Sports Coach in Residence

Welcome to OSH

Old Swinford Hospital is one of the country’s leading state boarding schools. A large number of the School’s students are boarders who come from a wide range of backgrounds in the UK and also from the EU and overseas. A third of our pupils are day pupils, who usually go home after lessons, unless they are involved in sport or music, CCF or DofE.

The School is now on an exciting journey to become fully co-educational by 2025. Girls joined us in September 2021 in Year 7, whilst the Sixth Form has been mixed since 2004.

OSH is calm place to work. It is inclusive, tolerant and welcoming. The atmosphere is supportive and orderly, and it is also very relaxed because for many of our pupils their school is also their home. Parents, pupils and staff are all on the same side and our pupils want to learn before going out into the wider world and making their own contribution to it.

We have recently had two very favourable Ofsted visits, one for boarding and one for curriculum. You can see these via our  We enjoy a very good academic reputation and regularly feature in the lists of the most academically successful maintained schools. We’re not about league tables, however. We pride ourselves on developing in our pupils a balance of academic achievement, character and resilience and we’ve been doing this now for nearly 360 years.

Our extensive extra-curricular programme contributes to our pupils becoming happy, healthy and interested young people, for whom sport, music, art, drama, outdoor pursuits feature in their everyday lives.

A major building programme has recently been completed which includes a large extension to an already impressive sports centre, an all-weather floodlit sports pitch, a new teaching block with a specialist arts room, a performing arts centre and a new senior boarding house.

The Physical Education Department at Old Swinford Hospital has 4 qualified PE teachers who teach a broad and balanced curriculum at both KS 3 and 4. The department also offers its students the opportunity to pursue their interest further in the subject through GCSE and BTEC courses.

In years 7 – 11 all students have a minimum of 3 hours of Physical Education per week while in the sixth form they have 2 hours as a games afternoon. Students who chose examination PE will have considerably more contact time in the subject.

The co-curricular programme plays a huge part in the life of this busy boarding school. The programme is dominated by sport and the pupil participation rates are exceptional. The school employs a number of specialist coaches to assist with running school teams and coaching at all levels in a range of activities. The Sports Coach in residence works closely with the teaching and coaching teams.

Old Swinford Hospital has had much success at local, regional and national level in an array of sports and has close links to several elite sports clubs in its major sports.

Person Specification

This position would equally suit a graduate seeking to gain valuable school-based experience in a successful and busy department or a coach looking to increase their portfolio.

The successful candidate will be:

• Conscientious and reliable.
• A team player
• Self-Motivated
• Interested in continuous professional development.
• Experienced in playing and or coaching a variety of sports
• Committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.

Job Specification

The Sports Coach in Residence is responsible to both the Director of Sport and the Housemaster of their appointed house with boarding duties and responsibilities.

Main Sport Duties will include:

• Contribute to the development of Sport within the school and enhance the department reputation with parents and visitors.
• Act as classroom instructor as and when required by the Director of Sport or a member of the SLT;
• Help organise and supervise the day to day PE Curriculum
• Help with the organisation and management of fixtures, transport and catering for the major sports.
• Provide supervision and recreational activities in the school sports centre one evening per week;
• Help with the administration and delivery of the wider co-curricular…