Working at Lymm High School

The Place

The Lymm campus is a mix of traditional and new buildings, surrounded by wonderful countryside. Set in beautiful grounds, including 28 acres of playing fields, and surrounded by wonderful countryside, there are very few schools of any type in the country that can boast of the physical surroundings.

The historic village of Lymm itself is also a very desirable place in which to live, with excellent quality restaurants, bars and shops, a very strong sense of community, and excellent transport links.

The Students

We are very fortunate with the community we serve and this helps to make Lymm High School a fabulous place in which to work.

Our catchment area contains the full spread of ability and social profile, although it comprises a significantly higher than usual proportion of young people who are from aspirant, stable and supportive homes. This means we have the pleasure of teaching a population of positive and courteous children, as well as having the capacity to make a difference for the relatively small number who struggle from time to time.

Our students are a joy to be with and a walk from one side of the school to the other will inevitably leave you smiling after an exchange or two with them. We also have more than our fair share of academically very able students and benefit from the pleasure that arises from teaching them. This is a school for teachers who love their subject and love being in the classroom.

Teaching at Lymm High School

Behaviour is excellent. This is the result of the type of catchment that we serve, but is also because we place great emphasis on supporting all staff in maintaining the highest of standards.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive school, loving and caring for every single student, and we try very hard to help the small number who struggle to conform or to cope with a mainstream curriculum. However, we are also clear that this can never be at the expense of good order; students are swiftly removed from classrooms for being inattentive or for not showing sufficient respect.

Teachers are fully supported in this process, the philosophy being that students know what the expectations are and that it is their responsibility to make the right choices.

Pastoral or senior leaders step in very quickly to pick up any issues. The result of all this is a warm, positive and purposeful atmosphere across the school, with teachers free to get on with teaching and students with their learning.

Your Professional Development

The quality of teaching and learning has a high priority within the school. There is no obligation to teach in a particular prescribed style or a rigid lesson structure to be followed. Rather, teachers are encouraged to keep up to date with the latest research on most effective practice and to consider the implications of this at departmental level as part of an on-going cycle of critical self-reflection and sharing of good practice.

Our CPD programme is increasingly bespoke, enabling teachers to identify their own individual needs and access high quality training that is most relevant to them. There is a wide range of opportunities at all levels of experience. We also work hard to provide opportunities for those colleagues who feel they might be able to make their biggest difference through leadership. This includes in-house courses for existing and aspiring middle and senior leaders, as well as resources set aside for colleagues to access nationally accredited leadership courses.

Support Staff

Support Staff make up nearly 50% of staff at Lymm High School. They are a valued and integral part of the school. Our Support Staff teams include Estates, Leisure Centre, Catering, Administration, IT, Finance, HR, Communications and MIS. The development of individuals within these teams is very important and, as an employee, you will be supported with your career development.

Our Support

This positive atmosphere very much extends to relationships between teaching and support staff. They know how fortunate they are to work in a place like Lymm, enjoy one other’s company, and do all those little day-to-day things that help the people around them to cope with the demands of the job. There is an active Staff Association that helps to bind everyone together and to promote well-being. Lymm High School is a very friendly place in which to work.

Expectations

Leaders at all levels in the school try hard to maintain a culture of “high expectations and rigour, but underpinned by common sense and humanity”. Staff here work hard and our expectations are high but we recognise that, to be the best school we can possibly be, we need the best teachers and support staff at the top of their game. We work very hard to minimise bureaucracy and to keep things simple; this is a not a school that forces its staff to constantly wrestle with new initiatives in response to external pressures or because a member of senior leadership has come back from a course with a bright idea that sounds lovely but will add significantly to workloads. 

Understanding

We also understand that employees are people too, and from time to time need a little understanding to get through life in and out of work. The leadership at Lymm prides itself on the support it gives and we are keen to help people balance their professional lives with parenthood, bereavements, ill health, and all the other things that come along to knock us off our stride in life. We also try hard, for example, to make sure you don’t have to miss your child’s nativity play or other similarly important events.