Assistant Head Teaching & Learning [Science Specialism]

The school reserves the right to close this advert early and interviews may take place before the advertised closing date. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early for this role to avoid disappointment.

Ark Greenwich 

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Joining the school team is a superb opportunity for an ambitious and motivated middle or senior leader who wants to make a lasting difference to the communities they serve. We are looking for someone specifically with a science specialism.

Ark Greenwich is a new, ambitious school model based on what we know excellent schools do. We have created a highly respectful and disciplined environment where our staff and scholars can fulfil their potential. We are one of the highest performing schools in the UK. Progress 8: +1.3, Attainment 8: 6.3, EM4+: 91%, EM5+: 81%, EBacc entry rate: 90%. 

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work at one of the highest performing schools in the country. If you are committed to making a lasting difference in our local community and want to work in a seriously ambitious, respectful and high performing school, this is the job for you. 

Ark Greenwich exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking school that encourages innovation and values its staff. We are proud of our highly respectful and disciplined community and of the outstanding academic outcomes achieved by our scholars. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high. We work tirelessly to impact the lives of the young people we serve. Scholars at our school are passionate about Science and achieve exceptional outcomes.

At Ark Greenwich we take the wellbeing of our staff seriously. We are committed to sustainable high performance and recognise our staff are our most important resource. To find out how we approach staff wellbeing and workload, please click here

•       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, lunch for early careers staff and have a 6pm/weekend work-related communication curfew. We do not take knee jerk reactions, use fads or set last-minute deadlines. Our systems and processes for communication, marking and feedback and assessment are streamlined and the approaches we take are research led and based on the needs of our local context. 

•       This is a small school model (600 scholars 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 scholars. 

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

•       Our curriculum is traditional and academic, and we do not take shortcuts to boost our position in school league tables – we do not, for example, offer equivalencies such as Btecs or Vcerts.

•       We put high-quality teaching at the heart of what we do. We are committed to providing staff with weekly high-quality training. We run coaching for all staff who want to see rapid progress in their discipline. 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 scholars 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 scholars benefit from a range of life-enriching experiences. 

If you are ready to add further value to our high performing Science department and to work alongside a brilliant school leadership team, then you will find this job extremely rewarding. 

Alignment with the school’s vision, values and approach to education is essential. 

The Role and the Science Department 

As Assistant Head, you will have the opportunity to be part of a highly effective leadership team which focuses on areas such as ethos, systems and procedures, curriculum development, timetabling, progress and standards, behaviour management, safeguarding and welfare, external relations, community links, staff development, training and induction. As a member of the senior leadership team, you will also be centrally involved in the overall leadership and management of the school and will help to establish a school culture that is both nurturing and rigorous. Specific roles and responsibilities will be associated with curriculum and teaching and learning. 

Science provision at the school is very strong and the curriculum allocation for science is generous. Scholars select their GCSE option subjects at the end of Year 9 and Triple Science is a popular choice. Our first class and fully equipped Science classrooms offer the ideal environment for our scholars to thrive and fulfil their potential. 

The Progress 8 score for Triple Science in 2022 was between +1.0 and +1.3 in all sciences. 60% of grades were 7-9. Combined science results were top of the Ark network. Results in the science department have been consistently above +0.6 for the last three years and they continue to be on an upward trend.

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 and Portsmouth educating more than 26,000 scholars. 83% of Ark schools are now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

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

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

Closing Date: Friday 14th October 2022 at 9am. The school reserves the right to close this advert early should the right candidate be found. Interviews may take place before the advertised closing date. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early for this role to avoid disappointment.  

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.