Chinese Language Assistant

Whitgift is a leading independent day and boarding school for boys, with approximately   1460 pupils including over one hundred boarding pupils and flexi boarding pupils. It set in an attractive 48-acre parkland site in South Croydon enjoying excellent links to London, Surrey and the south coast.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a fluent Chinese speaker to join our vibrant and dynamic Chinese Department as a full-time Chinese Language Assistant from September 2018. The Languages Faculty at Whitgift is one of the largest in the country, comprising eight languages. In addition to Chinese, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Italian, Latin and Ancient Greek are also taught within the School. There are four Chinese teachers and two Assistants in the Department, with Chinese being taught from Year 7. Many pupils take GCSE Chinese, and continue   their studies in the Sixth Form, where we offer both IB and Pre-U/A level. We offer a wide co-curricular provision, and students have the opportunity to   take part in an Exchange to Beijing, as well as a Sixth Form trip (most recently to Hong Kong and Shanghai). 

As a full-time Language Assistant, the successful candidate will be pro-active and enthusiastic about promoting Chinese across the School. He or she will play an important role in preparing students for examinations, working with students in small groups and assisting teachers in the classroom. She or he will be able to produce resources and lead enjoyable discussions that challenge students while simultaneously building their confidence and ability to converse in both a natural and articulate manner. In addition to preparing resources for his or her own teaching, the successful candidate will work with the Head of Chinese to assist in the production of high quality and innovative resources to support classroom teaching. A high level of accuracy in both spoken and written Chinese   and English will be essential, and the ideal candidate will excel in encouraging our students to engage with current social and political issues in Chinese-speaking countries, drawing inspiration from the media and other authentic sources. Flexibility and a willingness to engage with the broader life of the school is a prerequisite. An ability to teach Chinese literature would be an advantage.

In return we offer a generous salary and benefits package including a money purchase pension scheme (plus Life Assurance over), Employee Discount Club, discounted school fees for the Foundation Schools, discounted off-peak   membership at our on-site gym (Nuffield Health), membership of a healthcare plan, a range of family-friendly benefits and season ticket loan.

We welcome applications from all parts of our community as we aspire to attract staff that matches the social and cultural diversity of our student   intake.

From the advertisement   on school's website (www.whitgift.co.uk/vacancies), select the white 'documents available' button at the top left of the advertisement, and the green 'apply' button on the top right for the online application form.  For any queries, please telephone Rebecca Whitmore on 020 8688 9222 or e-mail  rsw@whitgift.co.uk. Applications will be reviewed on a daily basis and we invite interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.

Closing date is midnight on Sunday 17th June. Interviews are likely to be during week commencing 18th June 2018.

Whitgift School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young   people, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening   including checks with past employers and the Disclosure & Barring Service.