LAURENCEJACKSONSCHOOL
Improving life chances

Laurence Jackson School

Church Lane, Guisborough, TS14 6RD

Tel: 01287 636361. Fax: 01287 610309

email:

@LJ_School

Headteacher: Belinda Wheatman B.Ed (Hons), NPQH

Dear Applicant

Appointment of Headteacher

Thank you for your interest in the Headteacher’s position at Laurence Jackson School. The Governing Body is seeking to appoint a Headteacher who reflects all of the qualities outlined in the job advert and person specification and with whom we can work closely in the best interests of the school and the students in it.

I can assure you that you will have the full support of the Governing Body in implementing your vision for the future of the school and in any endeavours which bring about further improvement.

Included with the advert are details of the school, the post, a job description, person specification and an application form. I sincerely hope that the information provided helps you in considering your application and that you have been given some sense of the school context.

The Governors, parents and students look forward to the appointment of a new Headteacher to lead us into the future. We hope you will consider being that person.

I am happy for the Head of Education (Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council), David Major, to have a discussion with you prior to applying. His contact details are 01642 444377.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Yours faithfully

Alan Ankers

Chair of Governors

LAURENCEJACKSONSCHOOL
Improving life chances

Job Description

Headteacher

Laurence Jackson School

The Head Teacher shall carry out the professional duties as described in the School Teacher’s Pay and Conditions document. In particular:

Main Tasks

  1. Shaping the Future (Strategic Leadership)
  • To work with students, staff, parents and governors to maintain a vision for the strategic direction of Laurence Jackson School.
  • To communicate effectively that shared vision so that it is shared and acted upon by all members of the school community.
  • To inspire the school community to be enthusiastic about its commitment to ensure continuous school improvement.
  • To be a role model for others.
  • To ensure that the management, finances, organisation and administration support the school’s vision.
  1. Leading Teaching and Learning
  • To instil a clear sense of direction, sense of values and purpose by providing high profile, committed leadership.
  • To ensure creative, responsive and effective approaches to high quality Teaching and Learning in all areas of the curriculum.
  • To create a culture of challenge in an environment where all students can excel

regardless of ability or circumstance.

  • To ensure that student performance data is used effectively.
  • To inform parents of their children’s attainments and achievements and advise them as necessary.
  • To keep the curriculum under review, taking account of national requirements and local needs.
  • To agree a curriculum policy with the Governing Body that meets statutory requirements and is appropriate to the needs of students.
  • To monitor and evaluate the SEND provision and focus on improving outcomes.
  1. Developing Self and Working with Others
  • To build on the ethos of the school and its established learning culture.
  • To ensure a high standard of professional development for all members of staff.
  • To treat everyone in the school fairly and equitably by developing a culture of personal responsibility and recognition of excellence and hard work.
  • To ensure effective safeguarding procedures are firmly established and delivered in collaboration with the school community.
  • To continue working collaboratively with Redcar & Cleveland Education Improvement Partnership.
  1. Managing the School
  • To work with the Governing Body to articulate a vision for the school and implement the policies and procedures necessary to achieve it.
  • To lead strategically on the School Improvement Plan and ensure its implementation.
  • To ensure that the school’s management structure supports the delivery of excellence in Teaching and Learning.
  • To monitor, evaluate, challenge and celebrate the performance of Laurence Jackson School and its achievements.
  • To work closely with the Governing Body to monitor and evaluate school performance.
  • To implement an appropriate performance management framework for all staff.
  • To maintain the school environment at a high standard so that staff and students are safe and continue to have a sense of pride in their surroundings.
  • To ensure the effective development and management of financial and other resources to enhance the quality of learning.
  1. Securing Accountability
  • To work with the Governing Body to provide information, advice and support to enable it to meet all its responsibilities.
  • To ensure that all staff have a clearly defined and agreed set of responsibilities and accountabilities.
  • To establish a time frame and mechanism to ensure appropriate reporting is provided for statutory requirements.
  • To allocate, control and account for the financial and material resources of Laurence Jackson School.
  1. Strengthening Community through Collaboration
  • To work in partnership with the Governing Body.
  • To create and maintain an effective and open partnership with parents to support and improve student achievement and personal development.
  • To build and strengthen the positive image of the school in the wider community.
  • To collaborate with other organisations to ensure the intellectual, spiritual, social, moral and physical wellbeing of students.
  • To work with Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council’s Children & Families Service and its officers in the monitoring and evaluation of the school’s progress.

