Subject Leader - Religious Education - Salary Scale: MPS/UPS (Minimum £30,000 - Maximum £46,525) + TLR2b (£5351)

Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is a successful 11-18 mainstream co-educational academy which has improved rapidly over recent years. We recently celebrated achieving a ‘Good’ Ofsted rating in our November 2022 inspection. The improvement in progress 8 scores from 2019 to 2022 indicates we were the most improved school in Gateshead and among the top 10% of schools for improvement in the North East of England. Whole school progress remained at similar levels into 2023, indicating that the improvements made have been embedded consistently.

We provide an exceptional programme of CPD for staff. We know this through staff surveys and our very low levels of staff turnover. The majority of staff who have left us have gone on to promoted positions. Staff are happy here; Lord Lawson of Beamish Academy is a good place to work. We have high expectations of our staff and students, but we also know our staff are our greatest asset, and we treat them with respect. We value the development of all our staff and you will develop further as a teacher during your time here.

Our next steps are to build on our recent achievements, and to improve the attainment and progress of our disadvantaged students, including those with SEND. We also want to engage more effectively with our community and continue to expand our already thriving extra-curricular offer for our students. Alongside these aims, we aim to expand our sixth form further, by attracting applications from other local schools, as well as ensuring more of our students complete key stage 4 with the qualifications required for further academic study.

The R.E. department is a small team comprising of two members of staff, one of whom would be the successful applicant. In addition to this, there are colleagues in the history department who also deliver KS3 R.E. lessons. Uptake at KS4 has declined in recent years and we would like the successful candidate to address this.

As a school, we are committed to raising the profile of R.E. and the role it plays in the future of our students. We look to continually provide the best for our students and invest our time and energy into our classroom practice, for example, ensuring we robustly check for understanding using mini whiteboards, hinge questions and cold calling. Teachers work hard to convey their enthusiasm of Religious Education, exploring a range of themes, belief, teachings and practices in key stage 3 leading to studying AQA Religious Studies Specification A.

We are a school committed to collaboration; recent development work in R.E. has focused on robust schemes of learning and a coherent assessment program in KS3 and KS4 which teachers use centrally. This has helped to ease workload pressures whilst ensuring that all our students receive equal access to the curriculum. This work requires further development and sustaining.

We seek to recruit an innovative, skilled, and determined leader of Religious Education. The successful applicant will be committed to the challenge of transforming the subject so that KS4 outcomes rapidly improve, opening up the possibility of pathways in KS5 and beyond.

You will be passionate about promoting the enjoyment and relevance of Religious Education to our students, particularly the disadvantaged, including those with SEND. You will be keen to learn and develop further, through collaboration with others, and through whole-school and departmental CPD.

You will be welcomed into a successful school and drive the development of excellent teaching within the R.E. department. You will raise the achievement of our students through improving the quality of the curriculum in KS3 and its implementation, ensuring student engagement from year 7 onwards leads to high levels of uptake at KS4.

Other Information

Permanent

Grade of Post: Main Pay Scale/Upper Pay Scale (Minimum £30,000 to Maximum £46,525) plus TLR2b (£5351)pa

Hours of Post: Full Time

Contract Weeks: 52 weeks

Start Date: September 2024

Closing Date: Friday 10 May 2024 at 12 noon

Shortlisting to take place: Friday 10 May 2024

Interview Date: Week Commencing Monday 13 May 2024, date to be confirmed