Second in Charge of Support Department/SEN

Morpeth is an eight-form entry, mixed, 11-19 comprehensive school situated in Bethnal Green, Tower Hamlets and we are very much a community. Our values are longstanding; they encapsulate the way we work and the way the school feels.

We are a community:

• committed to learning and achievement;
• based on friendship and respect;
• where everyone is valued.

We are   proud of our diversity – we represent the wider Tower Hamlets community – and   recognise that in order to make everyone feel included and valued, this   requires ongoing and explicit consideration. We prioritise the development of   trust and understanding between pupils from different backgrounds; all   members of staff – teaching and   non-teaching – work together regularly throughout the year to develop   our relational practice. As a result, visitors frequently comment on how   friendly the school feels and the excellent relationships between staff and   between pupils and staff. We are   over-subscribed both for Year 7 and the sixth form, and have a very strong   track record of recruitment and retention of teaching and support staff.

We have   over 110 teaching staff, 35 Teaching Assistants, and 70 other support staff   who share a strong belief in what our pupils can achieve. Our teachers are   subject specialists, passionate about those subjects and keen to develop   their knowledge and practice. We also place great importance on learning   beyond the classroom. There is an extensive programme of extra-curricular   experiences and over 150 lunchtime and after school activities offered   weekly.

We are fortunate in that the entire school has been rebuilt or refurbished to a very high standard over recent years, and we have been able to invest heavily in learning resources for pupils. Schools across Tower Hamlets have a long tradition of working closely together and in recent years this has been facilitated and strengthened by the Tower Hamlets Education Partnership.

What makes us different?

Our KS4 curriculum structure

When we reviewed our KS4 curriculum in 2010 we decided that the traditional model that we offered didn’t feel sufficiently flexible or tailored to our students both in terms of context and inclusion. It was ‘one size fits all’. We wanted to continue to provide a rich and broad curriculum where the arts are valued alongside core academic subjects but also one that could recognise students’ individual needs.

The model we have now is one that is innovative, ambitious, dynamic and responsive to students’ needs. We typically offer 25 optional examined courses. Alongside core subjects, students choose two options each year in Years 9, 10 and 11, courses being one year in length, and having the equivalent time of one-day a week per course. Students will take exams at the end of the year. The majority of students will study the EBacc subjects (approximately 80%) with significantly higher than national numbers taking GCSEs in creative and expressive arts, and design technology.

Our inclusive approach.

We support students by:

• focussing on both systems and practice - we recognise that we need strong systems to provide structure however, in a school that views high quality relationships as the key driver in all that we do we place an emphasis on supporting colleagues’ practice;
• being trauma-informed – understanding that behaviour is a two-way language of communication;
• being compassionate - making decisions about behaviour based on the context of every child and situation;
• being data-led - using both qualitative and quantitative data helps us ask the right questions about behaviour and inclusion, in the same way as progress and attainment.

We recognise that in order to prioritise the development of positive relationships across the school, we have to build it into our structures. In September 2023, we moved to a vertical tutoring system where pupils meet three times a week in coaching circles made up of 12 pupils from Years 7 – 11.

We have 100 circles, led by coaches from across our teaching and support staff and organised into five houses. The circles and houses are fundamental to ensuring every child feels that they belong to our community.

What do we offer?

We know that to provide the best support for our pupils, we need to have staff who feel happy in their role, trusted and well-supported. Teaching staff are able to work from home for some of their PPA time, we take a positive approach to requests for flexible working, we create regular opportunities for all staff to mix socially through weekly staff circles, free staff breakfasts and our Staff Association who run events and trips throughout the year. Teachers have autonomy to plan lessons within departmental agreed curriculum plans and we have regular subject teach meets within departments with a focus on developing subject pedagogy.

We have never believed in performance-related pay, but do believe in the importance of continual professional development and in regular scheduled opportunities for staff to discuss and reflect upon their professional development across the school year. We support and encourage the full breadth of professional development opportunities – formal and informal - from external CPD, to supporting Masters level qualifications including study days and a contribution to costs, providing coaches for NPQ courses and to ongoing high-quality internal training opportunities.