Associate Assistant Headteacher and Head of Department: English and Film

Associate Assistant Headteacher and Head of Department: English and Film

Salary: L9 L10 

Full Time  Permanent

Required for September 2024

Rickmansworth School is judged to be an outstanding school (September 2023). We are an 11-18 heavily oversubscribed co-educational partially (35%) selective academy with around 1540 students on roll, increasing to around 1575 students over the next year. Academic results are strong at KS4 and KS5 with the vast majority of students securing their first choice university destinations.

The School is in a very strong, stable financial position with over £6M recently spent on school expansion including a new Sixth-form centre, performing arts theatres and an Innovation & Design Centre. The School is also supported extremely well by a fantastic PTA and Foundation. Our outstanding staff well-being programme includes access to our fitness suite and swimming pool, flu vaccinations, complimentary eye tests and an annual wellbeing day. Our students enjoy learning and are an absolute pleasure to teach. We believe every child deserves the best and we aim to achieve excellence in all aspects of school life.

This is a Senior Leadership Team post to lead the English & Film department and also undertake whole-school operational and strategic responsibilities. This role represents an excellent opportunity for an ambitious middle leader to progress into a senior leadership role. 

About the English Department

Our aim is to ensure all aspects of the department are innovative, inspiring and highly academic, with a focus on outstanding teaching and learning. We believe the best lessons are taught with the students at the centre of our planning and teaching; our lessons aim to be fast paced, challenging and memorable.

We are constantly reviewing and adapting our curriculum planning, with a focus on development and transferable skills; from KS3 through to KS5. This spirit of renewal and progression is essential to meet the needs of the reformed curricula at GCSE and A Level.

We want students to be aware of the journey from Year 7 through to Year 11 (and beyond) in terms of skills and knowledge. Thus, at KS3, we aim to provide students with a curriculum full of texts from different eras and different cultures, and a multitude of tasks that engage students and empower them with the skills they need to thrive as independent and academically curious learners.

GCSE and A Level results are consistently excellent. In 2023, 89% of students achieved 9 to 5 grades in English Literature, (44% achieving a grade 7 or above), and 89% of students achieving 9 to 5 in English Language (38% achieving a grade 7 or above).  At A level 82% of our students secured an A*-B at Literature and 57% secured an A*-B for Language and Literature.

Beyond English, Film Studies has been the main addition to our offer in recent years. Great success at A Level led to the introduction of an equally successful GCSE. It has been a pleasure to witness the combination of traditional academic virtues in analytical essays with the inspired creative work which is celebrated annually at our prestigious awards evening. Moreover, in conjunction with Film Studies, the two English A Levels of English Literature and English Language and Literature help to provide the choice of a variety of inspiring subjects best suited to students’ interests and future pursuits. 

We can offer you:

• Excellent CPD opportunities
• A school recently rated Outstanding by Ofsted where students’ behaviour is exemplary
• A professional working environment where teamwork is highly valued
• A partially- selective school with a focus on academic achievement (Progress 8 in 2023 is +0.55) 
• Admission criteria where preference is given to staffs’ children
• A school which invests heavily in the future 
• A hugely talented and cohesive support staff
• An outstanding wellbeing programme

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and are an equal opportunities employer.  Applicants must declare any criminal convictions and submit to a check with the Disclosing and Barring Service as the post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.  Further details can be obtained from the website www.rickmansworth.herts.sch.uk, by calling the School on 01923 773296 or by email to applications@rickmansworth.herts.sch.uk.

We are required for only shortlisted candidates  to conduct online searches about an applicant as part of our shortlisting process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance 2023  in order to identify any incidents or concerns which are publicly available online.  On signing the declaration on application  you will be agreeing to the acknowledgement that such searches will be conducted as part of the shortlisting process.

Deadline for applications: 08:00 Monday 22 April 2024

Interviews:                 Wednesday 01 May 2024

We reserve the right to interview and appoint prior to the closing date.