Teacher of Science

Teacher of Science, Forest House Education Centre.

The Centre provides education for up to 16 young people while they are hospital patients at Forest House Adolescent Unit. For many, we ‘bridge the gap’ until youngsters are able to re-enter their mainstream schools or colleges. Increasingly, we also support ‘NEET’ young people who do not possess any educational provision within the community, seeking to re-engage them with meaningful and enriching activities both within and beyond our setting. Additionally, the Centre has a small number of non-inpatient Y11 ‘day pupils’, for whom we are their full-time school.

Some students may only be at the Centre a matter of days; others may be with us for many months. Irrespective of their length of stay, however, the Centre aims to provide care, stimulation, continuity and structure for young people whose lives are often characterised by disorder and trauma. We do this through the provision of a core curriculum (English, maths, science) in addition to a range of enrichment subjects (art, music, drama, work-related learning, yoga, current affairs, PE) intended to build self-esteem and promote constructive interpersonal relationships, while supporting the therapeutic work being done in the adjacent hospital Unit.

Teaching to GCSE level in the core subject areas of maths, English and science is undertaken by a small but highly committed staff whose adaptability enables them, when required, to teach outside their subject specialisms, and occasionally to higher levels (BTEC, A level or equivalent).

We are currently seeking to consolidate our team through the appointment of a teacher of science to replace a colleague who is retiring. Our current GCSE offer for day pupils is AQA’s double award combined science specification, which represents the breadth of core subject expertise the role requires (we’re open to the prospect of making an alternative GCSE offer in science, but a capacity for teaching biology, chemistry and physics to KS3 and KS4 students is essential). The successful applicant will also support transferred exam candidates from other schools who are inpatients on our partner hospital unit, and promote an understanding and appreciation of the sciences across the school community.

Additionally, the successful candidate will lead on at least one further area of our ‘enrichment’ curriculum (although not to examination level), an area of school life where it’s often possible to capitalise on teachers’ interests and passions in and beyond the classroom. Some experience and willingness to lead in areas such as work-related learning, learning beyond the classroom, sport and PE, ICT, or developing bespoke or individualised learning pathways for ‘hard to reach’ youngsters would be a real asset – but flexibility and a can-do attitude are essentials.

Experience of SEND or teaching in non-mainstream settings is useful but in no means, essential. Likewise, while experience of working with youngsters with mental health challenges is a useful attribute, it’s a curiosity and desire to learn about the area that’s a ‘must’.

In return for your commitment, Forest House Education Centre offers you a working environment that’s never boring, a huge variety of stimulating professional challenges, considerable potential for curriculum and professional development, and the support of a friendly, highly motivated team.

A visit to the Centre (with the opportunity to meet its staff and students) is highly recommended prior to making an application for this post. Please contact Huw Bucknell on admin@foresthouse.herts.sch.uk or phone 01923 633241 to make an appointment.

Interviews will take place on Wednesday 26 May 2021.