Head of Science for September 2024

Harrogate Ladies’ College wishes to appoint a well-qualified, enthusiastic and inspirational teacher as Head of Science for September 2024.

The successful candidate will manage the Science team and deliver Biology, or Chemistry from KS3 to A Level along with a second Science to GCSE. 

The Department

The Science department currently has 6 teachers and 2 dedicated full-time laboratory technicians. We have a purpose built Science block with 6 bright, pleasant laboratories, two for each science, a staff room, and three offices for each head of subject. The IT provision is good, with computers and data projectors in each laboratory. IT resources are used widely in lessons.

The Curriculum

At Key Stage 3 pupils have three double lessons a week. Upper 3 and Lower 4 (Year 8 and 9) are taught by subject specialists for one double a week in each discipline. We use the Smart Activate Scheme.

At Key Stage 4, pupils initially all follow the separate Sciences curriculum and then, at the end of Lower 5 (Year 10), pupils either continue with the separate Science curriculum or transfer to Double Award Science.  We follow the Edexcel IGCSE specification, with an average group size of approximately 20 pupils.

The sciences are very popular in the Sixth Form with a good number of pupils studying some combination of Biology, Chemistry and Physics at A level. Currently all pupils follow the AQA syllabus for all three A level sciences.

The successful candidate will teach across all Key Stages and should ideally have experience of teaching students to Oxbridge standard and preparation for university work.

Extra-curricular Activities

The Head of Science manages a team who organise in-house events such as KS3 Spelling Bee, supports subject clinics and lead activities for example CSI day and Science week.

All staff are expected to contribute to the extra-curricular programme. Currently the Science department offers Clubs including: Medics, KS4 and KS3 CREST, Astronomy and Eco Club. The new Head of Science will be responsible for our Medics programme, including veterinary science and dentistry.

Science pupils are provided with opportunities to attend lectures at local universities and through school trips. The Science department supports school initiatives in promoting Harrogate Ladies’ College as a first-choice secondary school.

WiSE@HLC

All pupils are encouraged to showcase their scientific ability and awareness through the Women in Science and Engineering programme. This is a bespoke programme in which pupils are encouraged to participate in external competitions (eg Chemistry and Biology Olympiads, National Scientific Thinking Challenge).

The Head of Science monitors progress and award badges during termly assemblies for those who meet the WiSE@HLC criteria