Founded in 1870, the Natural History Society (NHS) is among the very oldest of Winchester College’s societies. The arrival of Duncan Stewart, in 2003, saw the NHS acquire a new lease of life, after somewhat lean times, and become the best-supported society in the school. A full programme of termly trips was instigated, the library was restocked and equipment updated. Duncan’s enthusiasm and determination set a template for others to follow.
Duncan Stewart (G, 2003-08) was just eighteen when he was tragically killed as a passenger in a car accident. He had been working as a marine biologist during his gap year in Argyll. Growing up in Scotland, Duncan had a passion for the outdoors and particularly enjoyed scuba diving, tennis, snorkelling, birdwatching, and climbing. He was able to pursue his love of fishing at Winchester with many summer days and evenings spent on the River Itchen. Duncan kept meticulous journals and notebooks of his observations in nature and worked on organising the Winchester College Natural History collections, helping to organise, index, collate and make extensive drawings of the specimens. Duncan invited Sir David Attenborough to speak to the NHS. As a result of this, Sir David subsequently became the society's Honorary President and remains an Honorary Patron to this day. Duncan wrote in his invitation letter to Sir David:
‘The Winchester College NHS aims to educate the boys about the extraordinary biodiversity of Hampshire, southern England and the world.’
David and Kim Stewart have worked extensively with the school to build a legacy for Duncan's passion for the natural world. In 2009, the College established the annual Duncan Louis Stewart Natural History Lecture. In 2015, the Stewart family and other generous donors endowed Winchester with a fund to support the Duncan Louis Stewart Fellowship in Natural History in his memory. The aim of the fellowship is to make the natural world relevant to all pupils, in all areas of study. It encourages Wykehamists to observe, study, comprehend and care about the natural world around them, to attract and encourage polymathic thinking and discussion about our shared natural world. The Fellow will work alongside all departments.
Key aim of the Duncan Louis Stewart Fellowship in Natural History:
To engender the largest possible number of pupils a deeper knowledge, love and respect for, ecology, the environment and the natural world around them.
The key role and responsibility of the Fellow will be to inspire and facilitate the pupils, and the school, as we grow and increase our contribution to, and general awareness of the natural world around us. Winchester College aims to contribute to caring for and protecting our natural world and planet well beyond our own boundaries.
Responsible to: The Head of Science, Matt Rogers.
They will achieve the above key aim through:
Essential
The successful candidate will be/have:
Key Qualities
The successful candidate will be/have:
The College is looking to make an appointment to start in September 2026. Exact start date is negotiable.
The salary will be in circa £33,000 per annum. Salary levels are reviewed annually on 1 September, and this salary will next be reviewed in September 2027.
This is a full-time role during term time, 32 weeks of the year, with an element of work during the holiday period not exceeding 4 weeks per academic programme. Normal working hours will be 37.5 hours per week spread over mostly Monday to Friday with occasional Saturdays (e.g. Wykeham Day and fieldtrips). This will usually include one later evening (staying until approximately 10pm) each week. The school is open for approximately 26 Saturdays during the year.
The school is fully committed to the induction, training and development of all our staff, with staff supported to grow and reach their full potential.
We deliver a range of training, run by both our own staff and external providers, varying from highly practical First Aid courses to seminars and learning lunches on many aspects of teaching and learning.
There is an annual cycle of appraisal offering the opportunity to reflect on professional practice and development opportunities.
Probation and Notice Periods
The first four months of employment will be a probationary period. During this time, conduct and performance will be reviewed. The College may extend the probationary period if it is deemed to be required. During the probationary period the notice required to terminate employment will be one week (by either the employee or employer). The notice will increase upon the successful completion of the probationary period to one term.
On employment, employees will be auto enrolled into the College’s pension scheme according to legislative thresholds. Those who are not eligible for auto-enrolment may still elect to join the College’s pension scheme.
Initially, when joining the College’s pension scheme, employees will become a member of the College’s Group Personal Pension Plan (GPP). For this Plan, known as Tier 1, the employee contributes 4% and the employer 3%.
After 9 month’s membership of the Tier 1 plan, employees may opt to join Tier 2, which is also a GPP, where the employee contributes 5% and the employer 9%.
Employees in Tier 1 automatically qualify for a Life Cover of 2 times salary. On entry to Tier 2, Life Cover changes to 4 times salary.
This position benefits from the school holidays.
As Winchester College is an educational establishment, a condition of employment will be that the successful candidate must consent to the school obtaining an Enhanced Level Disclosure Check through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). This will reveal all spent and unspent convictions, warnings, cautions and bind-overs. A policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders is available on the school’s website.
Safeguarding is one of the primary responsibilities of this role. The jobholder is responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons for whom they are responsible, or with whom they come into contact with, and will need to adhere to and ensure compliance with the school’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy at all times. The postholder should be conversant with the responsibilities and procedures detailed in this policy and with the Department for Education’s Keeping Children Safe in Education. If, in the course of carrying out the duties of the post, the postholder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety or welfare of children in the school, they must report any concerns to the school’s Designated Safeguarding Lead, or in their absence, the Deputy Designated Safeguarding Leads.
The appointment will be dependent upon the receipt of a successful medical check and satisfactory references. The College will usually seek references from shortlisted candidates before interview and may approach previous employers for information to verify particular experience or qualifications. At least one referee must be the current or most recent employer. Where applicants are not currently working with children but have done so in the past, one referee must be the person by whom they were most recently employed when working with children.
Only applications completed on the school website will be accepted. Please attach a full CV with your application.
Please note that applications will be dealt with as they arrive. Winchester College reserves the right to appoint before the deadline passes.
Closing date for applications: 11.59pm on 27 May 2026. Shortlisting will take place as applications are received. We expect interviews to take place during the weeks commencing Monday 1 or 8 June 2026.
Those wishing for an informal conversation about this role are invited to speak to Matt Rogers,
Head of Science, mjr@wincoll.ac.uk.
If you have any questions about this vacancy or the recruitment process, please email recruitment@wincoll.ac.uk.
We embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace and are committed to promoting a fair and supportive environment for all our employees. We are keen to welcome applications from all applicants that feel that they meet the requirements of the role, regardless of their background and culture.
Winchester College collects and processes relevant personal data as part of its everyday operations and is obliged to process it in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Act 2018. The school is the Data Controller of this data under the Act and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office. Its registration number is Z5751669.
If you have any queries or comments about this policy or how personal data is processed by the school, please contact the Bursar and his team by emailing: dataprotection@wincoll.ac.uk or by writing to: Data Protection, The Bursary, Winchester College, College Street, Winchester, SO23 9NA.
