Early Years Class Teacher (Reception)
Stephen Perse Junior School Dame Bradbury's
Saffron Walden, Essex
- Expired
- Salary:
- The Stephen Perse Foundation has its own competitive salary scale. Remuneration will be in accordance with candidate experience.
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- 06/09/2018
- Apply by:
- 22 March 2018
Job overview
We are the Stephen Perse Foundation. Extraordinary things happen here every day.
The Stephen Perse Foundation is inspiring. It is a community in which everyone, both students and staff, achieves and makes a contribution every day.
For us, our examination results, brilliant as they are, are not an end in themselves. Instead, they are a small part of a much broader process and experience. That process is all about added value, something we offer and look for in staff as much as in students. It is something in which every journey both begins with and is built around the individual.
A global outlook, a focus on pedagogy, a ground-breaking commitment to digital learning and an emphasis on inspirational learning environments make us different. More than that, our policy of 'looking beyond' underpins education here. Co-curricular learning is integral to what we do, where opportunity and excellence are valued and encouraged.
Our community, led by the Principal, Miss Tricia Kelleher, is made up of a family of six different schools, each with its own Head, comprising 1,100 boys and girls aged 3 to 18, around 150 teaching staff and 145 support staff.
With an Exceptional ISI Inspection report in 2014 and Independent School of the Year 2014/5, we have much to be proud about.
However, we know that education in the twenty-first century is as much about looking forward as looking back. We have just completed a pioneering redevelopment plan, which includes a five-storey sports and learning centre in the heart of Cambridge. We have also admitted boys right through the Foundation, with a diamond formation for learning for both boys and girls in the Senior School. It’s a twenty first century vision of single-sex education that we believe is right for the future.
Responsible to: Head of School
Location: Dame Bradbury’s
About the Pre-Preps
There are three pre Prep Sites in the Foundation. One in the idyllic rural setting of Madingley and the other in Cambridge City centre and one in Saffron Walden. The post advertised is in our Saffron Walden school in the heart of the market town. Here you will find eight classes of Pre-Prep children aged rising three 3 to 7 years as well as nine classes of Key Stage 2 pupils.
We are looking for someone to join this close knit team with small classes and teaching assistants in every class. We are ideally looking for someone with experience teaching in the Early Years who can join our Early Years team and bring new ideas and practice to our staff. Parental relationships are key to supporting learning so teachers are available from 0800 and Early Years children can come into Kindergarten Early Stay from 0800.
As a staff of reflective practitioners we are always looking for ways to improve and develop our learning environments, lessons and pedagogy to make the best school for our learners. Do look at the person specification for further desirable qualities but if you like the sound of us then always apply as we are open to different strengths and happy to support professional development. Our website will also give you a great feel for who we are and what we believe in or come and visit us to see for yourself.
Your Role as a Teacher:
At the Stephen Perse Foundation everyone is a learner. While our students enjoy the benefits of a creative, innovative learning environment, our teachers strive to inspire and engage through using a wide range of pedagogical approaches.
We want every teacher to offer the very best in teaching and learning to our students and this will inevitably, and perhaps even increasingly, involve the digital world.
As digitally-connected pioneers of technology in education we were one of the first Apple Distinguished Schools in the UK. We are iPad 1-to-1 from 11 to 18 and our Junior Schools and Pre-Preps have class sets. Our students use iPads as ‘virtual satchels’ and through technology we are unlocking new ways to learn, connect, collaborate and innovate.
You don’t need to be a fluent or confident user of technology before you start working with us, but we will want you to have an agile and ambitious mind-set that is open to adopting new techniques.
Training and support is offered on a regular basis as part of formal and informal CPD and is focused on student learning.
Role Description
To promote effective learning, appropriate achievement and educational, social and personal progress of all pupils for Early Years pupils, consistent with the aims of the school and the unique needs of each individual.
Please see the attached Job Description for more details.
