Assistant Principal for Science

Reports to: Vice Principal 

Start date: April 2022

Contract: Permanent 

Salary: Ark Leadership L11-L15

The Role 

The Assistant Principal for Science will ensure excellent provision for KS3, KS4 & KS5 to prepare our pupils to be successful at university and beyond. Working closely with the rest of the Strategic Leadership Team, this role will be accountable for standards and achievement of pupils within the faculty. This will involve the line management of the leaders with the subject area, including necessary support and monitoring. In addition, ensuring high standards of teaching and learning to continue the drive to raise standards of attainment so that all students make excellent progress. 

As a member of the Academy’s Strategic Leadership Team, the successful candidate will contribute towards the Academy Improvement Plan of the whole academy. The successful candidate will be expected to take on a whole academy responsibility based on their experience, skills and interests. 

Key Responsibilities 

• Standards and achievement for all areas within the faculty 

• Subject coordination across the academy 

• Lead the professional community of subject leaders and teachers within the faculty, ensuring high standards of teaching and learning 

• Curriculum setting and assessment for all areas within the faculty 

• Quality teaching and learning of their subject specialism across the academy

• Nurture and develop enthusiasm and performance in Science

• Responsibility for an area across the academy depending on area of expertise or interest. 

Leadership of the Faculty 

• Delivering professional development to teachers within the faculty, including inset training as may be appropriate 

• Supervising and supporting beginner teachers and Newly Qualified Teachers (NQT’s) as appropriate 

• Developing strong partnerships and ensuring regular and productive communication with parents. 

• Holding staff to account for the progress made by students and the standards achieved 

• Setting high expectations among all the staff in their faculty 

• Ensure high standards of behaviour within the faculty, in line with the academy’s policy, in order that real learning is able to take place 

• Have an oversight of the faculty budget(s). 

Teaching and Learning

• Excellent classroom practitioner – ensures that their own classroom practice models best practice

• Teach engaging and effective lessons that motivate, inspire and improve pupil attainment

• Has good communication, planning and organisational skills

• Demonstrates resilience, motivation and commitment to driving up standards of achievement

• Commitment to regular and on-going professional development and training to establish outstanding classroom practice.

• Establish a subject development plan, target setting and review for their specialism subject 

• Direct and supervise support staff assigned to lessons and when required participate in related recruitment and selection activities 

• Implement and adhere to the academy’s behaviour management policy, ensuring the health and well-being of pupils is maintained at all times 

• Participate in preparing pupils for external examinations 

Curriculum setting and assessment 

• Ensure that high quality syllabuses and schemes of learning for all year groups within the faculty, are inspiring for learners and teachers alike are developed and implemented 

• Monitor and assess teaching and learning within your subject and faculty 

• Set regular, measurable and significant assessments for the students 

• Establish systems for monitoring and evaluation of student progress within the faculty 

• Maintain accurate pupil data for their subject and faculty area 

• Analyse student data within the faculty and use results to make teaching more effective and to implement appropriate interventions and programmes to target areas of concern 

Disseminating best practice based on educational research

• Identifying educational research to enhance existing practices.

• Support teachers in creating positive behaviour management through good teaching.

• Co-ordinating the assessment and analysis of data and information and developing action planning.

• Co-ordinating the assessment strategies to address underachievement and reducing disaffection.

Academy Culture 

• Support the academy’s values and ethos by contributing to the development and implementation of policies practices and procedures 

• Help create a strong academy community, characterised by consistent, orderly behaviour and caring, respectful relationships 

• Help develop an academy culture and ethos that is utterly committed to achievement 

• Support and work in collaboration with colleagues and other professional in and beyond the academy, covering lessons and providing other support as required. 

• Undertake , and when required, deliver or be part of the appraisal system and relevant training and professional development 

• Undertake other various responsibilities as directed by members of the SLT or Principal 

Appraisal

• Your appraisal targets will be directly linked to the needs of the school and the faculty.

Commitment

• You must continually demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the academy’s priorities and policies as modelled through your own actions and through your leadership of others

• To undertake any other responsibilities as directed by the Principal.

Person Specification: Assistant Principal for Science

Qualification criteria

• Qualified to degree level and above

• Qualified to teach and work in the UK

• Evidence of professional development relevant to the Advanced Skills Teacher (now Lead Practitioner) standards.

Experience

• Experience of providing professional development to teachers, including coaching, mentoring and training

• Experience of designing and developing resources to support learning across different subject areas

• Experience of preparing and leading training sessions

• Demonstrable experience of significantly raising attainment in a challenging context

• Experience of reflecting on and improving teaching practice to increase student achievement

• Evidence of continually improving the teaching and learning in their subject area though schemes of work, assessment and extra-curricular activities etc.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of the latest educational research, findings and best practices

• Excellent understanding of the OFSTED Framework and what constitutes effective teaching and learning

• Excellent knowledge of the National Curriculum for KS3, KS4 and ideally KS5 and a solid grounding in the assessment processes used to support planning and raise student attainment across these Key Stages

• Understanding of the strategies needed to establish consistently high aspirations and standards of results and behaviour.

Behaviours: Leadership

• Effective team member and leader

• High expectations for accountability and consistency

• Vision aligned with ARK’s high aspirations, high expectations of self and others

• Genuine passion and a belief in the potential of every pupil

• Motivation to continually improve standards and achieve excellence

• Commitment to the safeguarding and welfare of all pupils.