Head Teacher –Person Specification

Laurence Jackson School

Category / Essential / Desirable / Evidence
Qualifications /
  • Qualified teacher status.
  • Recognised leadership or management qualification.
/
  • National Professional Qualification for Headship.
  • Experience of headship.
  • Evidence of further professional qualifications.
/
  • Application form
  • Interview
  • Reference
  • Certificates

Experience & Knowledge / Substantial experience of:
  • leadership in a secondary school;
  • developing a curriculum which is personalised to the needs of the individual student;
  • managing, developing, inspiring, challenging and motivating staff;
  • implementing significant organisational development and change;
  • financial planning to ensure effective use of budget and resources;
  • working with other schools/organisations and agencies.
Substantial awareness of:
  • legislation relating to Special Educational Needs and Disability and to Keeping Children Safe in Education;
  • statutory requirements relating to the curriculum and assessment;
  • the characteristics of effective schools and strategies for raising students’ standards and the achievements of all students.
/
  • Relevant experience in more than one school.
/
  • Application form
  • Interview
  • Reference

Professional Development /
  • Evidence of continuing professional development relating to school Leadership, Curriculum and Teaching and Learning.
/
  • Experience of leading/co-ordinating professional development opportunities.
  • Ability to identify own learning needs and to support others in identifying their learning needs.
/
  • Application Form
  • Interview
  • References

Strategic Leadership /
  • Ability to articulate and share a vision of secondary education.
  • The confidence and ability to inspire and motivate staff, students, parents and governors to achieve the aims of the school.
  • Evidence of having successfully translated vision into reality at whole-school level.
  • Evidence of successful strategies for planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating school improvement.
  • Evidence of analysing data, developing strategic plans, setting targets and evaluating progress towards these.
  • Demonstrable success in raising standards and meeting challenging targets.
  • Understanding of strategies for performance management.
  • Understanding of how financial and resource management enable a school to achieve its education responsibilities.
/
  • Ability to articulate and share a vision of the continuum of primary and secondary education.
/
  • Application Form
  • Interview
  • References

Teaching
& Learning /
  • A passionate commitment to high quality Teaching and Learning.
  • An understanding of the developments and requirements of the National Curriculum.
  • Knowledge and experience of a range ofTeaching and Learning strategies to meet the needs of all students.
  • Understanding of assessment strategies and the use of assessment to inform the next stages of learning.
  • Extensive experience of effective monitoring and evaluation of Teaching and Learning.
  • Understanding of the characteristics of an effective learning environment and the key elements of successful behaviour management.
/
  • Successful experience in creating an effective learning environment and in development and implementing policy and practice relating to behaviour management.
/
  • Application Form
  • Interview
  • References

Leading &
Managing Staff /
  • Substantial experience of leading whole school initiatives or staff teams.
  • Ability to delegate work and support colleagues in undertaking responsibilities.
  • Experience of performance management and supporting the continuing professional development of colleagues.
  • Evidence of applying safe recruitment practices and developing a safe culture within the school.
  • Experience of working effectively with governors to enable them to fulfil whole school responsibility.
/
  • Successful involvement in staff recruitment, appointment and induction.
/
  • Application Form
  • Interview
  • References

Skills,
Qualities
& Abilities /
  • Empathy with children.
  • A strong belief in inclusion for all.
  • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in a variety of forms to engage a range of audiences including staff, students, parents, governors, local authority and external agencies.
  • High expectation of students’ learning and attainment.
  • A passionate commitment to school improvement.
  • Perseverance in the face of challenge.
  • Ability to remain positive and enthusiastic when working under pressure.
    Ability to organise work, prioritise tasks, make decisions and manage time effectively.
  • A belief in the importance of extra-curricular opportunities for all students.
/
  • Experience of presenting reports to governors.
  • Experience of leading sessions to inform parents.
  • Experience of offering challenge and support to improve performance.
/
  • Application Form
  • Interview
  • References

Ethos and School Values

At LJS, our core purpose is to ‘Improve the Life Chances’ of all students regardless of ability, background or circumstance. High expectations, together with an unrelenting focus on student achievement and well-being are at the core of our effectiveness. Learning is at the heart of everything we do and for effective learning to take place there has to be high standards of behaviour. This is something on which we insist, both during school time and in the community, working within the caring and respectful ethos that is LJS.

Not only are we proud of our academic achievements and the progress our students make, but we place high value on the importance of enrichment, offering a wide range of quality learning experiences outside the classroom. As a sports college, our superb range of extra-curricular activities encourages greater participation and development of healthy lifestyles.

Most departments offer extra-curricular enrichment and we provide numerous clubs, teams, practices, visits and residentials throughout the school year. We believe that these experiences are essential in helping young people develop the lifelong skillsrequired for the world beyond their secondary education.

Belinda Wheatman
Headteacher

It is a privilege to be a governor of Laurence Jackson School and to 'add value' to daily school life. As governors, we never forget that we are here to help ensure that LJS students receive the very best opportunities. Believing in continuous improvement, we set ambitious goals and provide long-term strategic leadership for the benefit of the entire school community.

Alan Ankers

Chair of Governors

Laurence Jackson School - Context (January 2018)

Laurence Jackson School is an 11 to 16 Foundation School and Specialist Sports College which benefits from its delightful setting on the edge of the North Yorks Moors in the attractive market town of Guisborough (Borough of Redcar and Cleveland).

The school occupies an important place in the history of the town and continues to be a vibrant centre of the local community today. LJS recently celebrated its 50th Jubilee and it was clear from the extensive community participation in all activities that local people care for the school, staff and students. The school and community have significantly benefitted from designation as a Specialist Sports College and our excellent sports facilities act as the local Leisure Centre.

