Head of Business

JFS is an incredible school. It is in the Top-5 non-selective schools for attainment in the country and serves a community that is incredibly invested in the outcomes of its children. With nearly 2,000 pupils, JFS is not a small school but with 62% of all grades were a 7 or above at GCSE and 64% of all grades an A*-A or above at A-level, it is a school thriving with students who are eager to learn and eager to do their very best. It has achieved this despite being a school that was in ‘Special Measures’ in September 2021 but was rated ‘Good’ by OfSTED in April 2022 . The rapid turnaround is a testament to the brilliant staff that we have, amongst whom, is a deep-seated desire to always seek improvement. We work hard every day to build a truly exceptional school that delivers a superb educational experience. OfSTED is simply a point of assessment; it is the day-to-day journey that we are interested in at JFS.

At JFS, we want to do everything that we possibly can to support teachers in their daily job of planning and teaching. We work to remove any distractions and to that end, teachers are never expected to run a detention, they are never expected to call home to a parent unless they want to, and they are never expected to do a duty. Teachers are not expected to indulge children who wish to disrupt the learning of others. Our approach is one of zero tolerance, tempered by humanity and care, and in which we champion the voices of our quiet children who wish to build a brilliant future for themselves. Our aim is for teachers to be as free as possible to passionately debate the delivery of their subject and explore best practice to ensure that this is school not just filled with outstanding teachers but elite teachers; teachers who represent the very best to be found in our profession.

As a Head of Department, you will be joining an exceptional team of leaders who are the driving force behind our school improvement. Our aim is always to give leaders as much space as possible to get on with their job whilst doing our best to offer support and remove any barriers. You will be supported by exceptional colleagues whilst given the space to develop your own practice. You will not be responsible for running detentions, or doing duties or making phone-calls home about behaviour; we have centralise these functions to make them more efficient and I hope that there is more space to concentrate on teaching and learning because of it. We are not a school that dictates a one size fits all approach to teaching. We want teachers to strive to improve their own approach in a way that is true to them as individuals and we have a team of Lead Practitioners to support in this. We believe that classrooms should be unique to the teachers who lead them.

In addition, we want this to be a school that offers superb pastoral careful. We have a huge mental health and safeguarding team with five full-time Pastoral Safeguarding Officers, a team of eight counsellors and two full-time behaviour specialists. Moreover, our Sixth Form of over 500 students support across the school in peer-mentoring, paired reading and academic support in lessons. We are proud of what we do to make sure our children are both heard and loved.

We are looking for people who care deeply about the rigour of their subject and who care deeply about the individuals to whom they are teaching it. We are looking for people who enjoy children and who enjoy a classroom that is warm and interactive and one in which students are known as individual within a strong community.

We believe that JFS is an excellent place to work and develop but you should not just take us at our word. If you have any questions at all then please do contact me directly using david.moody@Jfs.brent.sch.uk and I will be happy to organise a visit for you or answer any questions that you may have. Nothing is more important to us than finding like-minded people and no query is too small.

Applications from candidates of faith or non-faith backgrounds are most welcome.

JFS shall reserve the right to shortlist candidates and interview prior to the closing date.

Any unsolicited CVs sent by any agency to us, in any situation where we have not directly engaged the agency in writing to supply candidates for a specific vacancy will be considered to be a “free gift”, leaving us liable for no fees whatsoever should we choose to contact the candidate directly and engage the candidate’s services. Unsolicited CV’s will in no way establish any claim by the agency to representation of that candidate.

Please note, it is not part of JFS' recruitment process to provide feedback to unsuccessful applicants at the application stage.