Teacher of Spanish

About The Duston School  

The Duston School is very much  part  of  the  local  landscape  and  is  at  the  heart  of  the  local  community. The  school sits on a large  and  attractive  site  in  the  village  of  Duston  which  is  on  the  outskirts  of  Northampton.  We  were  fortunate to benefit from the PFI scheme  with  both  the  Secondary  and  Primary  schools  being  brand  new.  The secondary school opened in September 2008 and The Primary September 2015. We were the first All­ through school in Northampton Town and when full we will have over 2000 pupils.  

In  September  2007  the  school  moved  into  a  new  £28m  building  which  has  state  of  the  art  facilities  to  make  learning really come  alive.   

Our spacious, well ­lit buildings and extensive sports facilities offer high quality state of the art facilities for sports and both vocational and academic learning and teaching.  The  design  of  the  buildings  aims  to  reflect  the  school’s successful ethos, and it’s  our  pledge  is  to  ensure  that  every  student  is  given  the  opportunity  to  achieve  their  potential whether their talents lie in  the  arts,  literature,  sport,  science,  technologies  or  more  traditional  subjects. 

Our curriculum is designed to be personalised to the individual student therefore allowing them to achieve rapid progress and to be successful in their future. We want The Duston School always to be a positive learning environment where we offer the best for all students.  

The school converted voluntarily to academy status under the Academies Enterprise Trust (AET).  In 2014 the school chose to leave the AET and is now governed by The Duston Education Trust (TDET). TDET ethos is that it cares, builds possibilities and potential, nurtures what students are and what they can become. It expects the best of everyone.  Our students are happy, confident, resilient and self­critical. TDET values hard work, determination and ambition, acknowledging and celebrating the variety of ways in which learners can be excellent. Staff well­being is also of prime importance to us. Staff working conditions are excellent; faculty work areas afford our staff amenities and resources of the highest quality and standard.  We provide a health benefit package for our staff and our on­site Consultant Senior HR Advisor offers high quality personal support.  Sound, financial business management enables us to undertake innovative projects both large and small.  Over  the  past  2  years,  major  school  funded developments have included the opening of our Primary school, Teaching School and School Centred Initial  Teacher  Training  Centre (SCITT). Smaller  projects  include  the  installation  of  smart  boards  and  sets of  tablets  and  iPads  in  all  classrooms.  The school  is  fully  networked so that computer­aided learning on PCs, tablets and laptop computers can take place throughout the site.  

The Duston School – Primary Phase  

Our Primary School opened in  September  2015  with  two  Year  R  classes  and  one  Year  1  class.  Each  year  we intake two  forms  of  Year  R  children,  becoming  full  in  September  2021.  The  school  is  a  bright  and  modern learning  environment  with  a  caring  and  engaging  feel.  The  vision  of  the  Trust  ‘every  child  whatever  it  takes’  is  fully  embraced  in  everything  we  do.  A skillful, dynamic  and  personalised  approach  to  teaching  has led to outstanding outcomes overall for all groups of children in 2016. A highly skilled staff works  as  a  team  to  skillfully  drive  learning  forward  through  specifically  chosen,  proven  high quality teaching methods such  as  Singapore  Maths  and  Talk  for  Writing.  Highly  effective  targeted  teaching, innovative groupings of children, swift intense intervention, high expectations for challenge, progress, presentation and feedback as well as close relationships  with  parents  ensured  that  all  groups  of  children  achieved exceptionally well in 2016 with results well above the national average. Every child’s day in primary is planned in a very meticulous, yet creative way, to ensure that  every  child  is constantly learning and maximum  use  is  made  of  time.  Core  subject  teaching  is  not  fragmented,  but  is  instead skillfully integrated across a child’s day, ensuring  children  are  given  many  opportunities  to  effectively  apply and embed skills learnt. The integrated approach to  each  day  ensures  more  time  for  children  to  gain  hands on experiences, have more problem solving/research tasks and therefore learn in greater depth.  

Specialist teaching from  primary  and  secondary  staff  this  academic  year  in Spanish, music and dance (ballet, modern, jazz & street  dance)  from EYFS upwards has greatly enhanced skills at a much younger age than expected. Specialist teaching will increase year on year ensuring a seamless transition into Year 7. Fabulous Friday which takes place fortnightly was precisely planned and taught throughout 2015 & 2016 to enhance the arts skills of all children. Focus weeks as well as cultural celebrations are  held  yearly  to  enhance  the  profile  of  all  subjects  and  the understanding of different faiths.  

We are dedicated to fully developing the whole child.  Children say that they feel cared for and successful in their learning.  They say that they enjoy coming to school, they like learning and that they are expected to work hard.  Children  also  feel  that  any  behaviour  that  does  not  match  the school expectations is  dealt  with  immediately.  Protective behaviours are explicitly taught across the year. Children demonstrate through questioning that they know how to keep themselves safe in a variety of situations. 

There  is  a  strong  bond  between  the  primary  and  secondary  schools.  We are all  fully  dedicated  to  educate  every  child  from  4  through  to  19.  A number of innovative cross phase initiatives have greatly improved outcomes  for  many  children,  including  many  hard  to  reach  children during the last academic year. Our organisational model means we can provide a dynamic all­through education, ensuring that there is clear continuity through all stages of learning.  We look forward  to  developing this relationship year on year.  

The Duston School ­ Sixth Form  

A relentless approach to  student  focused  achievement  and  progress  is  what  has  driven  up  standards  at  sixth  form.  The sixth form has increased in capacity over the last  few  years,  with  a  wide  range  of  level  three  academic  and  vocational subjects. There has been a  record  number  of  Russell  group  successful  applicants,  with  over  half  of  our  grades achieving A*­B, with 1/5 grades being A*/A. We  are  above  national  average  for  progress  and  have  a  53%  increase in A level entries since 2014. 75% of our year 13 attended university this year, with 22% at Russell groups.               

Our students believe their best interests are at the heart of all that we do, and have recently said that 'it is the best they could wish for.' We have excellent programmes for enrichment and non-core  options,  including  EPQ,  and  sports  leader. We  are  a  leading  school  for  core  maths and  have  an  extensive  work  experience  programme.  Our  sixth  form  is an integral part of the whole school community and our students in all year  groups  benefit  from  our  focus  on  role modelling and mentoring.