Job Description
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History is a popular subject within Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB). Many Assemblies have
strong connections to History and documents from the School's past are presented and highly visible
all around the School. The History Department has traditionally been very strong, with a former
colleague holding a Chief Examiner post with Edexcel. We have had consistently good results in GCSE
and A Level History, and take-up of the subject as an option at GCSE and A Level is strong. History is
one of the most popular subjects taken at both GCSE and A Level - half of Year 10 pupils and around
one-quarter of A Level students study the subject.
The Department offers both a Junior History Society and a Senior History Society, with a range of
visiting speakers from local and London Universities. Discussion sessions are often led by senior
students themselves. The Department also offers a range of trips and visits with regular Saturday trips
in our History Days Out programme, an annual World War 1 Battlefields Trip for Year 11 pupils and A
Level visits to Germany. Our students have also served as Ambassadors with the Holocaust
Educational Trust, visiting Auschwitz and attending lectures in London. We have an excellent record
of helping students to secure places at the leading universities.
The Department is seeking to recruit an enthusiastic colleague who can help us build further on these
results, assist in recruitment to GCSE and A Level and develop the extra-curricular provision of the
Department, both participating in, and organising, trips, lectures and events.
This vacancy would suit a teacher new to the profession and, for a subject specialist, the School can
provide structured training. Unqualified teachers at WHSB receive an experienced mentor, reduced
timetable, regular observations with feedback and weekly induction meetings. It is possible, through
WHSB, to train for a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) (with Qualified Teacher Status) at
the University of Buckingham. Newly-Qualified Teachers are supported through their Induction Year
with a mentor and regular meetings. The School has a successful track record of helping candidates to
enter the profession this way, including two current members of the History Department.
Equally, this role could also suit a more experienced teacher looking to develop their career further in
a high-performing Academy Grammar School.
Information about the School
Westcliff High School for Boys (WHSB) is an Outstanding Grammar School. We continue to hold dear our values and traditions whilst fostering academic excellence and a dynamism which allow us to provide a twenty-first century world class education.
Our record of success is reflected in our outstanding A Level and GCSE results and we are committed to providing the highest standards in all aspects of our provision for pupils.