Steyning Grammar School

Steyning Grammar School
Head of Faculty – Humanities
TLR 1B
Applicant Information
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Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in the post of Head of Faculty for Humanities at Steyning Grammar
School. We hope the information in this pack will give you an insight into our school and the high
aspirations we have for our learning community.
As Headteacher my determination is that all our students should achieve their full potential; I
believe passionately in equality of opportunity so that every student should be ‘the best they can
be’; they should be happy and secure in their school environment, should achieve the best they
possibly can in academic progress and exams, and they should develop as widely as possible as
confident, independent learners, and as responsible and caring young adults.
Everything at Steyning Grammar School is about preparing our students for their lifelonglearning journey, unlocking and nurturing their individual talents. We are committed to offering
the highest quality education to young people from Steyning, and its surrounding areas.
Our core values of kindness, care and acceptance are as valid today as ever, and we remain
forward looking, to prepare our students for their futures, as dynamic and engaged 21st century
citizens.
Nick Wergan
Headteacher
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Steyning Grammar School
Steyning Grammar School is a unique, successful and dynamic learning community. Our ‘Journey
to Excellence’ is built on traditions of excellence and highest expectations, combined with a
commitment to innovation and new thinking - to support our students in being the best they
can be in preparation for their exciting futures.
Ofsted (Feb 2013) rate the school Good with
Outstanding features, including:
•“An uncompromising ambition for students
to flourish and achieve”.
•“Teaching is good or outstanding”.
•“Relationships between staff and students
are outstanding”.
•“Behaviour and safety is outstanding. The
behaviour of students around the school and
in class is exemplary”.
We are a large school, with over 2000 students,
across one of the largest catchment areas in
Sussex. Our listed-building Church Street site
for Years 7-8 site offers the ideal nurturing
transition between KS2 and KS4, a smaller
stepping stone to the larger Shooting Field site
for Years 9-13. We have 3 different entry points
for students into our school, at Year 7, Year 9
and Year 12.
We are a day and residential school: Steyning
Grammar School has one of the most
successful boarding provisions in the UK, the
only one in Sussex. Our Boarding School is
rated Outstanding (2015) by Ofsted under
the new framework; Ofsted had no
recommendations to make. We are a nonselective, Church of England Voluntary
Controlled comprehensive school – our
Church Section 48 inspection rated us
‘Outstanding’.
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We have very high aspirations and expectations of our
students. We work hard to ensure all our students
make excellent progress. We achieve this through
high quality teaching and learning, and through an
outstanding pastoral system. As well as a form tutor,
every child has access to a Head of Year and a
Learning Development Manager.
Our vision is ‘For every person to be the best they can
be’. To achieve this vision we make four ongoing
mission statements about the work of the school –
our commitments to home, students and staff. We
support these with development plan priorities that
focus our work for the year.
Vision
Every Person The Best They Can Be. Increase Learning – Improve Results.
Mission Statement
•Everything is about learning – this is at the core of what we should be doing.
•We should have the highest expectations of every student and ourselves: being the best we can
be.
•We are a place that students and staff want to come to – the Steyning Family.
•We share a common set of values: a caring, kind and accepting community.
School Development Plan Priorities 2015-16
1. Effective learning in every classroom
2. Commitment to high quality professional learning
3. Influential leadership at every level
4. Excellent outcomes for all disadvantaged/Bursary students
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THE HUMANITIES FACULTY
The Humanities Faculty at Steyning is a large, complex and exciting team to be part of and lead. The
team comprises five post holders, 17 teachers, including two Assistant Heads and one part time
administrative assistant. The Faculty delivers History, RE, Geography, Sociology, Politics and Critical
Thinking.
The Faculty’s vision, ‘Humanities: Exploring what it means to be human; inspiring a spirit of enquiry into the
questions that matter’ has been increasingly embedded into our practice over the last few years. Central
to this shared vision is a firm commitment to all stakeholders that they will be fully supported in their
learning and development. As such the Faculty, as a team, strives to make a unique contribution to the
school and the school’s development priorities. This has been seen by the leading role teachers from
the team have taken in supporting whole school developments in areas as diverse as narrowing the PP
gap, training on assessment, feedback models and curriculum reform.
Whilst the team are all at different stages in their development, teachers are all genuinely aspirational
for both themselves and their students, whether in terms of supporting the learning needs of all,
inspiring independent investigation, a commitment to social, moral and cultural education or striving
to create a vibrant learning culture.
This has been born out by improved outcomes for students. All GCSE subjects are in line or above the
national average with 78% of students achieving Grades A* to C in GCSE RE. A Level results are strong
across the team although there is more inconsistency here. The team is proud of their good student
outcomes and excellent retention rates at KS4 and 5.
The Humanities team is ambitious, dynamic, collegiate, innovative in terms of pedagogy and reflective.
Being part of the Humanities team at Steyning is, like the school at large, supportive with a ‘family’ feel.
