St Peter’s School York seeks to appoint an experienced and inspirational leader to take up the position of Director of Sport from September 2023. Responsible to the Head Master and line managed by a member of the Leadership Team, this role encompasses sport across all three sections of the School.
Our vision of education encompasses the preparation of our pupils to be confident, successful, happy and fulfilled adults. We define that both in their professional and personal lives where they will have a wide range of interests, relationships, skills and a strong set of values.
Sport plays a significant aspect in giving our pupils these keys for life and occupies a significant amount of time and investment in the life of our school. We are fortunate to enjoy a strong reputation regionally and nationally with an outstanding location where we combine all the benefits of 47 acres, just minutes from the heart of one of the nation’s best cities, and with ease of connectivity to the rest of the country.
The opportunity exists to build on existing strengths and take us to new heights. For the right candidate, this offers tremendous professional and personal growth with the intrinsic enjoyment of playing a key role in an outstanding school and community.
I hope your interest will be strengthened by the details which follows and look forward with genuine excitement to the appointment process.
Founded in AD627, St Peter’s is the fourth oldest school in the world with a strong tradition of providing outstanding educational opportunities for its pupils.
Proudly located on a 47-acre riverside campus just 10 minutes’ walk from the centre of York, St Peter’s is an over-subscribed co-educational, day and boarding school with over 1200 pupils aged 2 to 18, which achieves outstanding examination results alongside an extensive cocurricular programme.
The school was named TES Independent School of the Year for 2021, as well as Pre-Prep School of the Year for a second time having previously won the award in 2018.
St Peter’s sits at the heart of the community in York and Yorkshire with extensive links and connections. We are a key member of the York Independent State Schools Partnership, nationally regarded as a leader in the field, and host a variety of other events in partnership with the University of York and the York Literature Festival, alongside our own public lecture series. Plans for the future include increasing the number of pupils receiving assistance with fees and working even more closely with the City of York Council and local schools.
Please visit our website for more information about the school.
St Peter’s has a sector leading culture of willing participation in sport, with hundreds of pupils participating in school teams each week.
Pupils right across the age range from Nursery to Sixth Form, engage in physical activity throughout the week. All pupils at our 13-18 section are engaged in sports and activities on Saturday afternoons, regardless of whether they are in fixtures, and this is highly distinctive in the ethos of St Peter’s. Our sports staff are dedicated and hard working.
We are proud of our sporting tradition and aim to promote a healthy and active lifestyle for the enjoyment and wellbeing of all, from enthusiastic beginners to top athletes.
U14 National Finalists 2019 & 2022 U11 boys Winners England In2Hockey North Yorkshire and North East U13 girls North East and Yorkshire hockey finalists
U13 pupil selected for UK Lions Hockey Squad, additional players in England Assessment Squad
Rugby
2019 Rosslyn Park Sevens U16 Champions Players in Yorkshire Academy, National Independent Schools Lambs team and two players in the England U18 squad
Cricket
U13 winners of Yorkshire Cup HMC North of England T20 Finalists Pupils representing the region and county, selected for Yorkshire Cricket Academy
Tennis U15 North of England and Scotland finalists Senior girls winner of the North Finals Senior Boys reached the National Finals
IAPS National Swimming competition – U13 girls World Schools Swimming Championships – 18 medals won U9s champions in HMC North of England swimming championships
Area winners in all age groups, regional finalists U14 and U16 U17 pupils playing for Leeds Rhinos and Manchester Thunder U21 Scotland player
Over 70 pupils in the Boat Club secured wins in 2021 in regattas including, Head of the Don, Newark Head and reached the Henley Qualifiers
Supporting individual pupil training programmes: Bronze Medal in World Championships of Double Mini Trampoline Silverstone Classic Masters GT4 Challenge
Judo England Talent Development Squad
There is an extensive, specialist workforce of PE teachers, part time sport coaches and Graduate sports assistants who delivers the programme across the schools. They are assisted by academic teachers, many of whom have experience of and enthusiasm for school sport. Specialist staff work across all three schools, to enable continuity of approach, which facilitates involvement with teams from 8-18 throughout the week and at weekends.
With our excellent facilities, including multi-surface pitches, two sports centres, a gymnasium, a 25m 6 lane indoor swimming pool, extensive playing fields, a boathouse, netball courts and tennis courts, the school’s reputation for producing competitive teams and individuals across a range of sports is excellent. St Peter’s school aspires to be an active community, which supports our pupils in being committed and ambitious, whilst also ensuring that all engage positively with physical activity.
Following public consultation, St Peter’s School has submitted a planning application for new all-weather sports facilities and improved parking arrangements at the southern end of the school site, accessed from Westminster Road. The sports facilities will include new hockey pitches, tennis and netball courts, cricket nets and storage areas. As well as providing improved facilities for the school, this scheme will strengthen partnerships with local and national sports groups and increase participation in sport across York where there is a recognised shortfall of all-weather surfaces. Please see our website for more details.