Although the town itself is relatively affluent, the school has a wide catchment area considerably beyond its stated admission zone and caters for a significant number of children who live in deprived wards elsewhere in the Local Authority. Consequently LJS is a fully comprehensive school with a diverse academic and socio-economic intake although it has a distinctly stable population and very few children from ethnic minority groups.

Overall, students are broadly average on entry with APS in line with the national average. However, almost 17% of students have some form of Special Educational Need, including 2.4% with a Statement and 27% qualifying for Pupil Premium funding. We provide specialist provision for a number of autistic students and approximately 10% of the student population are on the Most Able and Talented (MAT) register. Students have a positive attitude to learning and parents are predominantly supportive.

Headline figures for our core subjects for 2017 are:

  • English Language 68.8% and English Literature 72.5% both are above the National Average.
  • Maths 66.4% is broadly in line with the National Average.
  • The Separate Sciences; Biology 98%, Chemistry 98% and Physics 100%, along with the Combined Sciences; Science A, 64.6% and Additional Science 66.5% are all significantly above the National Average.
  • ICT 66.7% is broadly in line with the National Average.

The Performance Measures for %9-4 in English and Maths was 61% and our English Baccalaureate was 22.7%. It is difficult to compare precisely with previous year’s results due to the changes to the curriculum and the new 9-1 grading system in English and Maths, hence comparisons on previous years cannot be made.

LJS is part of the NE batch of PSBP (Priority Schools Building Programme) and after 2 years frenetic construction, the fantastic new building was completed on time in August 2016. The new building provides us with the state of the art learning environment which we have lobbied for over the past 10 years. Staff and students moved in during the first week of September and are familiarising themselves with the new systems in our wonderful learning environment.

We feel that LJS offers an outstanding educational experience as reflected in our motor of ‘Improving Life Chances’ (of all children regardless of ability, background or circumstance) and encourage prospective students and staff to visit the school to judge for themselves.

LAURENCEJACKSONSCHOOL
Improving life chances

Letter from Head Boy and Head Girl

Hello to students, parents and any other members of the community, my name is Zach, and I am Head Boy at Laurence Jackson School. Today, my aim is to give you an insight of Laurence Jackson School and help you to visualise what it is like to be a student at this excellent school- so basically a student’s perspective.

A great school need great facilities, and due to this last year, all LJS pupils entered a new school building that you are experiencing today. We now have state of the art classrooms, technology such as touch screen computers and importantly new science labs. Now, your children can learn in a safe, pleasant and positive environment, which is the crook of a good secondary school education. Personally, for me I advise you to go and visit our new AG pitch, which is frequently used and is an excellent facility for football lovers. In addition, we have our newly refurbished new sports hall, which includes a gym, which is accessible in PE lessons, and to GCSE PE students.

From drama and performing arts to sport, Laurence Jackson School offers their pupils many opportunities to flourish and become confident, young adults. As a specialist sports college, the PE department offer many different activities so you can find the one you love. Crucially, our PE staff always encourages pupils to have an urge for success, which we have had in many sports over the years. Importantly, we have many extra-curricular clubs for sport to allow you to have time to practise and improve - partly thanks to our brilliant resources and facilities.

If sport is not to your liking, we are also well-known for our drama and performing arts where we have presented many performances. Our last production was ‘Joseph and the Technicolour Dream Coat’, which was very popular, and a sell out on the night of the show.

Importantly, students have the opportunity to take part in a wide variety of sessions like the descriptive writing club, and the school debating team. Last year, our KS3 School debating team won the KS3 debating national competition and were the best debating school in the whole country. Actually, a member of that debating team, Kellen H, recently was voted in as our regions’ youth parliament member - which is a big achievement for not only him but also the school.

As well as extracurricular activities, Laurence Jackson School offers your child the opportunity to visit many places on school trips. From a North York Moors geocaching event to Iceland and Poland, these educational visits happen so that your children can have fun but also learn in a hands on way. Brilliant staff, who make every single minute of the trip thrilling and exciting from start to finish, always run these trips.

Overall, as you can see Laurence Jackson School has a plethora of opportunities, which are available to everyone.

I hope my opinions of the school have clearly shown how magnificent our school really is, and I thank you for taking the time to read this letter.

Zach D

Head Boy

Completing my academic career at Laurence Jackson School has easily been one of the most fulfilling and advantageous experiences of my life. Every visitor I have spoken to, without fail, has commented on the superb attitude of both the teachers and the students throughout the school. This isn’t without good reason: our school goes the extra mile to allow every student the highest quality education, regardless of background or circumstance.

The last few years have seen a lot of changes, including moving to a new building which has state of the art facilities and new and improved behaviour systems have been introduced. Despite all of that our ethos hasn’t changed, which is to improve life chances. Throughout my experience, each individual lesson provides the ideal level of challenge and an engaging environment, which encourages students to take their learning further, at home.