The team is at a juncture where the move from ‘good’ to excellent is the next step. The team is well
placed with the right leadership to make this transition which presents a rewarding and exciting
opportunity for a newly qualified teacher or a more experienced classroom practitioner.
Further information
• See separate letter from the Headteacher.
• Applications for the post of Head of Humanities from September 2016 should be
submitted by 9.00 am, Monday 14 March 2016
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Job description
Post: Head of Faculty – Humanities TLR 1B
Accountable to: Leadership Team
Introduction
This Job Description outlines the purpose and key tasks required
to indicate the level of responsibility. It is not a comprehensive
or exclusive list and duties / specific tasks may be varied from
time to time, which do not change the general character of the
job or the level of responsibility entailed. This will allow
flexibility for the School to respond to changing priorities and
also support and enhance individual professional development.
Purpose of the job
To lead and manage the faculty in promoting the deepest
learning of all students
To promote and be accountable for high standards of achievement
Responsibilities
The appointment is subject to the appropriate conditions of employment of teachers contained
in the School Teacher’s Pay and Conditions Document and other current employment and
educational legislation.
Responsible to: Link member of the Leadership team
Responsible for: All staff working within the faculty
Main duties
1) Leadership
• To lead the faculty by providing a clear vision informed by the school development
plan and communicating the vision to all members of the school community
• To secure the commitment of all members of the faculty to achieving the vision built
on highest expectations.
• To promote continuing professional development throughout the faculty and take
responsibility for personal professional development
• To promote effective learning in every classroom in support of the school focus on
learning by ensuring that whole school strategies are implemented and monitored
effectively
• To be a good role model for members of the faculty
• To take on Leadership Team responsibilities when requested to do so in supporting
the day to day running of the school
• To develop the leadership capacity of all post holders in the faculty
• To implement and embed a faculty SDP/SEF supporting the whole school SDP/SEF
cycle.
2) Management
• To monitor the quality of teaching and learning throughout the faculty by:
 planning and implementing strategies designed to improve teaching and learning and
evaluating their impact
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 promoting the professional development of teachers within the faculty through
classroom observation, coaching in the classroom and work sampling
To induct new teachers
To ensure that the day to day running of the faculty is effective
To use data effectively in monitoring student learning, informing intervention and
evaluating the performance of the faculty
To manage the faculty budget in order to ensure that spending promotes student
learning and that the budget is not overspent within any financial year
To manage the behaviour of students in the care of the faculty in line with schools
procedures
To play a leading role in the appointment of staff to the faculty
To develop and maintain good professional relationships with colleagues at all times
To monitor the performance of staff, share good practice and challenge under
performance
3) Results
To ensure that:
• Faculty and department results show sustained improvement in ALPS grades at KS5 and
progress and value added at KS4
• GCSE results are within 5% of prediction and within 5% of FFT(D) target
• 75% or more of students in year 11 hit or exceed their target grades
• To use data effectively in promoting the attainment of all students within the faculty
4) Learning
• To promote joint planning of schemes of work
• To promote pedagogical dialogue within the faculty leading to shared lesson planning
• To implement, promote and monitor effective behaviour management strategies within
the faculty
• To promote good relationships with students and parents and carers (incorporating
strategies for gaining their views on learning)
• To teach good lessons
5) General
• To carry out any other reasonable task at the request of a member of the Leadership
Team
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Generic Person Specification for all posts
Characteristics
Professionalism – a core of strongly held and enacted values
Respect for others – The underlying belief that individuals matter and deserve respect
Challenge and support – A commitment to do everything possible for each student and enable all
students to be successful
Confidence – The belief in ones ability to be effective and take on challenges
Self Learning – A commitment to developing understanding and learning new skills to become a bet
teacher
Creating trust – Being consistent and fair. Keeping one’s word
Thinking – the drive to ask ‘why?’ and see patterns
Analytical thinking – The ability to think logically, break things down and recognise cause and effect
Conceptual thinking – The ability to see patterns and links, even when there is a lot of detail
Planning and setting expectations – targeting energy and effort where it will make the most
difference to students
Drive for improvement – relentless energy for setting and achieving challenges
Information seeking – a drive to find out more and get the full story. Intellectual curiosity
Initiative – the drive to act now to anticipate and pre-empt events
Leading – directing, inspiring and motivating others
Flexibility – The ability and willingness to adapt to the needs of a situation and change tactics
Holding people accountable – The drive and ability to set clear expectations and parameters and to
hold others accountable for performance
Managing students – The drive and ability to provide a clear direction to students and to enthuse an
motivate them
Passion for learning – The drive and ability to support students in their learning and to help them
become more confident, independent learners
Relating to others – managing one’s interactions and relationships effectively
Impact and influence – The ability and drive to produce positive outcomes by impressing and
influencing others
Empathy – The drive and ability to understand others and why they behave as they do
Team working – The ability to work with others to achieve shared goals
General
Qualified teacher status
Capacity to be a good role model for all members of the school community
Willingness to accept both support and challenge leading to improved practice
Ability to teach good lessons
Characteristics for all posts will be prioritised from the list above.
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