Teacher of Design and Technology - Food Preparation and Nutrition

The Portsmouth Grammar School is a leading co-educational school located in the historic heart of Portsmouth. The school is an IB World School and offers the IB Diploma alongside A Level. It values the development of the whole person, placing emphasis on both academic achievement and co-curricular involvement.  The school aims to support every pupil in order that they might achieve their potential.

The school seeks to appoint a full-time teacher of Design Technology - Food Preparation and Nutrition.  

Design & Technology is taught to all pupils in Years 7 and 8 and is a popular option subject from Year 9 to the Sixth Form.  Food Preparation and Nutrition is offered within the department as a Year 9 and GCSE option and the examination board is AQA Food Preparation and Nutrition. As the GCSE course contains a large proportion of coursework, projects are undertaken in Year 9 to give pupils an insight into what will be required at GCSE level. Results in public examinations are excellent.  

The ability to teach some Design and Technology at KS3 would be an advantage. Being an active member of the Design and Technology department is essential and the candidate should be keen to help with a wide range of DT clubs, competitions and trips.  

The aim of the department is to develop awareness, understanding and expertise in the core areas of design and innovative thinking. This can be expressed and developed through investigation and research, planning, designing, making and evaluating.  Pupils are encouraged to relate their work to experimental learning, enquiry, ingenuity and resourcefulness.  Their projects also value judgements of an aesthetic, technical, economic and social nature.  These aims are targeted from Year 7 through a range of projects that gradually build pupils’ confidence.  Year 7 and 8 groups rotate around the workshop areas during each year.  

The department occupies a suite of rooms which have been newly refurbished in 2017.  Pupils are encouraged to work with a wide variety of resistive materials and appropriate tools and machinery.  These include engineering lathes, milling machines, comprehensive heat treatment equipment, wood turning and machining, plastic forming machines including 3D printers and a comprehensive range of food preparation and processing equipment.

In addition to the facilities outlined above, we are fortunate to have our own suite of computers, with appropriate CAD software.  Pupils also have the opportunity to produce items directly from the computer screen using Computer Aided Design/ Manufacture techniques with computer-controlled cutting machinery. 

The department has four full-time members of staff and a part-time teacher as well as a full-time technician.  The department is friendly, popular, and noted for its excellent relationships with pupils as well as for its purposefulness and success.  

The successful applicant will be expected to contribute fully to the pastoral and co-curricular life of the Design and Technology department and PGS.  The school provides excellent professional development opportunities and has an outstanding reputation for induction of newly qualified teachers.

PGS is committed to safeguarding children and the successful applicant will be subject to an Enhanced Disclosure DBS check.