Work With Us
Thank you for your interest in working at Dr Challoner's Grammar School. We have a very distinctive spirit and ethos and we pride ourselves on our friendly, inclusive community where individuals are valued.
We strive to be an equal opportunities employer and are committed to equity, diversity and inclusion amongst our staff members and trainees. We therefore encourage and welcome applications from women, Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals, neurodiverse and disabled people and those who are LGBTQ+, as well as candidates from other groups which are underrepresented in the education sector. We are happy to make reasonable adjustments to enable disabled or neurodiverse candidates (including where a mental health issue is classified as a disability) to demonstrate suitability for the position applied for.
Why work at Dr Challoner's Grammar School?
Founded in 1624, Dr Challoner’s Grammar School is an academy grammar school based in Amersham, with up to 1370 students (of whom around 450 are in the co-educational Sixth Form). We have approximately 170 teaching and support staff and draw our intake of 180 boys who join the school in Year 7 from the Chiltern area of Buckinghamshire. Boys take the Buckinghamshire Transfer Test. The school benefits from outstanding modern facilities, including spacious, light classrooms, all of which are fully equipped with a whiteboard and digital projector. The school also enjoys recently modernised sports, music, science and arts facilities.
Staff often remark that DCGS is a great place to work. Staff retention is very high, which we believe reflects the supportive and friendly environment in which we work. Students are hard working, capable and diligent. New staff to the school often remark that they enjoy working in an environment where students want to learn. Challoner’s was the third secondary school in the country to be judged Outstanding under Ofsted’s new Education Inspection Framework when inspected in November 2019, with the inspectors noting that the school has a culture of teamwork, loyalty and aspiration and that staff feel exceptionally well supported. This judgement was confirmed again in 2024. In 2025 we ranked 10th in The Times’ best secondary and grammar schools in the south-east.
As the Lead School in the Astra Teaching School, DCGS offers a wide and diverse range of professional development opportunities for staff. Astra's status as a School Centred Initial Teacher Training provider (SCITT) ensures Challoner’s is at the cutting edge of curricular and pedagogical developments in education. The Astra SCITT trains approximately 50 - 70 new entrants per year: in this way, colleagues at Challoner's are able to contribute to, and benefit from, high quality teacher training and CPD across over 50 schools in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and beyond.
Dr Challoner’s Grammar School also offers staff:
- A friendly working environment with supportive and caring colleagues
- Access to a free 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, including financial and legal advice, counselling and health programmes
- An award winning attitude to staff wellbeing and mental health
- Staff Buddies - all new staff are allocated a staff buddy
- Hero of the Week! - recognition for staff who go above and beyond
- Preferential admission for qualified children of staff (some restrictions apply)
- Excellent opportunities for professional development
- Access to Blue Light card benefits
- Access to onsite cardio fitness and weights room
- Free on site parking
Why work in Amersham?
Amersham is situated in leafy Buckinghamshire in the Chilterns Hills, which has been declared an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’. Old Amersham has a variety of historic buildings dating from the 8th century onwards and is a regular backdrop to films and TV shows. The school is based just up the hill from Old Amersham in the more modern section of the town (Amersham on the Hill). Amersham has a good range of shops, sports facilities, walking trails, pubs and restaurants whilst being only 40 minutes away from central London and all that it has to offer.
Amersham Station is a three minute walk away from the school and staff can enjoy fast and frequent commuting into London’s Baker Street on the Metropolitan Line or Marylebone via the Chiltern Line. We are within easy distance of the M25, M1, M4 and Luton and Heathrow Airports.
The surrounding areas of Amersham are affordable places to live, with many staff members commuting from Aylesbury, Chesham, High Wycombe, Hemel Hempstead and of course Amersham itself.
Buckinghamshire is renowned for its schools, with a range of excellent state primary schools, prep schools, grammar schools and non-selective secondary schools. Amersham is an extremely popular location in which to live and work.
Additional information about our school
Underpinning everything that we do is a belief that the education of our students is about developing their aspiration, their kindness and their resilience and about equipping them to flourish in the future, whatever that may hold.
We believe that the learning habits developed by students are just as important as the knowledge and understanding they acquire during their time at school. Teachers, students and governors take part in Learning Reviews and a common language of learning permeates the school. DCGS is an active member of the International Boys Schools Coalition and hosts national conferences on learning as well as supporting many local schools. Professional development is given a high priority.
The curriculum broadly mirrors the National Curriculum at Key Stage 3 while students in Key Stage 4 follow a core curriculum of English (Language and Literature), Mathematics, three Sciences, a Modern Language and a Humanities subject, as well as PE, Religious Studies and Citizenship/PSHE. Boys make two further choices from a wide range of courses and also undertake an enrichment programme which includes climbing, cookery, ‘app’ development and the opportunity to undertake the HPQ (Higher Project Qualification). In the Sixth Form, students follow the innovative Challoner's Baccalaureate, which combines the best of rigorous academic learning with a wide range of other activities. Students complete three or four A Levels selected from a list of over 20 and participate in volunteering, higher level study and team projects, as well as completing either an EPQ or AS Level General Studies. Around 20 students each year win offers of places at Oxford and Cambridge.
The school has very strong cultural and sporting traditions. There are choirs, an orchestra, a swing band, a jazz band, and at least two major drama productions each year. The main sports are football, hockey, rugby, cricket, tennis, cross-country, athletics and basketball. DCGS enjoys a strong sporting reputation and teams compete at regional and national levels. Many clubs and societies flourish, while the number and range of educational visits are exceptional. A wide range of international links are maintained, including work experience language exchanges and regular visits to overseas destinations. Close ties exist with Dr Challoner's High School (girls), through music and drama as well as social events for students.
