Head of Department (English)

The College

 Oxford International College Brighton is an international day and boarding school opening in Ovingdean, Brighton in September 2023. For the right candidate, this is an exciting and highly rewarding opportunity to lead and develop a new College, shaping its academic trajectory within Nord Anglia’s world-class international network of schools. The College’s curriculum will be based on the proven success of Oxford International College’s three pronged curriculum model which has led to outstanding academic outcomes; OIC Brighton intends to join OIC Oxford at the top of the UK league tables, preparing our leavers for the most competitive courses at the world’s best universities. The successful candidate will play a crucial role in shaping the College’s opening phase and strategic direction, both in terms of increasing pupil numbers and developing a world class curriculum.

The Role

OIC Brighton’s Global Strategic Pathways model aims to prepare all pupils for top university destinations whilst ensuring the highest levels of personal development. The English Department stands to fulfil an important role in ensuring these outcomes, supporting students’ EAL needs and leading on matters of literacy within the College, leading on whole school reading initiatives and the development of all students’ communication skills.

 The ideal candidate will have a flexible, creative approach to the subject, looking to support students’ academic aims and to develop the provision of English across the College, with scope to develop English Literature provision from Year 9 upwards. The ideal candidate would therefore be a graduate from a top university, who has an understanding of the UCAS process and a passion for educational excellence. Experience in teaching English GCSE and EAL is highly desirable.

The associated duties and responsibilities of this position can, generally, be broken down into: Managing Staff; Teaching and Learning; Departmental Administration and Academic Progress and Monitoring. The expectations of the role should be read as indicative rather than exhaustive.

The department

All students in years 9 to 11 will be studying English language. They will be placed in different sets according to their standard. Some students may be preparing for English as a Second Language, some may prepare for English as a First language. In some cases, and with an opportunity to develop this provision from Year 9 upwards, English Literature may also be an option.

In Sixth Form most of our Year 12 students will receive IELTS support.

The majority of our students will be EAL learners and therefore the English language department will be a vital part of our students’ academic and social development.

Managing Staff

·  Overall responsibility for the quality of teaching and learning in English and for ensuring that all the students in the department are making good progress, by developing and implementing policies and practices that promote effective teaching and learning.

·  The ongoing management, monitoring and support of the teaching staff in the science departments, both informally and through regular performance reviews.

·  The Head of English will normally be expected to conduct professional development reviews for members of their department, completing all necessary paperwork/electronic records as required.

·  Observing lessons of members of their department and of other teaching staff as required, in line with the College’s policies on lesson observation.

·  Playing a leading role in the induction and, where necessary, training of new members of staff.

·  Serving as subject mentor for ECTs within his/her department.

·  Identifying and supporting the training needs of teachers within the department. 

·  Liaising with the Deputy Principal Academic if there are concerns about the performance of any member of the department.

·  Assisting the Principal and Deputy Principal Academic, as required, in the recruitment of members of staff to the Science department.

·  Liaising with the Deputy Principal Academic and Principal over the deployment of teaching staff.

Teaching and Learning

·      Choosing the specification to be followed by teachers within the department and ensuring that the specification chosen is appropriate for any public examination for which the students are to be entered;

·      Analysing the needs of students, the resources of the department and planning effectively to support student progress;

·      Devising detailed schemes of work for all year groups; and

·      Undertaking student learning reviews, observations etc. to ensure schemes of work and specifications are being taught effectively by all teachers in the department.

Departmental Administration

·      Writing schemes of learning, departmental development plans and departmental policies, minutes of meetings and reviews of examination results. 

·      Submitting examination entries for the department to the examinations officer.

·      Submitting and managing the budget of the department.

·      Developing and maintaining the relevant sections of Firefly/One Note/Teams (or equivalent virtual learning environments), along with the use of other forms of interactive and digital technology.

Academic Progress and Monitoring

·      Oversee the provision of outstanding teaching and learning in their department.

·      Collate and submit predicted examination grades for tracking procedures.

·      Oversee setting and marking of progress tests and mock exams.

·      Ensure discussion of student progress and development and review of appropriate action plans, as a regular feature of departmental meetings (including monitoring the progress of different student cohorts such as gender, EAL, SEN and most able).

·      Oversee the calibre and consistency of assessments, feedback, report writing and grade predictions across the department.

·    Organise and where appropriate run additional clinics or support or revision sessions, both to stretch and extend the most able and to help students who are struggling.

·    Support the Director of Global Strategic Pathways in ensuring that students are well prepared for and supported in the university application process in your subject.

·    Organise and where appropriate run super-curricular sessions, in liaison with the Super Curricular Manager.

·    Identify, promote and support students’ competing in national competitions and awards.

·    Develop opportunities for students in their department to enrich their learning beyond the curriculum through opportunities to attend lectures, talks and workshops.

·    Share a general responsibility to ensure the academic, moral and physical welfare of all students within the department.

Start date:   11th April 2023 (preferred)