Actor/ Musician in Residence

“AGFS—Fantastic and extraordinary…” Tom Bennett, founder of Research Ed and behaviour adviser to the Department for Education

Ark Greenwich Free School

Described as “among the highest performing schools in the country” (Evening Standard), Ark Greenwich Free School exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. We provide the very best all-round education and nurture a range of talents and skills including through our successful performing and expressive arts programme. Our pupils possess huge musical potential and we are eagerly anticipating the right candidate to unlock this and bring music to the forefront of our school. We are proud of our highly respectful and disciplined community and of the outstanding academic outcomes achieved by our pupils. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking school that encourages innovation and values its staff. We work tirelessly to impact the lives of the young people we serve. 

How is Ark Greenwich different to other schools?

• We are part of the Ark family of schools and benefit accordingly from outstanding networking and career opportunities and first-class CPD. 

• Staff wellbeing is one of our main priorities. We provide breakfast for staff each morning and have a 6pm/weekend work related communication curfew to ensure our staff can maintain an effective work/life balance. We do not do knee jerk reactions, fads or last-minute deadlines. Our systems and processes including for communication, pupil m-arking and feedback and assessment are efficient and streamlined and the approaches we take are led by research and what we know to work within of our local context. 

• This is a small school model (600 students aged 11-16) because we believe that our close-knit community provides the optimum conditions for success.   

• Behaviour for learning is exceptional so our teachers can focus their time on the things that matter – planning and delivering brilliant lessons for our students. 

• Our curriculum is traditional and academic and we do not take shortcuts – we do not offer vocational courses or equivalencies such as Btecs, Vcerts or the ECDL. 

• We put high-quality teaching at the heart of what we do. We have 60 mins of high-quality staff training every week and run coaching for staff. Live coaching and current best practice in the field of education is central to our approach. 

• We don’t grade individual lessons or ask for lesson plans.

• Our students enjoy a compulsory co-curricular program on a Wednesday afternoon which includes a strong focus on community volunteering and we facilitate 12 drop down days per academic year ensuring our students benefit from a range of life enriching experiences.

• This is a strict no excuses, no mobile phone school.    

About Ark Schools

Ark is a network of high-achieving, non-selective schools and one of the country’s top-performing academy groups. We run 38 academies in London, Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth educating more than 20,000 pupils. 83% of Ark academies are now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Our aim is to create outstanding schools that give every pupil, regardless of their background, the opportunity to go to university or pursue the career of their choice.

The Role: 

Ark Greenwich Free School would like to appoint a proactive and highly organised actor/musician in residence, who will work with our Music and Drama departments supporting the fantastic work that goes on inside and outside of the classroom. We are proud to be at the cutting edge of international educational developments with a dedicated team of professional staff who are passionate about providing outstanding education and pastoral care for all students.

You will support class teachers in Music and Drama lessons predominantly at KS4. Other responsibilities will include coordinating small group rehearsal, preparing resources, marking and providing feedback, providing exam support and running extracurricular activities. Additionally, you may be required to provide support for concerts, performances and complete administrative tasks across both departments. This means that we are looking for a flexible and highly organised individual with a background in the performing arts and an interest in education. 

To find out more about Ark Greenwich Free School, please visit our website via www.arkgreenwichfreeschool.org 

Ark value diversity and are committed to safeguarding and promoting child welfare. The successful candidate will be subject to DBS and any other relevant employment checks.