Lead Practitioner in English

Job Description

Job Title/Post: Lead Practitioner in English

Salary: L3-L7 (currently £43,331 to £49,019)

Immediately Responsible to: First Deputy Headmaster - Director of Studies (English)

Responsible for: Delivering high quality lessons within English;

Sharing best practice across the English Department;

Supporting the Director of Studies and Head of English in ensuring teaching and learning is consistently of high quality across the English Department.

Leadership:

· To develop and implement teaching and learning initiatives and strategies within the English Department and the wider School to raise the quality of teaching and learning and therefore raise attainment and improve progress;

· Provide inspirational, innovative and motivational leadership to enable all students and staff to achieve their highest potential;

· To review, evaluate and develop, working with the Head of English, the English curriculum and associated schemes of work across all divisions of the School. As such, a knowledge of the literary canon, influential writers and different genres is a must;

· Using the National Curriculum as a benchmark, to work with the Head of English to ensure that the English curriculum is explicitly planned so that it sequenced in a logical manner and designed for all pupils (including disadvantaged groups) to acquire the intended knowledge and skills;

· To take responsibility for one division of the English curriculum

· To support (as required) the Head of English with the line management and appraisal of teaching staff within the English Department;

· To support the Head of English with learning walks, pupil voice exercise and book sampling across all divisions of the School and to work with the Head of English to ensure that the findings from self-evaluation feed directly into departmental improvement plans;

· Support, develop, highlight, share and model strategies and resources of good practice;

· To research and evaluate innovative teaching and learning practices and draw on research outcomes and other sources of external evidence, to inform own practice and that of English Department and colleagues within the wider School;

· To undertake monitoring and evaluation on the quality of teaching and learning within English Department and to contribute to such evaluations in other subjects across the School;

· To support teachers at all levels, providing individual support and appropriate professional development to raise the quality of teaching for improvements in attainment and progress;

· To provide, in consultation with relevant Director of Studies and the Senior Teacher: Staff Tutor, mentoring and coaching to individual teachers in need of 1-to-1 support to improve their practice;

· To improve the confidence and attitude of students and parents towards English;

Teachers who are on the pay range for lead practitioners must be an exemplar of teaching skills, lead the improvement of teaching skills in their school and carry out the professional responsibilities of a teacher other than a Headmaster, including those responsibilities delegated by the Headmaster".

Leading Teaching & Learning:

· Model consistently high-quality teaching in own classroom practice and be able to demonstrate such practice to others;

· To develop (evidence-based) strategies to improve interest, motivation and engagement in English lessons and across the School;

· To lead staff, by personal example, in achieving high-quality teaching and learning;

· To use a wide range of strategies to support the development of high-quality teaching and learning within the department and throughout the wider School;

· Disseminate resources and advise on best practice, research and professional development provision within the English Department and, in consultation with the Senior Team, the wider School.

Professional Responsibilities:

· Excellent professional role-model to staff and students;

· Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate to a range of stakeholders.

· A commitment to all students receiving an outstanding educational experience.

· Contribution to the wider life and ethos of Westcliff High School for Boys.

Developing Self and Working with Others:

· Identify key professional development needs within teaching and learning within the English Department and, in consultation with the Third Deputy Head, across the wider school and to work with the ensure that these are addressed through professional development provision;

· Contribute to the professional development (and appraisal, where appropriate) of colleagues using a broad range of skills appropriate to their needs, to support effectiveness relating to aspects of teaching and learning;

· Further own professional knowledge and management skills by attending courses, reading and participating fully in the development of other staff.

Securing Accountability:

· Contribute to the English Department's and School's on-going self-evaluation processes;

· To work with the Head of English on the reviewing the progress against the departmental development plan and, along with the Head of English, to produce self-evaluation summaries for the School's Senior Team (as appropriate);

· To be responsible as an appraiser, for the annual review of teaching staff, their appraisal and individual meetings in order to plan their training and development needs.

Conditions of Employment:

· The above responsibilities are subject to the general duties and responsibilities contained in the written Statement of Conditions of Employment (the Contract of Employment).

· The postholder is required to support and encourage the School's ethos and its objectives, policies and procedures as agreed by the Governing Board.

· To uphold the School's policy in respect of child protection and safeguarding matters.

· The postholder shall be subject to all relevant statutory requirements as detailed in the most recent School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document.

· The postholder may be required to perform any other reasonable tasks after consultation.

· This job description allocates duties and responsibilities but does not direct the particular amount of time to be spent on carrying them out and no part of it may be so constructed.

· This job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and it may be subject to modification at any time after consultation with the postholder.

· All staff members are required to participate in the School's Appraisal Scheme.

The above is an indication of the requirements of the post and is not meant to be inclusive or exhaustive. Any role that needs reasonably to be undertaken should also be undertaken whether or not included in the above.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The postholder's responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons for whom he/she is responsible, or with whom he/she comes into contact will be to adhere to and ensure compliance with the School's Child Protection Policy at all times. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post, the postholder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety or welfare of children in the School, he/she must report any concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead. It is an offence for persons who have been barred from working with children to apply for this position.

This non-contractual job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post and it may be subject to modification or amendment at any time after consultation with the holder of the post.

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.