people and would encourage interested applicants to come and spend some time with the leadership team to understand our shared vision, have a look around and experience what life is like as part of our community.

The King Edward VI Foundation, Birmingham, is a progressive charitable organisation which has supported excellence in education across the city since 1552. Our schools are diverse in nature but have a common purpose and commitment to achieving our mission of “making Birmingham the best place to be educated in the UK”.

Our Academy Trust currently consists of two independent schools, six selective, and five non-selective academies. Our recent expansion into a wider diversity of local communities is enabling us to accelerate our strategies for improving the life chances of young people in Birmingham, whatever their background.

The King Edward VI Academy Trust Birmingham (“the Academy Trust”) was established in 2017 and is made up of the academies outlined above. The academies receive back office central support services including governance, from the Foundation Office (a central support services function), with several staff being seconded from the Foundation to deliver support services to the Academy Trust and the academies themselves.

Our highly focused five-year strategy aims to build on our existing strengths and heritage and deliver our ambitious growth strategy which aims to bring in a further five academies over the next five years.

How to Apply

A full job description and an application pack for this post, can be found on our website.
Alternatively, an application pack can also be obtained from:
Address: King Edward VI Balaam Wood Academy, New Street, Frankley, B45 0EU
Email: e.wills@bwa.kevibham.org

To arrange a visit to the academy, please contact Miss E Wills, Head’s PA, on 0121 464 9901.