Director of Futures (Careers and Higher Education)

Forest School is seeking to appoint a Director of Futures (Careers and Higher Education). This is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding individual to develop our existing provision and drive a robust and ambitious careers programme at Forest School. We believe this is central to the holistic educational provision at Forest and our desire to educate the whole child. The person appointed will, therefore, feed into this vision and will help to lead the shaping of pupil's lives.

The successful applicant will champion a Careers curriculum that is explicitly designed to support the personal development by meeting and exceeding the Gatsby Benchmarks. They will be responsible for the careers provision, and its monitoring and evaluation. They will provide Forest pupils with rich opportunities to develop their skills and interests to meet the ever-evolving needs of a 21st Century workplace. They will curate immersive and engaging opportunities for Forest pupils to gain a broad experience and appreciation of a diversity of careers, workplaces, and sectors.

The Director of Futures will work closely with the Head of Sixth Form and the Sixth Form Team to enable Forest students to think about Higher Education options and opportunities and, eventually, to support their applications through the UCAS process. They will also interface closely with our Prep School to ensure that quality careers provision begins early. This, therefore, represents a genuine opportunity to lead across a whole school setting, from 4-18.

This curriculum, which the Director of Futures will ‘own’, must be coherently planned, interleaved, embedded, sequenced and age and stage appropriate. To this end, the Director of Futures will work in partnership with senior and experienced teachers in the Lower School, Middle School and Sixth Form at Forest to develop and design these learning experiences. They must prepare pupils to make well-informed decisions about their next steps. At the heart of the programme should be embedded considerations for equality, inclusion, and diversity. The Careers Curriculum should be up to date, systematically mapped and published on Forest School’s website.  

The Director of Futures will be an important Middle Leader in the school, broadly equivalent to a Head of a large department but with a wider strategic and operational remit.

If the successful applicant is a qualified teacher, the Director of Futures will teach a significantly reduced timetable to reflect the strategic and operational importance of the post. This role can be combined with teaching in any department or subject.

The Forest School Ethos

Forest is a humane, open-minded school with both feet on the ground, in which the pupils’ all-round personal development is outstanding and academic attainment is high. It is, above all, a happy school which understands the rich inter-relationship between the curricular, the co-curricular and the pastoral. There is boldness in the School’s character, a readiness to be forward-thinking and adaptable, with pride in what we are and excitement for what lies ahead. We value growth, hard work, responsibility community, learning, diversity and wellbeing – values that are as applicable to our pupils as they are to our staff.

About Forest

Forest is a large, vibrant school, with approximately 1500 pupils from 4 to 18. Our traditional House structure means that each pupil is treated as an individual, of whom we have the highest expectations, while our size enables us to offer breadth and depth of opportunity. 

Location

Forest is a city school surrounded by Epping Forest, within easy walking distance of Snaresbrook Central line tube station and Wood Street Overground station.

Why work at Forest?

There are many benefits of working at Forest school as staff are our single most important asset. Key benefits include:    

• Generous CPD budget               
• Comprehensive Professional Development Review system               
• Opportunities to contribute to the wider community via our extensive Outreach Programme       
• Free hot lunch (takeaway sandwich lunch also available) and refreshments throughout the day               
• 20% fee remission (pro-rata for part time staff) for children attending Forest which is applicable Y3-Y13               
• Subsidised membership to the Sylvestrian Leisure Centre             
• Membership of the School's Group Life Assurance scheme and Personal Accident Scheme        
• Contribution towards private medical insurance fees               
• Membership of a pension scheme

What the Good Schools Guide say:

“Forest is a power-house with a heart. The pupils exude purpose – modern, dynamic youngsters with an eye on what’s happening next”

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis so early applications are encouraged. The School reserves the right to make an appointment at any stage.

Closing Date: Sunday 4 December 2022, 23:59

Interviews: Wednesday 14 December 2022

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. We are an equal opportunities employer.