Ark St Alban’s Academy
Head of Modern Foreign Languages
Ark St Alban’s Academy is seeking to appoint a skilled and enthusiastic teacher to lead its rapidly expanding Modern Foreign Languages department.
Our school is committed to addressing educational disadvantage. We consistently guide pupils to GCSE and A-Level outcomes which place our cohorts in the top 10% of schools nationally on many measures, including those for the progress of disadvantaged pupils. Our school serves pupils from central Birmingham. The percentage of our cohort eligible for the Pupil Premium is the eighth highest in the country. There are very few communities in the UK who need great teachers more than ours. Teachers and leaders at Ark St Alban’s Academy are determined to prove that the background of a young person can be no impediment to their success. Our school prepares pupils to succeed at elite universities, with our alumni proudly representing our community at prestigious destinations including Cambridge University, Durham University and the London School of Economics.
Our school consistently secures excellent outcomes for our pupils.
In languages, our pupils are increasingly successful.
This year, 95% of grades achieved in GCSE French were at least grade 4, with almost 75% at grade 5 or higher. In addition, a small cohort studying GCSE Spanish all achieved at least grade 4. The successful candidate will now take on the exciting challenge of securing success with much larger cohorts, as the study of a language becomes part of our core offer.
Providing all pupils with an academic and rigorous languages education is central to our university preparatory curriculum.
All pupils in Key Stage Three now study French and increasing numbers will be expected to continue studying the language at Key Stage Four, where Spanish can also be chosen as an option to study ab initio. In future years, the successful candidate will also be tasked with the expansion of languages education into our sixth form. Our work in languages begins with our feeder schools and the successful candidate will also have the opportunity to work with primary colleagues in enriching the provision of languages at Key Stage Two.
The successful candidate will work with senior leaders to evaluate the languages curriculum and to develop an approach to guiding pupils to make even greater progress in French, particularly at Key Stage Three. In this role, the successful candidate will also lead the professional development and line-management of colleagues in the department with a view to making teaching and learning increasingly precise. In addition, there will be the opportunity in this role to continue the work of the department in playing a leading role in the trust-wide collaboration of curriculum leaders from across the network of Ark Schools.
In this role, the successful candidate will receive direct support from the senior leadership team through line-management. In this role, the successful candidate will also join a thriving a curriculum leadership team within the school that work together to drive whole school improvement. As part of Ark Schools, all colleagues also have access to exceptional professional development and training opportunities, including NPQs through the Ark Teaching School Hub and Ambition Institute.
We are seeking a leader to join our work to provide a transformational education for all of our pupils.
For an informal conversation about the role or to arrange an informal visit or phone call with the Principal, please contact Katie Roberts on 0121 446 1323 or katie.roberts@arkstalbans.org.
Please submit your application online by visiting our vacancies page
Start date: April 2023 (flexible for the right candidate)
Location: Conybere Street, Birmingham B12 0YH
Reports to: Relevant Senior Leader
Salary: Ark Main or Upper Pay Scale (£26,356 - £43,271), plus TLR 2c (£7017)
The deadline for applications is Monday 27 February 2023 at 10.00am.
Our website can provide more information about Ark St Alban’s Academy.
Ark is committed to safeguarding children; successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.