We are unable to accept CVs as a method of application, please click the Apply Now button below to proceed via our recruitment portal.
The Stephen Perse Foundation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Attached documents
About Stephen Perse Junior School Dame Bradbury's
- Stephen Perse Junior School Dame Bradbury's
- Ashdon Road, Saffron Walden
- Essex
- CB10 2AL
- United Kingdom
The Stephen Perse Foundation
The Stephen Perse Foundation is a family of independent schools combining excellent results and achievement alongside personal wellbeing located across Cambridge and Saffron Walden; educating boys and girls from nursery to sixth form where students gain an exceptional skill set that supports ambition, nurtures talent, encourages creativity and critical thinking leading to success and self-fulfilment.
Background
History of Dame Bradbury’s and the Stephen Perse Foundation
Dame Bradbury’s is located on Ashdon Road, in the heart of the market town of Saffron Walden, 15 miles to the south of Cambridge. There has been a school on this site since 1317 but it was in 1521 that Dame Joan Bradbury made the school available for local people. The School was endowed in 1535.
More recently, Dame Bradbury’s joined the Stephen Perse Foundation (originally the Perse School for Girls) in 2013, as one of two Junior Schools. The Foundation has grown and developed since 2007, adding a co-educational sixth form to its highly successful Senior School in 2008, and four nurseries and early years settings (three in Cambridge and one at Dame Bradbury’s) between 2010 and 2021. The Foundation has been fully co-educational in all settings since 2017 and now comprises four nurseries, two junior schools, a senior school and sixth form.
Predominantly a day school throughout, there are currently 65 (mainly sixth form) boarders. As well as its reputation for academic excellence, The Stephen Perse Foundation is renowned for an innovative approach to education, and a focus on preparing pupils for the future.
Dame Bradbury's Buildings and Facilities
Dame Bradbury’s boasts excellent facilities on a generous site, which will benefit from a centrally funded Foundation programme of development and refurbishment in the years ahead. As well as suitably equipped classrooms, there are dedicated spaces for science, CDE (create, design and engineering), music, a library, theatre and dining hall. Concerts also take place locally at the award winning Saffron Hall. Additionally, the Rainey Hall is a well equipped indoor sports hall on site, with a viewing gallery, changing rooms and cricket nets. Outside, there is a large playground, netball courts and a mini AstroTurf; a sports field provides for football and rugby in the winter and athletics in the summer.
Leadership structure
The Foundation is a Charitable Trust with a typical governance structure of a large voluntary board with a breadth of professional experience. Many of our Governors work within the Colleges or Faculties of Cambridge University, or in the local Cambridge or wider economy. A number of Governors are current or recent parents. Strategic objectives and budgets are proposed by the Principal and the Operational and Educational Executive and refined through discussion with Governing Body committees, before ratification by the Governing Body.
The School is led and managed by the Principal and the Executive, which currently comprises the Principal, Vice Principal, Chief Financial Officer, Charitable Foundation Director and Senior Deputy Head (11-18). Richard Girvan took up post as Principal in 2020 and the Foundation is part-way through a leadership and management review, with the establishment of a new committee structure of middle and senior leaders within and between our settings. The Principal and Senior Deputy Head (11-18) oversee the Secondary School, with the Vice Principal having oversight of the 1-11 settings. Each Junior school site is currently led day to day by a Head of School and the four nurseries are collectively led and managed by a Head and Deputy Head of Nurseries and EYFS, with on site nursery managers in each setting.
Centralised HR, Finance, Admissions, Estates, Marketing, Facilities, Data, Compliance and IT support departments serve all of the schools of the Foundation and their work is coordinated through a dedicated Heads of Sections committee. The Admissions and Marketing teams are based at Dame Bradbury’s, with other support departments run largely from the Cambridge sites.
