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Deputy Faculty Leader

Deputy Faculty Leader

Whickham School

Whickham, Newcastle Upon Tyne

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  • Expired
Salary:
£22,917 - £38,633 plus TLR1a £7,699
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
01/09/2018
Apply by:
19 April 2018

Job overview

Are you a highly motivated and innovative teacher and leader seeking a significant  leadership opportunity? We seek to appoint an outstanding Deputy Faculty Leader who is an RS or Geography specialist, to join our strong and dedicated Humanities faculty.

We want to recruit a colleague to accelerate our faculty's progress and this is an ideal opportunity for colleagues who aspire to work as a senior leader in the future. The role will involve significant operational leadership responsibilities within the Humanities Faculty and you will work very closely with the Faculty Leader honing your strategic decision making skills across all four subject areas which are RS, Geography, History and Citizenship.

Our expectations are high at Whickham School, and we make no secret of that. We are a good school (Ofsted March 2018) and expect dedication and commitment from all staff and being the best you can be is central to our ethos. We believe that what we do at Whickham School is vital to improving the life changes of the young people in the community that we serve. We ask for everyone to achieve beyond expectations, and to do that we offer significant investment in staff with timetabled collaborative planning and CPD time.
 

Student achievement and well-being is at the heart of everything we do at Whickham School. We combine outstanding teaching with a rewarding, enriching curriculum which broadens students’ horizons and encourages them to believe in their abilities and be the best that they can be. 

We achieve this through our four keys:

Everyone is a leader who demonstrates the school values.

Everyone always ensures a culture of learning that engages, excites and inspires.

Everyone always works effectively to achieve beyond expectations.

Everyone always ensures that all barriers to learning are addressed.

Whickham is a large and successful school in Gateshead with over 1500 students including approximately 300 in the sixth form, which is one of the most successful nationally (top 5%) with 58% of grades being A* or A grade in the 2017 exams. KS4 results are good and P8 is currently 0.06. Behaviour is excellent at Whickham School. In our recent inspection, our report noted that positive relationships with staff are founded on mutual respect and that pupils are polite, courteous and mature.

We have eager students who engage in a wide range of personal development and extra-curricular enrichment opportunities. We raised over £20,000 in this year's charity week and are pace setting when it comes to mental health. 

If you think you have the passion, energy and drive to help us become even better, please apply. Informal visits are welcome and encouraged. Please contact Nicola Graham, HR & Administration Manager on (0191 4960026 ext 205) to arrange this.  If successful you will have to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure.

Attached documents

About Whickham School

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  • Whickham School
  • Burnthouse Lane, Whickham, Newcastle upon Tyne
  • Gateshead
  • NE16 5AR
  • United Kingdom
+44 191 4960026

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The School

Whickham School is a large and successful school in Gateshead with over 1700 students including approximately 350 in our high performing sixth form.

Ofsted

Following our recent Ofsted inspection in May, Whickham School continues to be a good school with enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if Ofsted were to carry out a graded (section 5) inspection now. The school’s next inspection will be a graded inspection.

“Staff have very high expectations of pupils. Through the school’s values, pupils are encouraged to have empathy and respect for others. They are also encouraged to aspire and to be resilient.”

“The support available for pupils with SEND is exceptional.”

“Pupils behave exceptionally well at Whickham school. They feel safe and well looked after in the school.”

School Organisation

Demand for student places is strong and the school is regularly oversubscribed. Students are organised into year groups whilst eight faculties deliver the school curriculum. The Sixth Form, which has its own dedicated facility, is an increasingly popular choice of students from all over the local area.

In January 2020 many faculties moved into a brand new, state of the art, STEAMS themed building. The stunning four storey building houses Science, Technology (plus Business and IT), Engineering, Art, Maths and Sport.

The Leadership Team meet weekly and share responsibility for policy generation, decision making, planning and the general wellbeing of the school. The relevant governing body committee is involved in strategic planning and policies from the onset. Faculty and Year groups meet every two weeks to discuss strategic issues.

Vision and Values

“Whickham, a school to be proud of at the heart of the community. Where learning is cherished in a safe, caring and supportive environment. A school where everyone is valued and inspired to be the best they can be.”

CPDL & Well Being

Staff development and wellbeing is something that is very important at Whickham - we recognise that the physical and mental health of our staff are crucial aspects of sustaining a motivated, dedicated and high performing workforce. Please see the attachment which mentions some of the steps we actively take to support our staff.

We are committed to ensuring we provide outstanding CPDL and an environment that enables exceptional staff well-being. We will support you in your personal and professional development, enabling you to contribute fully to the creative and dedicated teams of dynamic and ambitious staff you will be joining.

In addition to our School Improvement hour every other week, we have a series of working groups dedicated to Teaching and Learning as well as other opportunities to become involved in driving forward best practice. All of our teachers benefit from dedicated collaborative planning time, and we run a very successful NQT programme which offers comprehensive support and guidance from dedicated mentors.

We are accredited with the Bronze level of the Better Health at Work award and we are committed to supporting staff not only through the dedicated campaigns that we have run, but also in proactively encouraging healthy practice in a range of meaningful ways.

Curriculum

At Whickham School, we aim to provide a broad and engaging curriculum that enables students to fulfil their talents and interests, whilst gaining the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in your further studies, training and employment. High quality information and guidance is provided to help students navigate their pathways through the courses on offer.

A strong foundation is provided at Key Stage 3 where students follow a broad and balanced curriculum comprising the following subjects: Mathematics, English, Science, Modern Languages, Geography, History, RE, Technology, ICT, Art and Design, Music, Religious Studies and Citizenship.

Pupils are allocated to mixed ability tutor groups and are taught in those groups for most lessons. Pupils are taught in smaller groups for Technology and Physical Education. Pupils are taught in setted classes for Mathematics and, from Year 9, English.

At KS4, students follow a two-year programme to provide more time to study key GCSE and Btec subjects in more creative and supportive ways, accelerating progress and achievement.

The curriculum at Key Stage 4 is more varied with students choosing programmes of study from a wide range of curriculum areas. Our new curriculum enables the vast majority of students to follow an academic pathway that enables them to achieve a set of qualifications that would contribute towards the EBAC.  In addition, we have an extensive range of creative and vocational courses delivered on and off-site that enable all our students to follow courses that ensure high levels of engagement and success. We continue to collaborate with external partners to ensure that learning in areas such as engineering takes place in real – work contexts.

The school has strong AEN department that provides additional support to encourage academic progress at all key stages.

The breadth of choice continues into the Sixth Form, with large numbers of students selecting from over 35 different A Level and BTEC National courses.

Whickham School is alive with activities that offer students the opportunity to broaden their interests and experience.

Physical education and Sport are highly prominent with a wide range of interests catered for. Music and Drama are also strengths in the school. The school puts on a number of productions each year including an annual musical which plays to packed houses for a week. The school band and drama groups perform at various prestige events. Educational visits and exchanges are organised for students of all ages. Sports Leadership is particularly strong.

The Governing Body

The governing body is enthusiastic and active and they bring a wide range of experiences and skills derived from their diverse employment in commerce, industry and education.

The relationship between the senior management team and the governing body has evolved into one which enables open and frank discussion to take place on school issues. The introduction of more linked governors to specific school subject areas has improved governor involvement and awareness of issues and priorities. Strengths and weaknesses are discussed freely.

The relationship between the governing body and staff is one of mutual trust and openness. The governing body endeavours to provide support as well as challenge and to become actively involved in all school matters. We consider the governing body to be part of the school management team and to support the school in its quest to maximise all student achievements in a happy interesting and safe environment.

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Applications closed