Job Introduction

To oversee all accompanying within the Department, organising the provision of piano accompaniment for*:

• House Concerts (nine per year)
• Weekly Music Society Recitals (Thursday lunchtimes)
• Soloist Concerts (three per year)
• Vocal Concerts (two to three per year)
• Annual series of masterclasses (five to seven per year)
• Lunchtime recitals at external venues e.g. The Guards’ Chapel and St Margaret’s, Westminster Abbey, St John’s Smith Square
• ABRSM or Trinity Laban examinations (presently three sessions per year)
• GCSE / A Level recitals, including the performance of all examination coursework
• Sufficient rehearsal opportunity for all of the above
• Meetings between the Director of Music and prospective music award holders
• Auditions for 13+/16+ Music Awards
• Academic Music interviews for 13+/16+ Music A Level entry

*This list is not exhaustive, and the post holder may be asked to take on additional accompaniment responsibilities as reasonably requested by the Director of Music

The candidate will also be responsible for:

• Encouraging pupil pianists to take on the role of accompanist as appropriate
• Overseeing the provision of solo performance opportunities for all Music Award holders

The Accompanist-in-Residence will be expected to attend the Weekly Department Meeting.

Teaching

To give a maximum of four-to-five hours per week of instrumental tuition.

Management of School Pianos

To ensure that school pianos are tuned and maintained to a consistently high level throughout the academic year and particularly before performances and examinations in liaison with the Head of Piano.

Provision for Music Award Holders (MAHs)

To oversee the contribution of MAHs to the annual calendar of performances, and to:

• Develop strong rapport as an accompanist, offering both musical and pastoral benefits
• Monitor progress of MAHs as soloists (many have external teachers)
• Ensure MAHs are getting through plenty of repertoire
• Identify those ready to perform a piece in public
• Encourage MAHs to sign up for performance opportunities

Hours of work

The postholder is employed for 27 hours per week, term-time only, on a fixed-term contract for two academic years. The nature of the work will require the postholder to work a number of these hours in the weekday evenings as well as during the daytime, and occasionally on Saturday mornings, as agreed in advance with the Director of Music.

As a term-time only post, holidays are taken in the School’s main holidays.

Role Responsibility

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.

Package Description

Required for: September 2024

Location: Deans Yard, Westminster School

Contract: part-time (term-time only), temporary (fixed-term contract for two years)

Salary: £24,177.92 per annum (actual).

The deadline for applications is midday, Wednesday 3rd July 2024. Interviews will take place on Tuesday 9th July 2024.

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.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that 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 a selective day and boarding school for boys aged 13 to 18 and girls aged 16 to 18. There are approximately 360 boys in the Lower School (Years 9 to 11) and 400 boys and girls in the Upper School (Years 12 and 13). One quarter of the pupils board, and the School is structured and run as a boarding school, with an extended day and week and a strong House-based system of pastoral welfare, for boarding and day pupils alike.

Westminster is an ancient school, whose origins can be traced to a charity school established by the Benedictine monks of Westminster Abbey. Its continuous existence is certain from the early 14th century. Henry VIII personally ensured the School’s survival by statute and Elizabeth I, who confirmed royal patronage in 1560, is celebrated as the School’s foundress. Westminster is rare amongst long-established schools in remaining on its original site in the centre of London. Its proximity to Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and the use of the Abbey for its chapel, together with the stimulating diversity of the South Bank and West End, account in part for its special atmosphere and outlook.

The School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence both in this country and internationally. Central to its academic ethos is the dialogue between teachers and their pupils, whether in the classroom or in tutorials, inspiring enjoyment of intellectual enquiry, debate and search for explanation and the development of skills of rational, independent thought well beyond any standard examination syllabus. The desired environment is happy, busy and purposeful; the pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged, with plenty of opportunities to develop initiatives and to articulate and defend their views, in line with the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the School’s Charter. That tradition is fully committed also to the nurture of 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 the preparation of young people for fulfilled private and public lives beyond School.

Westminster School