Curriculum
The Stephen Perse Foundation aims to foster modern scholarship through exceptional teaching and a dynamic, flexible and rigorous academic curriculum. We recognise that we are educating children in preparation for life in an ever-changing, global and digital world. Pupils gain an exceptional skill set at Stephen Perse; an all-round education that supports ambition, nurtures talent, and encourages creativity and critical thinking, leading to personal achievement and self-fulfilment. Pupils gain the skills, knowledge and practical experience to become the change-makers of their future world. Pupils have access to iPads across the curriculum (The Foundation has ‘Apple Distinguished School’ status) and digital skills are learnt and applied within all lessons in tandem with the acquisition of core academic knowledge and skills. Teaching is delivered by class teachers and subject specialists, inspiring and enabling pupils to develop in the creative subjects, languages, mathematics, English, sciences, humanities and physical education.
Sport
Physical activity and an enjoyment of being outdoors are important facets of our education for all our pupils. As well as the generous provision within curriculum time, there is a good range of sports clubs for the children to choose from and the teaching of rugby, hockey, cricket and netball. There's an emphasis on sportsmanship and fair play, as well as teamwork and we strive for a balance between stretching the best athletes and being inclusive. For most sports, there are house competitions, pupil sport captains, with cups for individual sports, and the overall House Sports Cup is presented to the winning house on sports day. There is an extensive fixture programme across the range of sports with local schools for Years 3-6 organised by the Head of Sport.
Performing Arts
Music is part of the core curriculum with orchestra and choir integral to the timetable. Everyone plays an instrument and over half of pupils take specialist lessons. There is a significant programme of clubs and opportunities for pupils to develop and take part in groups organised by the Head of Performing Arts.
Our pupils have plenty of opportunities to take to the stage in our 130-seat theatre. We put on plays and concerts, as well as many other events, including visits by the Young Shakespeare Company and Freshwater Theatre. All of our Year groups perform to the parent body at some point in the year to showcase their music and drama skills. In Year 6, children can also learn to use the sound and lighting rig, so everyone can get involved in putting on a show-stopping performance.
CDE
A light, airy Create studio in the heart of the campus provides the perfect space to nurture the creative talents of tomorrow. Pupils at Dame Bradbury's are introduced to engineering from a young age, working in partnership with other STEAM subjects to innovate and get creative in the studio.
The CDE curriculum gives children a space in which their ideas can run wild. From sewing and sketching, to model building and using iPads to create avatars, the studio is a place where pupils’ imaginations have a creative outlet. Specialist teaching for CDE is for Years 4-6 by our Head of CDE.
Outdoor Learning
In Forest School children enjoy and explore the natural world as they learn about native trees, identify local birdlife and discover exactly which wood is best for making a bow and arrow. They go in all weathers and love every minute. We have a Forest School Lead across the Foundation who works with EYFS and Years 1 and 2.
Our outside learning programme and Forest School status mean that our grounds often double as a classroom, helping children to understand and appreciate the natural world. There's plenty to explore, including our teaching and environmental gardens and a dipping pond. We also have access to local woodlands and open spaces which our children use to develop their Forest Skills even further.
While they’re having fun, they’re also learning skills such as teamwork, woodland crafts, how to use tools and staying safe outdoors. They discuss what they want to do during a session and what they need, then work together to arrange it – building a den becomes an exercise in communication and working in a group when you’ve got heavy branches to carry. Crucially, they also learn how sustainable practices are vital to the preservation of our environment. Our Foundation Head of Sustainability works with champions at all of our sites to raise awareness and inculcate sustainability among pupils and staff.
Co-curricular
A great deal of learning at Dame Bradbury’s takes place beyond the classroom and there is a huge commitment among staff and the School's leadership team to ensure a rich and varied co-curriculum where every pupil can find their niche and develop a passion from an interest or talent. Clubs are held before school, during lunch and after school and range from chess to gardening to Lego animation, and beyond. The majority are run by teaching staff with some run by specialist teachers and coaches. Day trips and residential trips offer additional opportunities and are well supported by staff and well attended by pupils.
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