Design Technology Head of Faculty

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for expressing an interest in this key vacancy at our college. In addition to this letter I would also urge you to look at our website and the video about what it is we stand for and why you would want to join us - https://www.crownhills.com/join-us/

The College has been serving the community since 1950 and continues to be a Good school after last being inspected in May 2019. 

Having said that though, we are not a College that is driven by OFSTED and the grade we hold, we want to be much more than that and I would like to think that when you look at what we have done over the last 5 years we are now at the forefront of educational excellence. We want to provide the best educational experience possible for the children in our care and thereby become a great school that goes beyond grades and targets. I also sincerely believe that if we lead this school community by staying true to our values then it is possible.

5 years ago after a school wide consultation we agreed that there was something missing from our values and the word commitment was born. It is this value that has really ignited all of the successes that we have achieved, from delayed gratification to simply students working harder than staff. The graphic below shows each of the values intertwine to form the basis of our work at Crown Hills but they sit beneath our mission statement of 

“We want every student to be the best that they can be, thrive in the best possible career and contribute positively to society.”

We are very clear that the gender, background, colour, poverty, wealth or social status of a child should have no bearing on how well they perform and staff here work extremely hard in trying to close that gap between the different groups of pupils. 

This is a significant leadership role and we have also spent a significant amount of time working on the values and behaviours that are expected of our leaders, including myself. We cannot become a great school without 

our leaders leading in a certain way, we need to set a standard and expect to be held accountable to those standards. I will be speaking more about this at our information evening.

The faculty consists of 9 teachers. It is part of the Discovery Zone which it shares with the Maths and Science faculties. It delivers the AQA GCSEs in Food & Nutrition and Art & Design in Graphics, 3D Design, Textiles and Photography and follows a two-year Key stage four curriculum. 

Whilst our students make good progress there is still work to do to improve attainment. 

The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with the Deputy and Assistant Heads of faculty to ensure the smooth day-to-day running of the faculty and to create and implement strategic improvements in line with the College’s vision and policies. We expect applicants to be committed to equal opportunities, multi-cultural education and team-working.  

As a Faculty leader this role will require significant strategic as well operational leadership. We are looking for somebody who is innovative, willing to take risks and looking to create educational excellence by leading a team that delivers quality first teaching in the classroom on a daily basis. 

That process has already started and we have removed lesson observations from the appraisal process for over 5 years now and linked it to professional development. Currently staff are entitled to ‘visits’ and entitled to a professional dialogue to improve their practice. That is a risk we have taken but it is aimed at creating a learning community where teachers can teach and learners can learn without fear. Within DT however, there is some work to do with the progress that students make across the different specialisms.

However, curriculum is the progress model and the three things together: Curriculum, Responsive Teaching and Assessment are the driving force behind the improved progress of our students as is a clear and simple behaviour policy that expects students to respond first time every time.

In addition to responsive teaching, we have what we call a knowledge-first approach to our delivery. This places the emphasis on the teacher being the most knowledgeable person in the room and imparting that knowledge to students rather than engaging in a discovery model that wastes time with students trying to discover the new knowledge. Again, if you are interested in this post then this method of delivery is key to you securing the position. I would urge you to read more about our approach in our teaching and learning blog: https://www.crownhills.com/think-pieces/

The successful candidate will be expected to work with the other Faculty Leaders within the zone to ensure smooth day to day running. They will also work as part of the wider Leadership Group to form and drive vision and policy across the college. 

The successful candidate will not be given a tutorial role but we expect all staff to help students in their wider social and personal education. The successful candidate will be linked to a specific year group to support student achievement. Crown Hills has a strong commitment to personal professional development including specific training in the way we lead at CHCC. This is an excellent place in which to further a career in leadership and stepping stone into senior leadership.

If you have high aspirations for children from deprived backgrounds and want to support the leadership of excellence by improving pupil outcomes, then we would love to hear from you. 

As part of our recruitment process, it is important that you attend our information evening, as this forms part of the recruitment process. In order to be shortlisted you must attend either in person, online or ask for a recording. Please email Sinead in order to confirm your attendance sfranklin@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk

If you would like a confidential conversation about the role please do call me on 07985748722.

Please read the attached job description and person specification. If you are interested in applying, please fill in the application form available on our website: www.crownhills.com, please include e-mail addresses of all referees, and e-mail it together with a letter of application (no more than 2 sides of A4, font 12) outlining your skills, qualifications and experience relevant to this post to sfranklin@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk by 9am on Friday 3rd February 2023. 

In particular, please tell us about any initiative or strategy you have introduced, led or used to raise achievement and the impact it had on outcomes.

Key Dates

Information Evening Thursday 26th January @ 5pm

Deadline Friday 3rd February

Interviews Likely to be w/c 6th February 

Start Date Easter or August 2023

Should you wish to visit the College please contact Sinead.

I look forward to meeting you and receiving your application.