CLASS TEACHER

Application Pack

Location: Heath Hayes Academy, Wimblebury Road, Cannock, Staffordshire, WS12 2EP.

REAch2 Registered address:

REAch2 Academy Trust

Scientia Academy

Mona Road

Burton Upon Trent

Staffordshire

DE13 0UF

Contents

- Letter from Sir Steve Lancashire, Chief Executive

- The application process and timetable

- Background on REAch2

- Job Description

- Person Specification

Letter from Sir Steve Lancashire, Chief Executive, REAch2 Academy Trust

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your interest in this role within the REAch2 Academy Trust.

This is a hugely exciting time for our family of schools. The Trust has been recognised by the Department for Education as being well placed to raise standards and achieve excellence for pupils in a growing number of schools nationwide. We are presented with a rare opportunity to make a real difference to the lives and life chances of so many primary school children–many of whom haven’t previously received the educational opportunities they deserve.

The Trust has academies based all across England and includes schools at various stages of development, from those requiring significant improvement through to existing outstanding schools. As a Trust we are clear about the importance of achieving long term sustainability for our schools. Our vision is to enable individual academies to flourish with real autonomy, whilst also ensuring a strong ethos of support and collaboration across our schools.

Teachers within REAch2 belong to a national community of professionals, and benefit from a wide range of networks and development opportunities across the Trust. In time, our best teachers are able to work across schools, develop specialisms and step up to leadership roles within and beyond their own academy. The Trust provides a strong culture of collaboration and support, together with high expectations for staff and pupils alike.

Those we recruit are able to demonstrate that they share our values, are highly motivated to work with colleagues within and beyond their school to continuously develop their skills and pursue professional excellence, and are committed to providing the highest standards of teaching for all children. If that is you then we would be delighted to receive your application.

Sir Steve Lancashire

Chief Executive, REAch2 Academy Trust

The applicationprocess and timetable

You are invited to submit an application form, which is available together with this document.

Closing date for applications – 20th May 2016

Interviews – Week commencing23rd May 2016 (to be confirmed)

The candidates selected for interview will be informed after shortlisting and full details of the interview programme will be provided.

REAch2 Academy Trust has an Equal Opportunities Policy for selection and recruitment. Applicants are requested to complete and return the Equal Opportunities Monitoring form separately with their application.

In accordance with our Safeguarding Policy the successful candidate will be required to have an enhanced DBS check.

To arrange an informal discussion please contact:Mrs L Bate: 01543 273690.

Completed application forms should be sent to: Mrs L Bate, Heath Hayes Academy, Wimblebury Road, Heath Hayes, Cannock, STAFFS, WS12 2EP.

Equal Opportunities Monitoring forms should be sent to:

Ingrida Macenkiene

REAch2 Academy Trust

Hillyfield Primary Academy

127 Aveling Park Road

London

E17 4NR

E-mail:

Background on REAch2

The REAch2 Academy Trust originated from the successful school improvement and partnership work led by Hillyfield Primary Academy in Waltham Forest, London. The Trust has grown to become a national family of primary academies committed to raising standards and achieving excellence for all pupils, whatever their background or circumstance.

Schools, staff and children within the Trust benefit from a strong ethos of support and collaboration across the REAch2 family. Teachers within REAch2 belong to a national community of professionals, and benefit from a wide range of networks and development opportunities across the Trust.

REAch2 Trust is part of a teaching school alliance (led by the REAch2 Tidemill Academy in Deptford). As a result, teachers and leaders within the REAch2 family are able to access a range of teacher and leadership development opportunities, including the Improving Teacher Programme and the Outstanding Teacher Programme, as well as programmes for middle leaders and newly qualified teachers.

The Trust is focused on ensuring it supports, develops and empowers its staff so that, in time, our best teachers are able to work across schools, develop specialisms and step up to leadership roles within and beyond their own academy. This underpins our approach to school improvement –including the successful improvements that have been achieved so far in many of our schools that have joined the Trust as sponsored academies.

REAch2 benefits from the involvement of leading educationalists, including our board member Professor John West-Burnham, and strong links to prestigious institutions such as the Institute of Education.

Our Regions

  • West Midlands covering - Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Birmingham and Telford
  • East Anglia covering – North East Essex and Suffolk
  • South Central covering - Croydon, Bexley, Kent and Sussex
  • North Central covering – Essex, Reading, Hertfordshire, London

Our Heath Hayes Academy

Heath Hayes Academy became an academy with REAch2 Academy Trust on the first of January 2014.

Heath Hayes now has a new leadership team and is led by the new Head Teacher, Rebecca Graham. The school is rapidly improving and we strive to ensure each and every child placed with us achieves their full potential through a varied and creative curriculum.

Last year we can boast that our SATs results exceeded attainment compared with national targets. We have an exciting new curriculum that offers outstanding new experiences for all our pupils.

