Job Description: Head of Mathematics

Reporting to:                    Senior Leadership Team

Location:                           Ark Charter Academy

Contract:                            Permanent

Working Pattern:           Full Time

Salary:                                 MPS or UPS

Are you a passionate, motivated and inspiring Mathematics Teacher looking for your next career move? Join our school to help pave the way of success for students in the City of Portsmouth. As a Head of Mathematics at Ark Charter Academy, you will be instrumental in our mission to provide every student, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. We embody this by adopting the three values: Justice, Courage and Respect. We are committed to ensuring the Charter community of staff and students live by these three values and promote them through our everyday lives, whilst also promoting the six Charter skills: Honesty, Kindness, Independence, Team Work, Determination and Responsibility.

As Head of Maths, you will lead, develop and manage the effective delivery of an excellent curriculum, which enables the highest level of student progress and attainment. You will lead the professional community of Maths teachers and promote outstanding teaching and learning and a strong school culture within a nurturing and rigorous environment. 

Could you make a REAL difference?

Become part of the Ark Charter community and work alongside our dedicated team of teachers, support staff and senior leaders to raise the expectations of a community, and spark a passion for learning in our young people which will last them a lifetime.

Our teachers work hard every day to inspire each and every student to develop skills which will help them to achieve their full potential - both in the classroom and beyond. Further details of our CPD and training opportunities can be found at: https://arkonline.org/training-for-your-whole-career

As well as professional development, we also take the wellbeing of our staff seriously, as we recognise that teaching can be a challenging profession. Staff at our school work hard but we support them by providing development and relevant training opportunities; as a Lead Practitioner, you will have a key role in facilitating this. We also try to ensure that most meetings take place during our working day to protect our free time and have a supportive and approachable Principal who recognises and rewards the hard work staff put in.

We would love you to visit our school, and meet the students and staff which make the Ark Charter community such a welcoming place to work – contact j.morris@charteracademy.org.uk or call 023 9282 4204 to arrange your visit.

Key Responsibilities

·         To manage and lead the Mathematics department in terms of curriculum development, assessment and culture & ethos.

·         To lead, design and implement a whole school approach to teaching Mathematics and Numeracy skills.

·         Lead numeracy whole academy Teaching and Learning projects.

·         Contribute to the leadership of the academy and its staff in order to achieve high standards of behaviour and attainment

Leadership and Management

·         Lead, develop and line manage the department’s staff,  through the provision of CPD, inset training days, supervising NQTs, ITT students and support staff, etc.

·         Monitor, evaluate and continually improve the quality of planning, teaching, and assessment of all members of the Mathematics team

·         Manage departmental budget and resources effectively and efficiently

·         Lead behaviour management in the department, securing strong routines for learning, consistent with the academy’s policy, and liaising with tutors and parents when necessary

·         Develop strong partnerships and ensure regular communication with parents and carers 

School Ethos and Culture

·         Support the Principal in fostering a strong sense of academy community and ethos among both staff and students

·         To develop whole school culture of best practice in Mathematics and Numeracy.

·         Promote consistent implementation of behaviour policy and system of rewards and sanctions, characterised by orderly behaviour, caring and respectful relationships, and no shouting

·         Act as a positive role model to staff and students.

·         Lead behaviour management in the Mathematics department, securing strong routines for learning, consistent with the academy’s policy, and liaising with tutors and parents when necessary

·         To engage parents in children's Mathematics and Numeracy.

Improving Teaching & Learning

·         Model outstanding teaching and lead collaborative planning and development, including the sharing of resources and best practice within the department

·         Be responsible for tracking student progress across the faculty, analysing all relevant data to make data-driven changes to the curriculum design and intervention strategies and using the data to monitor the performance of subject staff

·         Be accountable for student progress in Mathematics across the school at all key stages, ensuring that all students achieve results in line with, or better than, value-added predictions

·         Monitor the work of the department through rigorous and regular lesson observations, work scrutinies, and provide detailed, constructive feedback

·         Lead joint practice development across the faculty subject teams, ensuring that outstanding practice is shared with all staff in the faculty and the wider school, and work with other department heads to exploit cross-year and cross-curricular links

·         Plan, deliver, monitor and evaluate the curriculum provision and enrichment for all year groups within the department

·         Monitor the identification of and provision for students with individual needs, and develop differentiated learning and teaching methods and schemes of learning

·         Participate actively throughout the network, by attending relevant meetings, and, as appropriate, delivering network-wide training and initiatives

·         Work with colleagues, students and families to develop a strong school community

Other

·         Actively promote the safety and welfare of our children and young people

·         Ensure compliance with Arks data protection rules and procedures

·         Liaise with colleagues and external contacts at all levels of seniority with confidence, tact and diplomacy

·         Work with Ark Central and other academies in the Ark network, to establish good practice throughout the network, offering support where required

This job description is not an exhaustive list and you will be expected to carry out any other reasonable tasks as directed by your line manager.

Person Specification: Head of Mathematics

Qualification Criteria

·           Qualified to teach in the UK

·           Degree in Mathematics or related subject

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

·           Demonstrable commitment to raising attainment of all pupils in a challenging classroom environment

·           Experience of having designed, implemented and evaluated effective, imaginative and stimulating schemes of work and of leading successful enrichment programmes including establishing a high achieving department within a large school

·           Experience of improving the quality of teaching and learning

·           Experience leading a team and/or working to support the significant success of others, including professional development and effective management of underperformance

·           Experience of interpreting complex student data to drive lesson planning and student progress

·           Mastery of and enthusiasm for Mathematics

·           Effective and systematic behaviour management

·           Knowledge of the national secondary education system, examinations and curriculum

Behaviours

·           Genuine passion for and a belief in the potential of every student

·           A robust awareness of keeping children safe, noticing safeguarding and welfare concerns, and understanding how and when to take appropriate action

·           Deep commitment to Ark’s mission of providing an excellent education to every student, regardless of background

·           Excellent interpersonal, planning and organisational skills

·           Resilient, motivated and committed to achieving excellence

·           Reflective and proactive in seeking feedback to constantly improve practice

·           Commitment to regular and on-going professional development and training to establish outstanding classroom practice.

·           Commitment to and understanding of professionalism in line with the National Teaching Standards

Other

·           Right to work in the UK

·           Commitment to equality of opportunity and the safeguarding and welfare of all students

·           Willingness to undertake training

·           This post is subject to an enhanced DBS check

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in our academies.  In order to meet this responsibility, we follow a rigorous selection process. This process is outlined here, but can be provided in more detail if requested. All successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.