Head of Maths Department

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

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 pupils can fulfil their potential. Our aim is to consistently be one of the highest performing schools in the country.

Joining the school team is a superb opportunity for an ambitious and motivated leader who wants to make a lasting difference to the communities they serve.

AGFS exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking school that encourages innovation and values its staff. We are proud of our courteous and purposeful community and of the outstanding academic outcomes achieved by our scholars. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high. We work tirelessly to impact the lives of the young people we serve.  

The Role and the Department 

As head of maths, you will lead, develop and manage the effective delivery of an outstanding curriculum, which enables the highest level of progress and attainment. You will be part of the professional community of Middle Leadership and promote outstanding teaching and learning and a strong school culture within a nurturing, respectful and academically rigorous environment. The successful candidate will be capable of adding further value to a traditionally strong subject at the school. A passion for your subject and a commitment to extra-curricular activities is essential. 

We invest heavily in our outstanding Mathematics department which we believe is one of the strongest departments in the country; dedicating 5 hours a week to Mathematics for every student in KS4 and 4 hours at KS3, and are involved with a number of high-quality providers, such as Mathematics Mastery, PiXL, Hegarty Maths. Pupils at AGFS achieved outstanding GCSE outcomes in Mathematics in 2018 – 30% grade 7-9, 56% grade 5+ (strong pass) and 73% grade 4+ (standard pass.) The Mathematics Progress 8 score was +0.45. This Progress 8 score ranks as the highest in the borough.

This post would suit an ambitious, research-informed, subject specialist who is driven to developing a department that becomes beacon of maths provision in the UK. 

How is AGFS different?

AGFS exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. This is an ambitious and forward-thinking school that encourages innovation and values its staff. We are proud of our courteous and purposeful community and of the outstanding academic outcomes achieved by our scholars. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high. We work tirelessly to impact the lives of the young people we serve.

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

• Staff wellbeing is one of our main priorities. We provide breakfast for staff each morning 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. We have applied to become a national behaviour hub school.

• This is a strict no excuses, no mobile phone school. That means scholars are not permitted to bring phones onto the premises.

• 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 vocational courses or 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 at least 1 hour of high-quality training each week. 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 science 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.

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, London and Portsmouth educating more than 26,000 scholars. 83% of Ark schools are now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Our aim is to create outstanding schools that give every scholar, 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

To apply please click 'Quick Apply'.

To view our school video click here .

Advert closes: 09:00 Monday 26th April 2021

Shortlist confirmed/communicated: Tuesday 27th April 2021

Interview dates: Candidates must be available to interview on the 30th April 2021

The school reserves the right to close this advert early should the right candidate be found. Interviews may take place before the advertised closing date. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early for this role.

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