March 2011
Dear Applicant
Thank you for your interest in the advertised post. I enclose for your information, the job description and person specification for this post.
The Head of English is a key position within the school, success in English at The Royal Docks Community School will drive the success of the whole school. A key issue for action from our recent OFSTED report is:- ‘Raise attainment especially in English by September 2012 by improving the quality and consistency of teachers’ written feedback and ensuring students act on this advice to improve their work’. Changes in leadership and instability in staffing in the English Department over recent years means that there is still work to do. Our GCSE results in English improved in 2009 but declined slightly in 2010. Progress in English is not as rapid as progress in maths. Some of our students join the school with low levels of literacy. Recently the quality of learning and teaching in the department improved but standards are still too low.
I am looking for an ambitious committed and hard working middle leader who wants to make a difference. You will need to ‘hit the ground running’ to ensure that students make rapid progress and that there is a consistency across the department. We will set for English in all year groups from September 2011. The English team is hard working and committed. Some have been with us for a number of years, other have joined the department more recently.
The Royal Docks School is a purpose built, mixed, community comprehensive school for students aged 11 to 16. There are 1,100 students on the school roll. The school’s facilities are exceptional and a wonderful place for young people to learn and grow and also for teaching and support staff to work and learn in. The school building which opened in 1999 has achieved national architectural recognition for its design.
The Royal Docks School serves the diverse community of Newham, which, as you will be aware, is the main host London borough to The Olympic Games in 2012. The student population is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. It is also a fully inclusive school with students who have profound, severe and multiple learning difficulties, they are taught by a specialist team of teachers and support staff but are fully integrated into the life of the school.
There is a committed, dedicated and hardworking team of teachers and support staff led by a leadership team which includes both experienced and less experienced colleagues. The whole team is focused on raising standards and improving the quality of teaching and learning.
The Royal Docks’ GCSE results improved significantly in 2009 – an improvement of 10% on the previous year’s results; 37% 5A-C including English and Maths. The 2010 figures remained constant; however we are disappointed that we did not achieve higher results.
Our students deserve the very best. Our aim is to make learning in the school consistently good. My aim is to make the school good in two years and outstanding in four years.
This is an exciting time to be at The Royal Docks Community School, a school which is rapidly improving. Thank you for your interest and I look forward to receiving your completed application form and personal statement which needs to be linked to the person specification and job description.
Yours faithfully
Ruth Martin
Headteacher