Our cornerstones and touchstones

REAch2 is a cornerstone of every academy in the Trust: a strong, responsible foundation providing a solid base, from which every academy can build and grow. Defined by the values of excellence, quality, delivery and standards–these features give the Trust its enduring attributes and its inherent reliability.

What gives each REAch2 Academy its uniqueness are the touchstones of the Trust: seven principles which make our Academies distinctive. Just as 500 years ago touchstones were used to test the quality of the gold they marked, so too our touchstones find what is precious and set these things apart. They are used to express the values and ethos of the Trust and describe what the Trust wants to be known for and how it wishes to operate.

The touchstones are:

-Learning:children and adults will flourish in their learning and through learning discover a future that is worth pursuing;

-Leadership: we aspire to an unwavering emphasis on the highest quality of leadership at all levels. The Trust seeks out talent, develops potential and spots the “possible”in people as well as the “actual”.

-Enjoyment: children deserve enjoyment in their learning and the pleasure that comes from absorption in a task and achieving their goals. Providing contexts for learning which are relevant, motivating and engaging will release in children their natural curiosity, fun and determination.

-Inspiration: inspiration breathes energy and intent into our schools: through influential experiences of people and place, children are compelled to believe that no mountain is too high and that nothing is impossible.

-Inclusion:we celebrate the economic, social and religious differences that serving a range of communities across the country brings and we encourage diversity. Embracing inclusion, particularly those children with special education needs, ensures that the Trust serves all and believes everyone can and must succeed.

-Responsibility:we take accountability seriously and by being responsible for every child, we act judiciously with control and care. We don’t make excuses, but mindfully answer for actions and continually seek to make improvements.

-Integrity:we are a trust that has a strong moral purpose. As a Trust we recognise that we lead by example and if we want children to grow up behaving appropriately

and with integrity then we must model this behaviour. We welcome the fact that all our decisions and actions are open to scrutiny.

You can learn more about the touchstones, and hear from staff and pupils across REAch2 schools, at our website:

CLASS TEACHER

Job Description

Post:Class Teacher– Maternity cover contract

Salary:Teachers pay scale (dependant on location and experience)

Responsible to:Head Teacher

1.TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT

The responsibilities detailed below are subject to the general duties and responsibilities contained in the written statement of conditions of employment (the Contract of Employment). The postholder is also subject to:

  • all relevant statutory requirements as detailed in the most recent School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document;
  • the Academy’s policies as specified by REAch2, the REAch2 Staffs Multi-Academy Trust (Staffs MAT), the Executive Principal (EP) and / or the Local Governing Body (LGB);
  • the Academy’s procedures and practices as specified by the Head.

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. It is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post; it will be reviewed at least once a year and it may be subject to modification at any time after consultation with the postholder.

2.LINES OF RESPONSIBILITY

  • To work under the direction and supervision of your Team Leader with the support and guidance of the school’s Leading Practitioner(s) where appropriate.

3.LINE MANAGEMENT

  • To assist your Team Leaders as required with managing and improving the performance of support staff assigned to the class.

4.STRATEGIC PURPOSE

  • To contribute to the overall aims and objectives of the school as a whole;
  • To ensure that your teaching is consistently good or better, resulting in pupils making consistently good or better progress in all aspects of their learning.
  1. ACCOUNTABILITIES

To be accountable for achieving:

  • the attainment and progress targets set for the pupils’ in your class;
  • high standards of conduct, emotional and learning behaviours and attitudes in allocated pupils.

6.LEADERSHIP ROLE

  • To take lead responsibility for one or more subjects or aspects of the school’s curriculum as discussed with, and assigned by, the Head.

7.TEACHING AND LEARNING RESPONSIBILITIES

  • To work in accordance with all aspects the school’s teaching and learning policy and practices as specified by the Head and / or the Academy’s Leadership Team to ensure that your teaching is consistently good or better, resulting in pupils making consistently good or better progress;
  • To establish positive, collaborative, professional and supportive working relationships with your teaching colleagues, any allocated support staff colleagues, your line manager, and other members of your team;
  • To organise and manageyour classroom (and any other assigned spaces) efficiently and effectively so as to generate a high quality learning environment;
  • To establish high standards of conduct, emotional and learning behaviour in allocated pupils;
  • To ensure that planning is completed in accordance with the Academy’s procedures as specified by the Head;
  • To plan, prepare and deliver schemes of highly stimulating, motivating, well resourced, clearly structured and appropriately sequenced lessons, within the structure of the Academy’s Teaching and Learning Policy and curriculum frameworks;
  • To create precise learning objectives and success criteria (WILF) for all lessons and ensure these are understood and used by pupils;
  • To ensure appropriate differentiation of learning activities to meet the full range of pupils’ learning needs;
  • To assess pupils’ progress within lessons using the Academy’s AfL practices(as specified by the Head);
  • To assess pupils’ progress on a lesson by lesson basis and to make formative, summative and diagnostic assessments over time, in line with the Academy’s assessment schedule;
  • To use assessments to set clear and appropriate targets for children in reading, writing and maths and to monitor progress against them;
  • To mark pupils’ work on a day to day basis, according to the Academy’s marking policy, so that your pupils’ receive high quality guidance and feedback on how to improve;
  • To inform parents / carers of pupils’ targets and their progress against them, and give appropriate guidance to parents / carers on how they can help their child to improve;
  • To teach and develop pupils’ positive learning attitudes, thinking skillsand problem solving skills;
  • To take a proactive approach to your own CPD by:
  • engaging in professional discussion of good and best practice with colleagues, especially your Team Leader and the Academy’s Leading Practitioner(s);
  • networking with colleagues across the Staffs MAT and REAch2;
  • keeping abreast of developments at a Trust and national level.
  • To perform any other reasonable tasks as reasonably required by the Head and / or your Team Leader;
  • To participate in the Academy’s performance management scheme.

