Class Teacher at Harbour School Dorset

Class Teacher – Harbour School Dorset

Main Pay Scale plus SEN allowance

Full time, Permanent

(Please note: We are recruiting for two roles – one of which includes additional responsibility for leading our PSHE curriculum. If you have a passion for supporting personal development, wellbeing and life skills, this could be an opportunity to shape and develop this area across the school.)

Do you believe that even the most challenging days can hold the most meaningful moments?

At Harbour School Dorset, no two days are ever the same. You may begin the morning with a carefully planned lesson, only to realise that your pupils need something entirely different when they arrive. You’ll adapt, reset, take a breath… and begin again.

And within that unpredictability, you’ll experience moments that stay with you.

• A pupil managing their emotions when yesterday they couldn’t.
• A young person taking a step back into learning after weeks of disengagement.
• A small breakthrough in trust, communication or confidence that changes everything.

These are not always big, visible milestones.

They are steady, hard‑earned steps forward - and they matter.

That is what teaching here feels like.

If you are a teacher who values connection over perfection, who understands that progress is individual, and who finds purpose in supporting young people to rebuild confidence, resilience and a sense of belonging, you may feel right at home with us.

What you’ll be doing:

• Plan and deliver engaging, personalised lessons that meet a wide range of needs
• Adapt your teaching to meet a wide range of individual needs, including pupils with SEMH and autism, guided by EHCPs and therapeutic approaches.
• Set high yet compassionate expectations, helping pupils to re‑engage with learning and experience success.
• Assess, monitor and record progress carefully, using this to inform your teaching and ensure meaningful outcomes.
• Provide targeted interventions and prepare pupils for external assessments and qualifications.
• Act as a tutor or mentor, building strong, trusting relationships with pupils and working closely with families and carers.
• Create a safe, calm and predictable learning environment where pupils feel secure, understood and ready to learn.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues and external professionals to ensure joined‑up support for every young person.

• A qualified teacher (QTS) with successful teaching experience
• Experience of working with pupils with SEMH and/or autism is valuable (or a strong willingness to learn)
• A calm, resilient and emotionally intelligent practitioner who can remain steady in challenging moments
• Someone who leads with kindness and puts relationships at the centre of their practice
• Adaptable and creative, able to respond flexibly when plans need to change
• A strong team player who communicates openly and works collaboratively with others

Here’s the honest part:

This role will stretch you.

It will require patience, resilience, creativity and compassion.

Some days will be challenging. Some will be unexpectedly rewarding. Many will be both.

But if you are looking for a teaching role where your impact is real, where progress is deeply meaningful, and where relationships are at the heart of everything - Harbour School Dorset could be exactly where you make your difference.

Visits are highly encouraged – please call the school on 01929 508286 or email Helen Bradley ([email protected]) to arrange this.

Closing date: 21 June 2026

Interview date: w/c 29 June 2026

Please note: Applications may be viewed on receipt and interviews arranged sooner than the above date.

Become part of our journey by completing our Application Form and returning it to [email protected]n if you would like to apply (please see Job Description, and Safeguarding Children Policy for further information). As part of our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, we kindly ask all applicants to complete a short, anonymised form alongside their application.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Isabel at the recruitment address, who will be happy to assist you.

The Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, this role involves directly working with children and significant contact with children, and therefore we expect all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment. Please ensure a full work history is completed in your application form including any gaps of employment. Applicants will be required to complete satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check for this post prior to commencement. This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA) 1974. The Trust is an equal opportunities employer. 

About us:

Harbour School Dorset is a state funded Special School for pupils with ASC and SEMH. We endeavour to help our learners to feel they matter and belong, enabling them to improve their social, emotional and academic skills to be the best that they can be.

The school in Bovington, is based on a beautiful site with a bespoke, carefully designed, new building, which we moved into in February 2022. Our approach is relational, trauma-informed and rooted in understanding behaviour as communication. We believe every child can thrive with the right support, progress looks different for every student, relationships come before results, consistency changes lives.

What we can offer

• A skilled, compassionate, genuinely supportive team who reflect together, and understand the emotional weight of the work.
• Friday afternoons off
• Strong induction and ongoing training
• A school that celebrates progress, not just academic data
• A role where the impact is real, human and lasting
• Free access to the Employee Assistance Programme and our Cycle to Work Scheme.
• The opportunity to develop your career in a School, and within the Southern Education Trust - a growing Trust where our mission is “making lives better” and our values are kindness, collaboration and creativity.