Teaching Head of Year

Teaching Head of Year

Start date: September 2024

Location: Ark Alexandra Academy, Hastings, East Sussex

Salary: Ark Outside London Main/Upper Pay Scale £30,570 - £48,390 + TLR 2B £5,350 + up to £5k relocation package

Hours: Full-time

Contract: Permanent

Closing date: 9.00am on 11 June 2024 

This is a rare opportunity to join our community as a Teaching Head of Year on a permanent contract.

As Head of Year, you will be responsible for ensuring outstanding high expectations and fostering a culture that enables all students to maximise their achievements and reach their full potential. Your role will be fundamental to the strategic progress and attainment of a year group, enhancement of the curriculum and promotion and accountability of exceptional attendance. You will be instrumental in delivering the school vision for all students as the figurehead for your year group.

Our standards are high, and we need someone who can be a team player and flexible when supporting other colleagues with the ability to be resilient, calm and professional under pressure.

For more information, please read the job description and person specification available for download.

As the ideal candidate you will:

• Have the ability to teach English, Maths or Computer Science (not essential)
• Demonstrable commitment to raising attainment of all students in a challenging classroom environment
• Experience leading a team and/or working to support the significant success of others
• Experience or understanding of how to improve and sustain an effective behaviour policy and/or teaching and learning in a challenging school
• Experience of interpreting complex student data to drive lesson planning and student progress
• A proven track record of providing excellent pastoral support as a form tutor 

Our school:

Ark Alexandra is a large secondary academy with a Sixth Form provision in Hastings, East Sussex and is the largest secondary in the successful Ark network. A popular school that is heavily over-subscribed, we have grown to have over 1,600 students this year.

Our school is on an exciting rapid upward trajectory. From September 2024, Ark Alexandra will operate as one school across two 6FE campuses. This creates the dual benefit of working within a small school family setting, whilst providing unique opportunities for growth, development and career opportunities that exist in a large school model.

We take a traditional and research-based approach to education with a primacy placed on cognitive science, scholarship and what the best schools do. We are a no-nonsense school where staff can focus their efforts on teaching great lessons. Our focus on extra-curricular activities including DofE, Cadets and rewards trips ensures our students benefit from a range of exciting opportunities.  

Ark Alexandra works closely with our feeder primary schools, Ark Blacklands, Ark Little Ridge and Ark Castledown, all of which have exceptional leadership graded as Outstanding by Ofsted, with Blacklands and Little Ridge being graded Outstanding in all areas.

As a Church of England school, our values of faith, excellence and kindness underpin everything that we do. We have an inclusive admissions policy that welcomes, without preference, students of all faith and none. Our vision is to create a truly great school for the young people in Hastings. We believe that everyone deserves to be accepted, included, and empowered to live a purposeful and fulfilling life.

What we offer:  

• Salary higher than the national pay scales  
• Twice as many training days as standard and network-wide events with Ark colleagues, held by the best minds in education  
• Weekly staff training designed to meet the needs of the school  
• Coaching for every teacher  
• Protected co-planning time  
• Access to the high-quality, professional development, including nationally recognised qualifications such as the NPQML and NPQSL  
• Opportunities to collaborate with colleagues across the network  

At Ark Alexandra in Hastings, we are committed to helping staff with relocation. In addition to offering up to £5,000 we can help you make a smooth transition into our school and sea-side community. We recognise the challenges of moving to a new area, and as such we offer:

• Information on local housing options, and connections to good property agents
• Advise on school enrolment for staff members' children
• Additionally, we foster a welcoming environment by connecting new employees with existing staff members who can offer guidance on settling into the community of Hastings.

The school's commitment to supporting the relocation process reflects our dedication to creating a supportive and inclusive work environment for all staff members. 

How to apply:

Please click 'apply' on the website you are visiting or go to https://arkalexandra.org/jobs/vacancies to complete an online application form. 

Please note: we are unable to accept applications via CV. We will also be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response. Early application is strongly encouraged.

If you’re interested in further information about our school, please visit our website – www.arkalexandra.org or to find out more about Ark Schools, please read Why Join an Ark School? from available for download from the application website.

To arrange an informal conversation about the role or an informal visit, please contact HR on ALEHR@arkalexandra.org   

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link.