Spanish Language Assistant
- Job title: Spanish Language Assistant
- Job Type: Permanent, 3 days per week. Term time only. 8am-4pm with an hour unpaid lunch
- Salary: £13,818.60 - £14,932.20 pro-rated (FTE: £23,031 - £24,887)
- Department: Modern Foreign Languages
- Reporting to: Head of Spanish
- Location: Highgate Senior School, North London
- Start: 20th April 2026
- Closing Date: 16 March 2026 at 9:00 am
Highgate School is seeking an enthusiastic, well-qualified Spanish speaking assistant to join its successful Modern Languages department. Applicants should be excellent linguists with a first rate command of Spanish, either with a background in the language or high levels of proficiency acquired through academic study. Candidates from Spanish speaking backgrounds with qualifications in a variety of academic disciplines are warmly encouraged to apply, regardless of their specialism.
The successful applicant will share our vision for education and, importantly, enjoy working with young people. Applicants should be passionate advocates for the study of Spanish and demonstrate an ongoing commitment to language learning generally. They will be able to articulate to pupils and their parents the value of learning their subject and are likely to be lively and imaginative teachers. They will work well under guidance from their Head of Department, certainly, but equally enjoy having a degree of independence designing and leading sessions. They will set an inspiring personal example of scholarship and high standards of professionalism.
The Department Highgate's curriculum offers five modern languages (French, German, Mandarin, Russian, and Spanish). The Spanish department is well established, and the subject extremely popular with pupils. The department offers a rich and varied programme of talks, academic societies, clubs, trips, visits, and exchanges, and in recent years, pupils have taken part in trips to Valencia, Salamanca, and Madrid.
The Modern Languages department boasts some twenty specialist classroom teachers, ably supported by nine language teaching assistants. Our teaching space is set in modern, well resourced classrooms at the heart of the school.
There is a strong culture of language learning at all key stages with compulsory and some optional languages, and each year a good number will apply for courses in Hispanic studies at university. Pupils have enjoyed considerable success in local and national speaking and drama competitions too.
A language assistant's role typically involves working one on one with sixth form pupils, providing tuition and support on the range of A level topics. Besides, they may coach small groups of pupils in other years, helping them improve their speaking skills, or may support a teacher's work inside the classroom. Successful applicants can expect to be involved with pupils throughout the senior school, helping develop pupils' confident and accurate speaking proficiency, as well as other language and cultural skills.
At the heart of our school is a nurturing environment where pupils feel happy -
Philippa Studd, Principal Benefits
Location: Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.
Pension: AVIVA workplace pension scheme offered - 26% employer contribution, with the ability to flex up to 16% of this as additional non pensionable salary, employees contribute a minimum of 5%.
Personal development: Comprehensive induction support for new staff. Focus on continued professional development for all employees.
Leisure facilities: Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and swimming pool (recently refurbished).
Lunch: A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.
Help with sustainable travel: Access to the Cycle to Work Scheme and a Season Ticket Loan scheme for public transport.
Family friendly policies: Highgate appreciates that employees sometimes have family commitments so we try to be as supportive as possible, for example with enhanced maternity pay (8 weeks' full pay, then 10 weeks' half pay) and paid dependant leave.
Working at Highgate A culture of community, kindness and belonging Highgate is a caring, open minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.
Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.
Following a visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2024 to assess Highgate's regulatory compliance and school standards, we are pleased to share the inspection findings, which reports compliance in all five areas and a 'significant strength' in our teaching expertise.
Staff wellbeing Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.
The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental Health First Aiders.
We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.
More details about working at Highgate can be found here:
Work with us Aims + Ethos
A fun, collaborative and forward thinking environment with a real sense of community -
Philippa Studd, Junior School Principal Charitable work and sustainability As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high quality education accessible to as many children as possible - through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham - an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.
Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.
As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.
Application procedure
- Closing Date: 16th March 2026
- First Interview: 23rd March 2026
- Second Interview: 25th March 2026
Contact: Recruitment Team are happy to answer any questions about this post
Early Application: Applications will be considered 'as and when' received and we may close the vacancy if we appoint before the closing date.
Inclusion We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate's Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If, in the course of carrying out the duties of the post, the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSIE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.
Please read before you apply Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policy
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