Head of Secondary School

The British School Quito is the only British style school in Ecuador. The school offers a high quality British style education for both local and international students aged 3 – 18. The British School Quito teaches the English National Curriculum in EYFS, KS1, 2 and 3, the Cambridge iGCSE in Years 10 and 11, and the International Baccalaureate Diploma programme in Years 12 and 13. Our results are consistently above the world average. There are currently over 320 students attending the school.

Learning takes place in well-resourced classrooms, delivered by internationally qualified educators who prepare students for an international future as global citizens. The school is jointly accredited by the Council of International Schools and NEASC, as well as CIE, the IB and the Ministry of Education in Ecuador. 

The Location

The school is located in Tumbaco, a lovely suburb of Quito, around 2500m high in the magnificent Andean Mountain Range. It is surrounded by lush vegetation and in every direction one cannot escape the most beautiful views of the Andes. Yet it is close to a newly built road network making access easy to all parts of the nearby locality. Quito itself is served by a new, recently opened airport with international connections worldwide. It is only a one hour flight to the nearby Pacific coastal resorts and, of course, is within easy reach of both the Amazon basin and the Galapagos Islands. The climate in Quito is most agreeable all year round. 

The Post

The School has high expectations of its staff and welcomes fully qualified, flexible, creative, child-centred applicants who will further enhance the quality of teaching and learning at The British School, Quito. Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate an outstanding leadership and teaching ability and an up to date knowledge of curriculum developments.

The school requires a Head of Secondary to support them in taking them to the next level, building on what the current Head has achieved. Applications are invited from experienced and dynamic educational leaders who hold a relevant teaching degree, have appropriate work experience and have a clear understanding of teaching at KS3, 4 and 5 levels. Individuals must be outstanding teaching practitioners, have the ability to provide a model of excellent classroom practice, be highly committed, and possesses excellent IT, organisational and communication skills. Experience in delivering iGCSE and / or IB Diploma will be essential. This is a wonderful opportunity for someone to excel in a senior leadership role which could ultimately lead to a Headship within the Orbital Education Group. Please state in your letter your curriculum specialisms and how your previous experience will ensure you will be successful in this role.

Essential Criteria

• Since we are a British style school we will only consider applications from candidates who:  
• have QTS status or equivalent, recognised for the purposes of teaching in the UK or overseas and hold an appropriate PGCE qualification.
• have a minimum of 2 years’ leadership experience in a school in the UK or British style school overseas (exceptional NQTs may be considered)
• are in possession of an up to date Police Clearance / DBS certificate from the country of your most recent teaching post (This will be required to be presented at any future interview)
• The British School Quito is committed to safeguarding children and young people.  All post-holders are subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS (in the UK) or Criminal Records (Police Check) disclosure from their most recent country of residence.
• Demonstrate in their letter of application how they will use their experience to address the challenges of teaching expatriate and local children in a British style school in Ecuador.

We only wish to receive applications from people who are truly attracted to and interested in working at our school in Quito. Therefore, speculative generic CV's will not be considered. All candidates must complete a British School Quito application form and submit a letter of application referencing the Job Description and Person Specification and how you meet the requirements.
British School Quito offers a competitive package including: tax-free salary and housing allowance paid in US dollars, flight at beginning and end of contract, medical insurance, excellent professional learning, career development opportunities.

British School Quito Teachers:

• are passionate about education,
• inspire their pupils through their engaging and demanding teaching,
• participate in all aspects of school life creating a warm and safe community to which parents and pupils are proud to belong
• are flexible and have a sense of humour
• enjoy being part of a British owned and managed group of schools with all the consequent benefits this brings.

If this describes you then we would welcome an application from you. Your application should be submitted by email, (application form and cover letter and names and email contacts of three referees, one of whom must be your current or most recent employer) to Brian Frakes at Orbital Education talent@britishschoolquito.edu.ec with a copy to  hos.quito.2017.recruitment@orbitaled.com

Closing date Friday 10th February 2017

Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted, and interviews will be held by Skype in January 2017 and in person in London and Manchester in January 2017. British School Quito actively considers applications from teaching couples. The School reserves the right to make an appointment before the closing date if a suitable candidate is found. If shortlisted, at interview you will have to present a current DBS certificate or Police Check from your current country of employment, copies of teaching qualifications which would allow you to teach in a British school and proof of identity.Employment in another Orbital school.

Working in a Group school can have many advantages. We like to retain excellent teachers and so actively encourage movement between schools, especially for promotion opportunities. The Group has British style international schools in the following culturally attractive and historically important destinations: Palma de Mallorca, Spain; Budapest, Hungary; Shanghai, China; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Moscow, Russian Federation; Doha, Qatar, and Quito, Ecuador. After two years successful employment teachers wishing to move on will be given full consideration for vacancies in these schools. All vacancies are posted on the respective websites of the schools.(www.orbitaled.com)