Head of Humanities (Geography specialist preferred but not essential)

Thank you for expressing an interest in this key vacancy at our college. This post has become vacant due to the promotion of the current post-holder to senior leadership.

The College has been serving the community since 1950 and continues to be a Good school after last being inspected in January 2016. 

Having taken over as Principal in August 2017 I am appreciative of all the work that has been done before my arrival which will allow me to grow the College even further. My desire is that we do not become a College that is driven by OFSTED and whether we are GOOD or OUTSTANDING. I want us to be at the forefront of educational excellence because we want to provide the best educational experience possible for the children in our care. This is extremely difficult in a climate of ever increasing accountability and diminishing resources. However I sincerely believe that if we lead this community by staying true to our values then it is possible.

I have therefore spent time with staff and exploring what it is we stand for and after a school wide consultation have decided that ASPIRATION, COMMITMENT AND SUCCESS are the three key drivers that will support the development of our pupils.

The successful candidate will be expected to be able to teach RS, History and Geography at KS3.The faculty teaches RS, History, Geography and Integrated Humanities at KS4. The college is very keen to appoint a Head of Faculty who can also lead on Geography but this is not essential. The faculty is very successful at delivering good results at KS3 and KS4 in History and Integrated Humanities but there is still work to do to improve attainment and progress in Geography and RS. The college is seeking a dynamic and creative leader who can implement key strategies to raise achievement for all students.

The successful candidate will be able to build on the Humanities Faculty’s current success and move it forward. Our college has been designed to allow us to deliver a more creative and cross curricular KS3 curriculum. Humanities is currently working with MFL, ICT and Life Skills on enquiry learning projects for Years 7, 8 and 9 which are taught at intervals during the academic year. The school has state of the art facilities to enable us to do this.

This is an excellent place in which to further a career in leadership.

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. We are currently around zero for P8 and have been for the past two years and we know that although our pupils end up in line with pupils nationally they are well below on entry. 

We have an outstanding reputation for our inclusive work with EAL and SEND pupils. However one of our key areas of development is nurturing and growing our high prior attainers, both academically and culturally. 

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 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.

We want to build a learning community that is built on trust and continuous professional development. 

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. 

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) outlining your skills, qualifications and experience relevant to this post to jamey@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk by 9am on Friday 16th March.  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.

Should you wish to visit the College please contact my PA Joanne Amey by email jamey@crownhills.leicester.sch.uk

I look forward to meeting you and receiving your application.