Head of Geography

The school reserves the right to close this advert early and interviews may take place before the advertised closing date. Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply early for this role to avoid disappointment.

Ark Greenwich (AGFS)

Click here to view our school video. 

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to work at one of the highest performing schools in the country (Progress 8: +1.14). If you are committed to making a lasting difference in our local community and want to work in an ambitious and high performing school with traditional values, this could be the job for you. 

At Ark Greenwich we take the wellbeing and workload of our staff seriously and make sensible choices. We are committed to sustainable high performance and recognise our staff are our most important resource. To find out how we approach staff wellbeing at Ark Greenwich, please click here. 

Ark Greenwich is a new, ambitious school model based on what we know excellent schools do. We have created a highly respectful and disciplined environment where our staff and scholars can fulfil their potential. We are one of the highest performing schools in the UK. Progress 8: +1.2, Attainment 8: 6.3, EM5 +: 81%, EBacc entry rate: 90%.  

Ark Greenwich exists to empower young people, regardless of socio-economic background, to grow and be successful. Expectations for all members of our community are unashamedly sky high. We work hard to impact the lives of the young people we serve. We also place a primacy on our industry leading extra-curricular and character education programmes. 

How is Ark Greenwich different?

•        We are part of the Ark family of schools and benefit accordingly from outstanding networking and career opportunities and first-class CPD. 

•        Staff wellbeing is one of our main priorities. We provide breakfast for staff each morning, lunch for early careers staff and have a 6pm/weekend work-related communication cut off. We do not do knee jerk reactions, fads or last-minute deadlines. Our systems and processes for communication, marking and feedback and assessment are streamlined and the approaches we take are research led and based on our local context. We offer a WFH day to HoDs for curriculum design and also offer external marking of scripts to support workload. Our full approach to staff wellbeing/workload can be found here. 

•        This is a small school model (600 scholars aged 11-16) because we believe that our close-knit family community provides the optimum conditions for success.  

•        Scholar behaviour is exceptional with clearly defined and embedded routines. This means our teachers can focus their time on the things that matter – planning and delivering brilliant lessons for our scholars. 

•        This is a strict no excuses, no mobile phone school. Phones are not permitted onsite at all. Scholars wear business dress to prepare them for a professional career. 

•        Our curriculum is traditional and academic, and we do not take shortcuts to seek to boost our position in school league tables – we do not, for example, offer equivalencies such as Btecs or Vcerts. >90% Ebacc entry rate.   

•        We put high-quality teaching at the heart of what we do. We are committed to providing staff with weekly high-quality training. We run coaching for staff who want to see rapid progress in their discipline. Live coaching and current best practice in the field of education is central to our approach. 

•        We don’t grade individual lessons or ask for lesson plans but we do place a primacy on curriculum design, independent learning and formative assessment.

•        Our scholars enjoy a compulsory co-curricular program on a Wednesday afternoon which includes a strong focus on community volunteering and we facilitate 12 drop-down days per academic year ensuring scholars benefit from a range of life-enriching experiences. 

If you are ready to add further value to our high performing Geography department and to work alongside a brilliant school leadership team, then you will find this job extremely rewarding. 

Alignment with the school’s vision, values and approach to education is essential. 

The Role and the Department 

Our Geography provision is robust, with all scholars studying geography as a discrete subject for two hours weekly at Key Stage 3. Strong outcomes over the last five years have contributed to an Ebacc bucket score of +1.5 in 2022. We embrace a mastery approach to teaching and learning, with the core focus on identifying and repeatedly practising the fundamentals of success in each discipline. The geography department places a primary emphasis on developing deep knowledge of place at the centre of its approach.

What makes us stand out? Our department offers full-resourced lessons spanning from Year 7 to Year 11. We proudly hold a prestigious Top 5 ranking in the network, boasting the highest number of grade 9 achievements. Looking ahead to 2024, our projection is a promising +1 progress score for Year 11. Moreover, there's abundant space for personal and professional growth within the department or pastoral team.

The role offers an excellent opportunity to train as a HoD under an experienced leader in a supportive environment to develop skills around data, leadership and pedagogy.

We seek a successful candidate who can further enhance a traditionally strong subject at our school. Essential qualities include a passion for your subject and a commitment to extracurricular activities.

About Ark Schools

Ark is a network of high-achieving, non-selective schools and one of the country’s top-performing academy groups. We run 38 academies in London, Birmingham, Hastings and Portsmouth educating more than 26,000 scholars. 83% of Ark schools are now rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted.

Our aim is to create outstanding schools that give every scholar, regardless of their background, the opportunity to go to university or pursue the career of their choice.

To find out more about Ark Greenwich, please visit our website via www.arkgreenwichfreeschool.org

Ark value diversity and are committed to safeguarding and promoting child welfare. The successful candidate will be subject to DBS and any other relevant employment checks.