HOD Modern Foreign Languages

There could not be a more exciting time to join the St Mark's family. Outcomes at the Academy at Key Stage 4 are in the top 9% of all schools nationally with a Progress 8 Score of +0.66 in 2023. At Key Stage 5, an impressive 60% of all A Levels were awarded A*-B grades with 30% of students securing a place at a Russell Group University. 

Do you have the highest expectations for every member of the school community and believe in transformational education for all, irrespective of starting points and background? 

Are you able to inspire a team of MFL practitioners with your inspirational vision for school improvement, underpinned by the school’s inclusive Christian ethos and values, Love, Hope and Trust? 

Are you passionate about high-quality teaching and learning and a life changing quality of education? 

Do you have the experience, skills, insights and determination to celebrate and champion the languages spoken within this beautifully diverse community. 

If you can answer yes to these four questions, we would love to hear from you.  

We are looking to recruit an outstanding middle leader of MFL for a full-time post in a thriving department, to commence September 2024.  The Modern Languages Department at St Mark’s is a dynamic, vibrant, and enthusiastic team of dedicated teachers who are committed to delivering consistently outstanding lessons to all our students. All members of the Department are language specialists who teach across the age and ability range and overall, the department always sets high standards across lessons. What is more, there is a strong team spirit within the department and a culture of sharing ideas and team-planning.  The MFL department strives to ensure that our curriculum is challenging and inspiring for all students, to push them academically and we aim also to ensure that Teaching and Learning is rooted in both the Science of Learning and Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction.   We offer weekly after school Korean and Portuguese classes for native and non-native learners. The department also offers several educational day trips as well as residential trips. Outcomes within the department are in the top 10% of all schools in the country for Progress 8. We are seeking to appoint a value driven individual and leader who: 

• Will model excellent teaching and play a leading role in bringing the inclusive Christian vision to life through the MFL curriculum across Key Stage 3 to 5. 
• Has the ability to model excellent classroom practice and lead CPD for others to do the same is essential to this role. 
• Will do everything possible to demand the highest quality of lessons and outcomes. 
• Will offer transformational leadership so that every child can realise their God-given potential 
• Will mentor, guide and support teachers that are new to the profession within the MFL Department. 
• Is a skilful curriculum planner and understands how to sequence knowledge to transform the   mind. 
• Believes in building strong relationships with our students and who is willing to go above and beyond to allow them to transform and live life in all its fullness. 

The successful candidate will have the opportunity to learn from an experienced Senior Leadership Team and other specialist teachers within the team.  

If you have the skills and enthusiasm to make a significant contribution to our inclusive Christian community, then we would love to hear from you. 

Visits are warmly welcomed and can be arranged by email to hr@stmarks.anthemtrust.uk. 

St Mark's were inspected by Ofsted in March 2023.  The Academy performed exceptionally well in all areas, with particular reference made to expert curriculum design; transformational teaching and learning underpinned by the highest expectations; the extra-curricular offer and staff and pupil wellbeing.   The report states, “there is enough evidence of improved performance to suggest that the school could be judged outstanding if we were to carry out a graded (section 5) inspection now.”  

Successful candidates will transform their practice through our instructional coaching offer. As one of 10 nationally selected Steplab Hub Schools, staff benefit from this expertly led programme underpinned by cutting-edge research into cognitive science. 

St Mark’s Church of England Academy is part of Anthem Schools Trust, a multi-academy trust serving over 8,000 children and young people in 16 schools across the East Midlands, London and the Thames Valley. 

Full details of the responsibilities can be found in the Job Description and Person Specification for this post. Applications will be reviewed and shortlisted as received and therefore early application is strongly advised. Anthem Trust remains the right to close or extend this advert at any time.   

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and require all staff and volunteers to share and demonstrate this commitment. The successful candidate will have to meet the requirements of the person specification and will be subject to the relevant pre-employment checks which will, where applicable, include a health check, an enhanced DBS check, the Children’s Barred List check and satisfactory references. 

It is an offence for an individual who has been disqualified from working with children to knowingly apply for, offer to do, accept, or do any work in a ‘regulated activity’. The position advertised is a ‘regulated activity’ and is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 [Exceptions] Order 1975. 

Anthem will undertake a basic online check for all shortlisted candidates