The Director of Sport will be responsible for leading, and managing, a creative and exciting programme across the entire school which allows all pupils to engage with physical activity at their own level.
For most this will be established school sports, within the many teams that the school provides, at all ages and ability levels. This will enable aspiring athletes to benefit from outstanding coaching and competition opportunities, as well as wider support to enable them to become the best that they can be – on and off the pitch. Participation levels have been noted as sector leading and all pupils from 13-18 are engaged in sport and activities on Saturday afternoons. It will be important to create an environment where all pupils participate enthusiastically in school sport, and where the most talented are supported and enabled to excel.
The Director of Sport will advise the Head Master and Senior Leadership Teams on all aspects of sport, games, and physical activity. This will require extensive knowledge of sector trends, and a clear conviction of developments over the short to medium term. This includes the opportunity to critically evaluate that which is necessary to meet the needs and aspirations of all pupils in the future.
The School aims to offer sector-leading provision for sport, physical and mental wellbeing. The successful candidate will be expected to build and manage structures and a programme which achieves this and to articulate its benefits extensively. They will work closely with the school leadership to establish this vision, and with colleagues in the sports department to ensure that it is robustly delivered and appraised.
This full-time position is a rare and exciting opportunity to work in a large, successful, and well-resourced school. Working across the entire 2–18 age range offers the possibility of building a coherent, fully inclusive, progressive, and industry-leading programme; a programme with multiple dimensions, which will include high performance, wide participation, and an active, healthy community.
The Director of Sport is responsible for the leadership and development of sport across all sections of St Peter’s. The successful candidate will exude an enthusiastic love of sport and a vision aligned to the school’s ethos and strategic aims.
They will be able to articulate this at all levels to bring people together to engage in the sporting life of the school. They will be a committed professional with proven leadership skills, a history of reflective practice and will be both a role model and an ambassador for all sport and physical activity at St Peter’s, in the City of York and beyond.
In a shifting landscape, it is vital that the Director of Sport has a clear and compelling vision for the state of sport and exercise. This will involve an understanding of the principal tensions of sport in a modern school such as:
• Choice and compulsion
• Performance and participation
• Focus and meaningful variety
• The role of team games
• Coeducation and inclusion
• The role of sport in promoting healthy lifestyles – mental and physical
In addition to a convincing and coherent philosophy, the successful candidate will also be able to engage with pupils, parents, and colleagues to communicate the vision, and establish commitment. It is vital to understand the ways in which previous assumptions are held and to be a passionate and convincing advocate for a compelling, modern sports and exercise programme. It is also necessary to embrace a wider, and more inclusive, ambition. There is the opportunity to convincingly articulate the ‘why’ of the programme.
The successful candidate will engage fully with pupils, staff, parents and other schools (including current and potential feeder schools), providing a visible and inspiring presence to all. Experience of coaching across several sports is vital as the Director of Sport must understand the complexities of individual sports. They will have a commitment to the school’s values and the strategic direction of the school. They will understand the importance of sport in a community and have a strong ethical compass for their decision making with pupils at the centre. The Director of Sport has a range of line management responsibilities and supporting and developing staff within and beyond the department is a key part of the role.
The Director of Sport will implement this vision across all sports, setting standards and performance expectations and seeing that they are achieved. This will involve working effectively with academic and co-curricular leads and structures. Excellent communication skills and emotional intelligence will be a prerequisite.
Please note that we are working with Independent Coach Education on this appointment. Dan Scargill is available to answer enquiries from potential applicants, danscargill@independentcoacheducation.co.uk.
A completed application form, which can be found on our website www.stpetersyork.org.uk/our-community/our-vacancies, and a covering letter should be sent to p.hewitt@stpetersyork.org.uk, or Paul Hewitt, HR, St Peter’s York, Clifton, York, YO30 6AB – addressed to Mr Jeremy Walker, the Head Master.
Closing date: Monday 23 January, 9.00am.
Longlist interviews will be in the week commencing 23 January, with shortlisted candidates invited to the final selection stage in the week commencing 30 January. These arrangements may be subject to amendment according to the prevailing circumstances at the time. All staff at St Peter’s School are required to observe all relevant Health and Safety, Equality and Data Protection legislation and procedures.
Remuneration for this role is competitive and will be commensurate with experience.
St Peter’s School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment by complying with the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy and Procedures at all times. The successful applicant will be required to undergo statutory pre-employment checks, including a Disclosure and Barring Service check.
St Peter's School strives to be diverse and inclusive. Recognising a lack of diversity in positions such as Director of Sport, applications are encouraged from women and people from Black, Asian or a Minority Ethnic background. The school is committed to providing equal opportunity to all employees and pupils. This means that employees are treated fairly, irrespective of sexual orientation, ethnic origin, religion, disability, age, gender, marital status or other reason. The post holder is expected to always comply with the provisions set out in law and the St Peter's policies on equality and diversity. The School is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive community – a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit.
Note: This job description is not a comprehensive definition of the post. It will be reviewed as part of the cycle of appraisal, and it may be subject to modification or amendment at any time after consultation with the post holder.