Student support, guidance and involvement are key aspects of the school. Great emphasis is placed on developing the school’s ethos of ‘excellence with integrity’, as well as our focus on character education, and students are encouraged to accept responsibility for themselves, others and the environment. A system of mentors and prefects supports younger students and provides outstanding opportunities for leadership development. The flourishing competition between the six houses – Foxell, Holman, Newman, Pearson, Rayner and Thorne – is led entirely by senior students.
Significant infrastructure improvements have taken place over recent years. IT provision is extensive and all students from Years 8-11 use their own iPads as a central tool to support their learning across every subject. Sixth Form students routinely use laptops or tablets. We have a cookery room and a large performing arts studio, and our Sixth Form Centre and Library, which provide a genuinely world class facility to help students bridge the gap between school and university, were opened by HRH The Earl of Wessex in 2013, Other recent developments include a state of the art music building and, most recently, the construction of two new Chemistry laboratories and the refurbishment of our existing trio of labs.
The School has an extremely strong Governing Body with a wide range of high level experience in the fields of education, finance and business management. It is highly supportive of the School and students participate in most of its committees and sit as observers on the Full Governing Body.
You'll find a lot more information about the school on our website, www.challoners.com (which we hope encapsulates that intangible 'feel' of the school). If you would like further clarification or just an informal chat, please feel free to contact us.
Application Form
When completing the application form, please account for all your time since leaving full-time education, including part-time, voluntary and independent work - explaining any gaps. You should sign the form - if you do this electronically, then you will be asked to sign it in person at the interview. Please note that application forms may be retained by the school for longer than six months after the post has been filled. Should you not wish your form to be retained for longer than the statutory six month period, please notify us when the form is submitted for consideration.
References
Details of two referees must be provided on the application form, including a full postal address and a professional email address. Referees must know you in a professional capacity and should be well placed to comment on your suitability for the position for which you are applying. One should be your current or most recent employer. References will be obtained and considered prior to the interview unless you specifically state you do not wish this procedure to be adopted. We also reserve the right to approach any previous employer listed on your application form. We will ask previous employers to provide information on any disciplinary offences, allegations and investigations, including expired offences.
Interviews
In accordance with Keeping Children Safe In Education guidance, we will carry out online searches to research information on shortlisted candidates to determine their suitability to work with children and keep them safe. This is not part of the shortlisting process; if there are any findings of concern, you will be given the opportunity to address them at the interview.
If you are called for an interview, you will usually be given an opportunity to tour the school and meet members of the team that you would be joining, where practicable. This will help you to decide whether you would be happy working as part of the Challoner’s team.
If you have applied for a teaching post, you will be required to teach a lesson and full details will be provided in the letter inviting you to interview.
Please bring documentary evidence, which must include a photograph, of your identity to the interview. A passport or driving licence would be most acceptable. Evidence of your right to work in the UK is also required, as well as a third piece of evidence confirming your current address. If applying for a teaching post, please also bring original documents confirming your educational and/or professional qualifications.
If you have not heard from us about an interview within three weeks of the closing date you should assume that we will not be taking your application any further. We do not usually offer feedback to candidates who are unsuccessful at this stage. If you are unsuccessful at interview it is normally possible to provide some feedback. This can be arranged through the HR department.
Appointment Offers
Appointment offers are often, although not always, made to the successful candidate on the day of the interview. Please note that offers are conditional upon DBS disclosure, medical clearance and the receipt of two satisfactory references.
Induction
Induction plays an important role in ensuring that new members of staff fully understand the roles they hold and the Dr Challoner’s ethos. The support and development of staff is an important aspect of our work. New staff will work closely with their line manager and team members during their Induction Programme.
Pre-Employment Checks
In line with ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ Dr Challoner’s Grammar School actively promotes a culture that helps safeguard children and young people and discourages and prevents inappropriate people joining the workforce (both on a paid or voluntary basis).
As your employment will be in a regulated position under the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 as amended by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, you will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check which includes a Barred List Check. You cannot perform work in a regulated position if you have been barred from working with either children or vulnerable adults by the DBS or if you have been barred or disqualified from working with children by another organisation.
School posts are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act so all* convictions must be declared. *However, amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013 and 2020) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, are not subject to disclosure and cannot be taken into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found here. Relevant information about convictions must be provided via a Criminal Self-Disclosure form which will be emailed to you when invited to interview, and will only be seen by those who need to see it as part of the recruitment process. Failure to disclose such information could result in your dismissal or discipline by the School.
Dr Challoner’s Grammar School aims to promote equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential. Having a criminal record will not necessarily bar you from employment; this will depend on the relevance, the circumstances and the background to your offence(s).
The Asylum & Immigration Act 1996 and the Immigration (Restrictions on Employment) Order 2004 require employers to establish that an individual is entitled to work in the UK prior to that person commencing employment. This entitlement must be evidenced at the interview stage and a copy will be retained once a formal offer has been made and accepted.
An employee who has provided false information (or omitted material information) on appointment could subsequently be subject to summary dismissal.
Useful information for Candidates
Recruitment of Ex-Offenders Policy
DCGS Vision, Values & Strategy
Register your interest
All our employment opportunities are posted on our website. However, if you can't find any current employment opportunities that match your skills, experience or ambitions, please take the opportunity to register your interest for future roles by completing the form here. We will then contact you should a suitable position which matches your skills become available.