Job Introduction

Westminster Under School seeks to appoint an experienced and well qualified Visiting Music Teacher (VMT) to join our thriving department. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of delivering excellence in the teaching and preparing students for auditions, exams and concerts.

We pride ourselves on offering a friendly and supportive working environment within which the successful applicants would be welcomed as a member of the team. We are seeking experienced instrumental teachers who share the core educational values of the department and who are committed to excellence in the teaching, learning and well-being of young people. 

Visiting music teachers are required to work alongside the Director of Music and departmental team. The department enjoys an excellent reputation for the quality and diversity of music created through its choirs, orchestras, jazz and wind bands, chamber music groups, and occasional stage musicals. 

Hours will only be required during term-time. Visiting Music Teachers are self-employed and parents are invoiced directly at a recommended rate of approximately £55 per hour.

There will also be the opportunity to work with co-curricular ensembles and assist in the planning and management of concerts and other music events, as directed by the Director of Music.

Approximately one and a half days per week are required to teach for this role, dependent on the availability of the pupil.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below 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 Under 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: Vincent Square - Westminster Under School

Contract: self-employed. At least one and a half days per week would be required.

Salary: Visiting Music Teachers are self-employed and parents are invoiced directly at a recommended rate of approximately £55 per hour.

The deadline for applications is midday on Wednesday 1st May 2024. Interviews will take place w/c 6th May 2024.

About the School

Working at Westminster Under School

Westminster Under School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 292 pupils, 43 teaching staff and 50 support staff.

Our teaching staff are friendly and welcoming and all new teachers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here, both inside and outside the classroom. 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 come here.

At Westminster Under School 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 Under 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 Under School is a great environment for happy and purposeful pupils, and for the staff who teach them. Our aim is to produce well-rounded individuals with a love of learning and an enthusiasm for life. We expect the boys to be hard working and active participants in their lessons, but we place equal importance on the boys embracing extra-curricular activities at the School.

We want our pupils to enjoy their time at School and we believe that one of the best ways to achieve this is by providing stimulating, challenging lessons. The boys are encouraged to think for themselves, to engage fully in classroom discussions and to take pride in their work. We aim to foster a love of learning in all our pupils and a love of teaching in those who educate them.

The Under School is a day school with approximately 292 pupils aged between 7 and 13. The School was founded in 1943 in the precincts of Westminster School in Little Dean’s Yard, just behind Westminster Abbey. The 17 boys with whom it began rapidly became 60 in number and by 1950 there were 80 boys in the Under School. The boys had to compete for space with the senior school pupils who had returned from evacuation at the end of the war, but in 1951 the Under School acquired its own premises in Eccleston Square. Numbers of pupils continued to rise during the 1960s and 1970s and in 1981 the School moved once again to its present site overlooking the Westminster playing fields in Vincent Square. A stone’s throw from the same Square is the striking Art Deco Sports Hall, which is used by both Westminster Under and Westminster Great School pupils.

To this day, the Under School enjoys a strong and important bond with Westminster Great School. Both schools foster a deep sense of the importance of independent thought and the ethos of a liberal education, giving them a unique shared identity. It is usual for Under School pupils to be offered a place at the Great School, and the vast majority accept their offers, continuing on until they leave the School in Year 13.

Westminster School