Temporary Teacher of Geography

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for expressing an interest in this key vacancy at our college. We are looking for someone with the love for their subject and the desire to sow that love within our students and as we move from being good to great.

Our college has recently won the TES Staff well-being school of the year award and we are also a silver Pearsons secondary school of the year award. These are two accolades that we are extremely proud of and prove that our achievements to date are becoming more that just a vision of greatness. In addition to this letter I would also urge you to look at our website and the video about what it is we stand for and why you would want to join us.

You will be one of three teachers that teach Geography and will also be part of the Humanities faculty that comprises of PRE, Geography and History. The College has been serving the community since 1950 and continues to be a Good school after last being inspected in May 2019. Having said that though, we are not a college that is driven by OFSTED and the grade we hold, we want to be much more than that and I would like to think that when you look at what we have done over the last 5 years we are now at the forefront of educational excellence. We want to provide the best educational experience possible for the children in our care and thereby become a great school that goes beyond grades and targets.

I also sincerely believe that if we lead this school community by staying true to our values then it is possible. 5 years ago, after a school wide consultation we agreed that there was something missing from our values and the word commitment was born. It is this value that has really ignited all of the successes that we have achieved, from delayed gratification to simply expecting students to worker harder than staff.

The graphic below shows each of the values intertwine to form the basis of our work at Crown Hills but they sit beneath our mission statement of

“We want every student to be the best that they can be, thrive in the best possible career and contribute positively to society.

We are very clear that the gender, background, colour, poverty, wealth or social status of a child should have no bearing on how well they perform and staff here work extremely hard in trying to close that gap between the different groups of pupils.

We are looking for somebody who is innovative, willing to take risks and looking to create educational excellence by delivering quality first teaching in the classroom on a daily basis.

That process has already started and we have removed lesson observations from the appraisal process for over 5 years now and linked it to professional development. Currently staff are entitled to ‘visits’ and entitled to a professional dialogue to improve their practice. That is a risk we have taken but it is aimed at creating a learning community where teachers can teach and learners can learn, without fear.

However, curriculum is the progress model and the three things together: Curriculum, Responsive Teaching and Assessment are the driving force behind the improved progress of our students, as is a clear and simple behaviour policy that expects students to respond first time every time. Teaching staff do not do detentions or call home about poor behaviour, these are all taken care of by a central team.

In addition to responsive teaching, we have what we call a knowledge-first approach to our delivery. This places the emphasis on the teacher being the most knowledgeable person in the room and imparting that knowledge to students rather than engaging in a discovery model that wastes time with students trying to discover the new knowledge. Again, if you are interested in this post then this method of delivery is key to you securing the position.

If you have high aspirations for children from deprived backgrounds and want to support excellence by improving pupil outcomes, then we would love to hear from you.

As part of our recruitment process, it is important that you attend our information evening. In order to be shortlisted you must attend either in person or online. Please email Sumaya in order to confirm your attendance (email in attached pack).

Please read the attached job description and person specification. If you are interested in applying, please fill in the application form available on our eteach portal, please include e-mail addresses of all referees, together with a letter of application (no more than 2 sides of A4, font 12) outlining your skills, qualifications and experience relevant to this post by 9am on Monday 13th January 2025. Please include your cover letter in the supporting statement section.

• Compulsory Information Evening 5pm – 9th January 2025
• Deadline 9am – Monday 13th January 2025
• Interviews – Thursday 16th or Friday 17th January 2025

I look forward to receiving your application. 

Yours sincerely,

Mr F Adam

(Principal)