Teacher English - Hunter School of the Performing Arts

Hunter School of the Performing Arts is a community school in Newcastle which offers a comprehensive curriculum with a performing arts specialty. Hunter School of the Performing Arts is a creative and inclusive learning environment where excellence is nurtured to enable all students to perform at their best. The school provides freedom and support for individuals to make responsible choices in a quality learning environment which promotes and develops future focused and cultural learning in conjunction with high expectations of academic excellence.

Hunter School of the Performing Arts is the only fully selective performing arts public school in NSW. In 2021, 1115 students are enrolled across Years 3-12 including 48 Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander students. Students from across the Hunter, Central Coast and Port Stephens are enrolled through an audition process. The school caters for a wide range of student abilities, with a strong emphasis on the performing arts and developing high potential of students in dance, music and drama. In addition, we have high expectations of academic success. Students at the school are supported by a staff of 80 teachers and 20 support and administrative officers.

The key initiatives and programs in the school focus on student wellbeing and values education. Quality teaching and learning and excellence in the performing arts are supported through staff professional learning.

Extra curricular activities include extensive drama, dance, music ensembles. Opportunities are provided through extension and immersion programs in the performing arts, STEM, theatre, film and audio technology. Sporting teams and competitions enable our students to excel through a range of different experiences.

The majority of the school's equity funding will be used to support initiatives developed in the 2021-2024 Strategic Improvement Plan.

In supporting the learning of our students, staff and community we have fostered strong partnerships with the Mulloobinbah AECG and links with The University of Newcastle, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, Conservatorium of Music and Civic Theatre Newcastle. Our dance students are supported to meet their goals through a future focused dance program incorporating student placement with local dance studios.

The learning environment includes a state of the art 365 seat theatre, multiple recording studios, vision mixing production suites, specialist dance, drama and music learning spaces, commercial kitchen, multimedia learning suites, STEM labs, and dedicated visual arts, photography and ceramics spaces. The school also has a 1200 seat capacity multi-purpose centre. Sports courts and fields make up some of the many outdoor learning and green spaces within the school.

The school culture is one of connectedness, inclusion and belonging with students, staff, parents and the wider community working together to promote school excellence.

• Approval to teach English with a willingness to teach across Stage 3 and 4 KLA areas as a specialist middle schooling teacher.
• Approval to teach as a secondary general teacher.
• Demonstrated excellence in co-teaching, co-planning and collaborative work with teachers and a Stage 4 team working holistically with literacy and numeracy.
• Demonstrated ability to maximise student engagement through ‘future focused’ pedagogies project based learning, student and peer feedback, legacy based assessment tasks, and student reflection.
• The capacity to lead, collaborate and communicate with a diverse team and contribute to planning, data collection and tracking of students using qualitative and quantitative measures, to ensure one year’s worth of teaching is reflected in one year’s worth of learning for all students.
• Demonstrated high level interpersonal and communication skills in supporting whole school change to help build and promote positive relationships across the school community through innovative teaching practice. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of and commitment to the Department's Aboriginal education policies to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal students' connection to culture, learning and life outcomes in their home, work, education and community. 

An unconditional full approval to teach is a requirement. If you do not hold a full approval to teach with the NSW Department of Education, you are required to commence the application process at the same time as you apply for this teaching opportunity.

Applicants are to include details of their WWCC clearance number as part of this application.

New merit selection application guidelines for classroom teachers, executives and principals have been introduced to provide greater clarity to applicants and selection panels. The guidelines are in effect on positions advertised from Wednesday 10th June 2020. The guidelines are located at: https://education.nsw.gov.au/about-us/careers-at-education/roles-and-locations/roles-at-education/teaching/addressing-selection-criteria.html