Physics Teacher

The English School (TES) is looking to recruit experienced international school teachers for the next academic year and in particular requires a Physics teacher to join our excellent team of Colombian and International teachers in the secondary school.  Applications will be particularly welcome from candidates with international experience and all applicants must have a strong interest in inquiry based learning and promoting international mindedness.  

The school offers a competitive package with flights, medical insurance and a salary scale (including a housing allowance element) that varies between a total of 89 and 110 million Colombian Pesos NET per year, depending on qualifications and experience.  Visa costs are covered and assistance is provided to find suitable housing on arrival.  The head’s bilingual assistant provides support to all foreign staff throughout their contracts for dealing with administrative issues to do with flats, bank accounts, etc.  Professional development has a high priority at our school and all our teachers are given official IB training as well as the opportunity to take part in frequent INSET sessions targeted at current school development priorities. 

This is an exciting time to join The English School as we are currently in the process of a full strategic review.  The well-established IB programmes (PYP, MYP, DP) will remain at the core of the school’s activities but new impetus will come in the form of an innovative online curriculum (The Mondrian Wall) and more accountability as the school enters its bid for CIS accreditation.  The rigorous use of data and baseline testing is being introduced and our innovative 1 to 1 system of iPad use will see further development (the school is already an Apple distinguished school, a first in Colombia).  TES was recently re-accredited with EFQM at 4 stars (upper level).  Particular strengths identified by the visiting team were leadership and strategy, which reflects our commitment to continuous improvement and our determination to gain CIS full accreditation within the next two years.  

TES is a very inclusive school, with a well-staffed Learning Support department that is active in all sections of the school.  Staff applying for teaching positions should be committed to differentiation in the classroom and should ideally have experience of working with second language learners.  Our aim is for all students to achieve at least C1 level in English by the end of their schooling.  Despite our inclusive intake, we enter all of our students for the IB Diploma Programme and have an average pass rate of around 70% for the full diploma.  The remaining 30% achieve significant results in their individual subject certificates and virtually all of our graduates enter university, either in Colombia or overseas.  Many obtain scholarships to universities in North America and Europe.    

Our developing new vision for the school aims for students to become Confident, Successful and Principled World Citizens.  We define success for our students as being able to identify their personal and professional goals as well as having the determination and ability to achieve them.  To achieve this goal, our mission is to provide Academic Excellence in a Caring Community.  For us academic excellence is about developing a passion for learning, critical and reflective thinking, innovation, creativity and originality.  Our Caring Community is well known locally and is based on a thriving programme of Dignity and Mutual Respect.  Recent innovations include the introduction of the Finnish anti-bullying programme KiVa in our primary school as well as the Australian School Wide Positive Behaviour Support system in secondary school.   We have a strong commitment to staff development, so these programmes have been introduced to staff in workshops delivered by visiting experts from Finland and Australia.  In another recent professional development initiative a visiting expert from the PTC trained all of our middle leaders in a three-day onsite workshop.  All of our professional development opportunities are focussed on school development priorities and future plans include a thorough review and whole-staff training in the use of technology in the classroom.