8.ACADEMY AND LOCAL COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITIES

To contribute to the smooth and successful running of the Academy through:

  • Promoting a positive ethos within the Academy, through working and talking constructively and positively within the staff team and developing effective professional relationships at all levels within the Academy community;
  • Supporting and promoting the role and work of all other teams within the Academy and across the Staffs MAT;
  • Creating and nurturing strong links with parents and carers, to engage them actively in their child’s learning and in the activities of the class and the Academy;
  • Maintaining an up to date, daily knowledge of Academy events on the Academy’s calendar system;
  • Meeting deadlines and requirements set by the Head or your line manager, under the authorisation of the Head;
  • Keeping an up to date knowledge of the Academy’s policies (available to all staff on request) and working within their requirements;
  • Organising, supporting and / or participating in the organisation of extra-curricular and wider activities of the Academy;
  • Complying with any reasonable instructions given by the Head, members of the Leadership Team and your line manager.

Person Specification

Essential /
Desirable

Qualifications

/
  • Qualified Teacher Status.
/
  • Further relevant qualifications.
  • First Aid Training.

Experience

/
  • Evidence of excellent classroom practice with the ability to create a class atmosphere that is achievement orientated and to inject pace into a lesson, using strategies that build children’s self-esteem.
  • Evidence of the ability to raise standard significantly in own classroom and throughout the school.
  • Ability to provide a high quality, well differentiated education and expect high standards from all children.
  • Ability to contribute effectively to support team work.
  • Ability to communicate and work effectively with parents/carers and external agencies in partnership.
  • Enthusiasm for teaching, a positive philosophy and outlook, coupled with a good sense of humour.
  • Experience of teaching year groups within Foundation Stage/Key Stage 1/Key Stage 2
/
  • The willingness and ability to move between key stages EYFS/KS1/KS2 if required.

Essential /
Desirable

Knowledge & Skills

/
  • Full knowledge and understanding of the Foundation Stage Curriculum Guidance, National Curriculum and the National Primary Strategy.
  • To have ICT skills for both personal and classroom use.
  • Ability to communicate well, be an effective whole school team member.
  • Highly organised, with the ability to work on own initiative.
  • Ability to ensure that policy and procedures are carried out correctly and effectively.
  • Ability to self-evaluate learning needs and actively seek learning activities.
  • Understanding of the need at all times for confidentiality and discretion.
  • Ability to engage in professional dialogue about the curriculum, school organisation, procedures and policies.
  • An understanding of the importance of safeguarding and child protection and the implications for pupils.
/
  • Understanding of relevant policies, codes of practice and requirements.
  • Experience of regular use of an Interactive Whiteboard.
  • Willingness to develop ICT capabilities further and attend training.
  • Willingness to take responsibility for own professional development.
  • Use and encourage clear, articulate speech with excellent pronunciation and correct use of grammar.

Wider

Responsibilities

and

professionalism

/
  • Commitment to school vision and ethos.
  • Respectful, trusting, supportive and constructive relationships with children.
  • High standards of professional behaviour with parents and colleagues.
  • Commitment to collaboration and co-operative working.
  • Positive contribution to school development.
  • Attend and constructively contribute to staff, team and planning meetings and school improvement activity.
  • Contribute to school extra-curricular and enrichment provision by leading or supporting activities.
  • Commitment to personal professional development.
  • Proactively seek advice from colleagues and offer support and guidance to other staff.
  • Maintain a professional, positive attitude and outlook at all times.

We welcome keen individuals who are enthusiastic about and committed to teaching, who believe in lifelong learning and who want to work with us for the benefit of all our children.

REAch2 Academy Trust is a charitable company limited by guarantee in England and Wales, Company number 08452281, Registered office Address: Scientia Academy, Mona Road, Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire, DE13 0UF; VAT Number: 220 8862 15