Head of Religious Studies and PSHCE

The Religious Studies department is a successful and vibrant curriculum area, offering Religious Studies and to GCSE and A Level. It is a popular subject at GCSE. The Head of Religious Studies will contribute to the overall leadership and management of the College and be active in promoting its aims, and supporting an ethos that promotes achievement and outstanding teaching and learning. We are seeking an excellent innovative practitioner who is committed to promoting the achievement and enjoyment of all learners, and to the on-going professional development of colleagues in the Religious Studies department.

In addition, the successful candidate will be responsible for working with the leadership team and heads of year in designing and implementing the PSHCE curriculum.    

 Key responsibilities and objectives of the job 

• To be a model of high professional standards in all aspects of College life and to lead by example;
• To provide a vision for learning within the department in line with that of      the whole College and lead the departmental team to realise that vision;
• To implement the subject area improvement plan based upon on-going self-evaluation;
• To further develop the new secondary Religious Studies curriculum in line with national changes and revised qualifications;
• To promote the study of Religious Studies;
• To provide strategic leadership in further developing and      implementing literacy within the Religious Studies curriculum;
• To establish creative, responsive and effective approaches to learning and teaching to meet and support the aims of the College;
• · To demonstrate and articulate consistently high expectations of pedagogy and classroom practice to provide challenge and improvement, using data and benchmarks to monitor progress in every pupil’s learning and to focus teaching;
• To monitor the quality of teaching based on evidence, self-evaluation and development, ensuring a consistent and continuous focus on achievement and aspiration;
• To ensure that support is provided for individual teachers within your team where this is needed so all lessons are consistently good or better;
• To ensure the implementation of the College’s assessment procedures, ensuring all pupils have timely and appropriate feedback and targets so that they make at least expected progress, and the majority are successfully challenged to make better than expected progress;
• To lead the development of schemes of work to support colleagues in delivering high-quality lessons;
• To devise and implement appropriate interventions for pupils both within the lesson and extracurricular to ensure all pupils make good progress;
• To share in monitoring, reviewing and developing the College curriculum offer to maintain an appropriate, comprehensive, high-quality and cost-effective curriculum that complements the College’s strategic objectives; 
• To develop and lead relevant curriculum enrichment activities and visits;
• To implement College monitoring procedures and ensure adherence to those within your curriculum area; 
• To produce reports as required within the College self-evaluation systems;
• To manage the departmental      budget and development of resources
• To take responsibility for your own professional development in discussion with your line manager;
• To ensure that parents and students are well informed about student attainment and progress;
• To maintain an organised and effective learning environment in the classroom and shared areas;
• To ensure the consistent implementation of College policies and procedures throughout the subject area;
• To work collaboratively with the other academies and colleagues within the Haberdashers’ Aske’s Federation.