French Teacher

Do you want to be part of a team that will help inner-city children to do the seemingly impossible?

Michaela Community School is an exciting new free school that opened in September 2014. A vibrant and energetic team, our intention is to transform the lives of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Many of us are Teach First Ambassadors. Some of us are not. All of us want to change the world.

Currently, we have 480 pupils, years 7, 8, 9 and 10. As we are growing every year (840 pupils at full capacity including a Sixth Form), there will be a lot of opportunities for promotion and development. In September 2018, we will have 600 pupils. In 2020, we will have over 800 pupils, including our Sixth Form. You could play a part in leading and shaping the vision and future of our school. 

We teach a knowledge-based curriculum built on cutting-edge insights from cognitive science. Our teaching approaches have been influenced by ground-breaking charter schools in the American inner cities and we are driven by a desire to get the best possible results for all our pupils. Our tight behaviour systems ensure you can really teach. Senior Team run centralised detentions twice daily so that consequences are immediate and teachers are not chasing absent detainees. In October, we offer pupils and staff a two-week half term.

We don’t offer lessons in ICT, DT, Citizenship or take children out of lessons for intervention. All of our teachers see pupils at least twice per week so that a bond is built between teachers and pupils. Intervention happens in form time or after school. We believe in keeping marking to a minimum and so normal, decentralised written homework does not happen at Michaela.

The Michaela approach to teaching French is like nothing you have ever seen before. We turn so-called ‘good practice’ on its head. As a result, our pupils’ accents are stunning, their written accuracy is superb and the complexity of their language is unparalleled. From the beginning of year 7, all pupils use Past, Reasons, Opinions, Future and Subjunctive (PROFS) with aplomb. By the middle of Key Stage 3 our pupils can understand and use French of a standard that is more commonly seen in Sixth Forms. Our approach is simple: no games, no pictures, no group work. For the first time in your career, you’ll feel like a real French teacher. If you love the French language, if you love kids, if you love a giggle and are willing to jettison all of those ‘outstanding’ habits, come and see us at Michaela. Vous serez époustouflés!

You can read more about our approach Jess Lund’s blog. The posts might terrify or tantalise – you decide!

https://jlmfl.wordpress.com/

If you are the type of person who fits with our culture, you will really love working here. There is no other school like it in the country.

Thanks to how teaching is organised, you will see each of your classes at least three times per week. As a consequence, the relationships you can forge and the learning you can foster are exceptional.

You are also very welcome to visit the school – even if you don’t end up applying for the post. We are 30 seconds from Wembley Park tube, accessible by both the Jubilee and Metropolitan lines. 

Our staff have written a book, Battle Hymn Of The Tiger Teachers. Michaela teachers, from founders to classroom teachers to senior leaders, lead readers through different methods and aspects of what makes Michaela unique.

Some of our staff are on Twitter. Check them out!

https://twitter.com/JHC_Porter
https://twitter.com/katie_s_ashford
https://twitter.com/joe__kirby
https://twitter.com/oliviaparisdyer
 

To register your interest please send a covering letter (no more than 3 sides in Arial font, point 12) along with your TES application form. Please include answers to these questions:

1. Why teach French at Michaela?
 2. How would you fit in with our unique ethos?

If you do not receive an email from us confirming receipt of your application, this means we have not received it, so please email it to us again. 

At Michaela teachers are paid using the teacher inner London pay scales. If you would like to discuss the position with one of our teachers about the school and what it is like to work at Michaela, please email our Head of MFL, Jess Lund at: Jlund@mcsbrent.co.uk.

Closing date: 25th September 2017

Suitable candidates will be interviewed promptly upon receipt of application. The closing date will be brought forward in the event that the post is filled.   

Michaela Community School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Successful candidates will need to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure via the DBS and/or provide police checks from other countries, where appropriate. Michaela Community School is an equal opportunities employer.