Head of English

Ark Greenwich 

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work at one of the highest performing schools in the country (Evening Standard). If you are committed to making a lasting difference to the school community and want to work in a seriously ambitious, respectful and high performing school, this is the job for you.   

Click here  to view our school video.

Ark Greenwich is a new, ambitious school model based on what we know excellent schools do. We have created a highly respectful and disciplined environment where our staff and scholars can fulfil their potential. Our aim is to consistently be one of the highest performing schools in the country.  Our 2020 Ofsted report said that, 'this school could now be judged as Outstanding'.

Joining the AGFS team is a superb opportunity for an ambitious and motivated teacher and aspiring leader who wants to make a lasting difference to the communities they serve.  Ark Greenwich exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high.  We work relentlessly to impact the lives of the young people we serve. 

How is Ark Greenwich different?

• We are part of the Ark family of schools and benefit accordingly from outstanding networking and career opportunities and first-class CPD. 

• Staff wellbeing is one of our main priorities. We provide breakfast for staff each morning, lunch for early careers staff and have a 6pm/weekend work-related communication curfew to ensure our staff can maintain a work/life balance. We do not do knee jerk reactions, fads or last-minute deadlines. Our systems and processes for communication, marking and feedback and assessment are streamlined and the approaches we take are research led and based on the needs of our local context. 

• This is a small school model (600 scholars aged 11-16) because we believe that our close-knit community provides the optimum conditions for success.   

• Behaviour for learning is exceptional so our teachers can focus their time on the things that matter – planning and delivering brilliant lessons for our scholars. 

• This is a strict no excuses, no mobile phone school.   

• Our curriculum is traditional and academic, and we do not take shortcuts to boost our position in school league tables – we do not, for example, offer equivalencies such as Btecs or Vcerts, 

• We put high-quality teaching at the heart of what we do. We are committed to providing staff with weekly high-quality training. We run coaching for staff who want to see rapid progress in their discipline. Live coaching and current best practice in the field of education is central to our approach. 

• We don’t grade individual lessons or ask for lesson plans.

• Our scholars enjoy a compulsory co-curricular program on a Wednesday afternoon which includes a strong focus on community volunteering and we facilitate 12 drop-down days per academic year ensuring scholars benefit from a range of life-enriching experiences. 

If you are ready to add further value to our high performing English department and to work alongside a brilliant school leadership team, then you will find this job extremely rewarding. 

Alignment with the school’s vision, values and approach to education is essential. 

The Role and the Department 

As Head of the English department, you will lead, develop and manage the effective delivery of an outstanding curriculum, which enables the highest level of scholar progress and attainment. You will be a senior member of the professional community of Middle Leadership and promote outstanding teaching and learning and a strong school culture within a nurturing and academically rigorous environment. The department consists of 6 fully qualified English teachers and an exciting group of ECTs.

We invest heavily in our outstanding English department which we believe is one of the strongest departments in the country. Scholars at AGFS have consistently achieved some of the strongest results in the school over the last three years, with typically 40% of entries graded at 7+ and 95% of entries graded at 4+. The English Progress 8 score has been the strongest department in the school since the first public examination results in 2017, at approx. +0.6-+0.8 for three consecutive years.

About Ark Schools

Ark is a network of high-achieving, non-selective schools and one of the country’s top-performing academy groups. We run 38 academies in London, Birmingham, Hastings and Portsmouth educating more than 26,000 pupils. 83% of Ark schools are now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Our aim is to create outstanding schools that give every pupil, regardless of their background, the opportunity to go to university or pursue the career of their choice.

To find out more about Ark Greenwich, please visit our website via www.arkgreenwichfreeschool.org 

Closing Date: Friday 20th May 2022 at 9am.   Interviews will take place on Tuesday 24th May 2022.

Please note some candidates may not be taken through to the afternoon of the interview day.  Site visits are encouraged.

Ark value diversity and are committed to safeguarding and promoting child welfare. The successful candidate will be subject to DBS and any other relevant employment checks.