Head of Middle School English
UWC South East Asia, East Campus
Singapore
- New
- Job type:
- Full Time, Fixed Term
- Apply by:
- 9 January 2025
Job overview
UWCSEA East campus has a vacancy for August 2025 for a Head of Middle School English (ages 11-14). The successful candidate must have tertiary qualifications in Education and English Language and/or Literature and significant experience teaching English to 11-14 year olds.
Main Responsibilities
Effective Leadership – Leading across all five areas of the learning programme
- Put student learning at the forefront of all decisions and planning.
- Develop and communicate a clear shared vision for the department, aligned with the College and MS goals, translating it into practical and achievable plans.
- Ensure that the learning programme in the department aligns with the UWCSEA mission, the UWCSEA Learning Principles, the UWCSEA Profile, and the strategic goals of the school, campus, and College.
- Lead the department in utilising data tools and analysis to inform teaching and learning practices, supporting actionable inferences from assessment and other data.
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Professional Development – Supporting the professional development of staff they lead
- Identify and utilise the full potential of staff in the department by being alert to professional development needs.
- Mentor staff within the Professional Learning Programme (PLP) and coach where appropriate to optimise effectiveness.
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Collaboration – working collaboratively within teams
- Inspire and motivate staff and foster an environment where creativity and collaboration flourish.
- Foster meaningful collaboration within the department (both in the Middle School and K-12) and across departments in the MS to support interdisciplinary and inclusive learning environment.
- Involve team members in decisions and delegate interesting and challenging tasks.
- Intentionally build a culture of inclusion and belonging by supporting diverse student needs, including neurodiversity, EAL learners, and cultural differences.
- Establish clear meeting structures with focused agendas to drive department goals efficiently.
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Communication – communicates effectively within and beyond their team
- Relate well to individuals and deal sensitively with potentially difficult situations with colleagues, students, and parents, having effective sensitive and/or difficult conversations as needed.
- Facilitates meetings effectively and ensures opportunities for informal communication within the department.
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Teachers Generic Responsibilities
- Contribute positively to the collaborative culture of the English department and broader Middle School teams.
- Construct learning experiences that challenge students, support the diversity of learners in each classroom, and demonstrate a strong commitment to concept-based teaching and learning.
- Utilise the UWCSEA Learning Principles as a foundation for effective teaching and learning.
- Ensure assessments support ongoing learning and provide timely, relevant, and appropriate feedback to students on formative and summative assessments, in line with the Assessment & Feedback Policy.
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Expectations and Standards
- Follow the UWCSEA Professional Code of Conduct and Safeguarding Code of Conduct.
- Lead in line with UWCSEA Leadership Standards
- Teach in line with the UWCSEA Teacher Standards
- Align departmental practices with the UWCSEA Assessment & Feedback Policy and the UWCSEA Access and Challenge Policy
Person Specifications
- A relevant degree in English, a professional teaching qualification or certification from an accredited institution, and leadership training are essential.
- 3 - 5 years teaching experience, teaching English to middle school aged students (4-14 year olds) preferably in international schools.
- Experience and knowledge integrating UDL principles, inclusive assessment practices, and literacy development through MTSS models.
- Experience and knowledge with conceptual and inquiry-based teaching and learning and associated planning processes.
- Knowledge of data-informed decision-making processes and tools to collect, analyse, and respond to data.
- Knowledge of developments in pedagogy and educational practice.
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Applications
Apply via our job portal by Thursday, 9 January 2025 23:59 Singapore Time
The UWC Mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and culture for peace and a sustainable future. We are committed to creating a community in which all members feel safe and secure, and know that their authentic selves and individual differences are accepted with respect and care. At UWCSEA, we acknowledge that diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) is an ongoing and evolving process and strive to create and sustain a sense of belonging for all members of our community, past, present and future. All qualified applicants, including those who identify as a part of marginalized group(s) and individuals with (dis)abilities are all encouraged to apply. Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the students in our care and expects all applicants to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices and all appointments are subject to interview, satisfactory references, identity and criminal record checks.
About UWC South East Asia, East Campus
About UWCSEA and the UWC movement
The pursuit of the UWC mission to unite people nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future is at the heart of the College. As the largest of the 17 UWC schools and colleges worldwide, UWCSEA in Singapore has over 5,600 day and boarding students enrolled across two campuses, aged 4 to 18 years. Our concept-based K-12 curriculum leads to the IB Diploma in the final two years of schooling.
Our vision is to be a leader in international education, with a worldwide reputation for providing a challenging, holistic values-based education with an emphasis upon academic achievement, service to others, teamwork and leadership.
In the pursuit of this vision, we provides teachers with a dynamic and challenging a professional life based upon our values. Our staff are innovative, experienced and deeply committed to student learning. The learning at UWCSEA extends throughout the College community as our staff are active and collaborative learners themselves.
UWCSEA guiding statements
We are a mission-driven organisation with a strong commitment to the educational principles of Kurt Hahn, our founder, and a passionate belief in the importance of education as a force for good in the world.
We believe that learning is a life-long process in which learners engage with and reflect upon information and experiences to construct new or modify existing understanding as well as develop and apply skills and qualities.
This definition of learning and our learning principles guide our educational practice across all five elements of the UWCSEA learning programme. Our commitment to a holistic education results in the provision of an extensive range of experiential and service-based programmes across five elements of this learning programmes: academics, activities, outdoor education, personal and social education and service.
UWCSEA's learning programme and curriculum
Our UWCSEA learning programme is based around five interlinking elements. The rigorous academics, combined with a unique outdoor education programme, extensive activities and meaningful service, are underpinned by a supportive pastoral care programme. Students participate in all five elements of the programme throughout their time at the College, and the elements will have varying importance at different times in their journey through UWCSEA.
The learning programme delivers UWCSEA's unique, concept-based curriculum which has been articulated for each element of the learning programme across K-12. This means that from K1 to Grade 12, each curriculum area (or subject) has standards, which identify key concepts that underpin that curriculum area. These standards are applied at all grade levels and build naturally in complexity through the Infant, Junior, Middle and High Schools, culminating in the IB Diploma in Grades 11 and 12.
In turn, each standard has conceptual understandings that describe what a student should understand as a result of studying a particular content area. They are statements of understanding that are appropriate to a student’s developmental stage, and build towards the standard.
Benchmarks are then attached to each conceptual understanding. The benchmarks describe what a student should know, understand or be able to do at each stage of their learning in each subject. These benchmarks are what our teachers assess to ensure that students are reaching the conceptual understanding and are working towards the standards.
In the High School, the standards, conceptual understandings and benchmarks specifically take into account the requirements of external examining bodies that set the (I)GCSE and IB Diploma examinations that students sit at the end of Grade 10 and Grade 12.
Educating for a better world
The academic curriculum aims to develop the specific conceptual understandings necessary to build Peace and a Sustainable Future. These are derived from UNESCO’s Education for Sustainable Development Goals for and through a collaboration with our educational partners the Ellen Macarthur Foundation. Along with the skills and qualities of our Learner Profile many of these concepts are reinforced through linkages to the other four elements of our Leaning Programme. You can find out more here.
Results
UWCSEA has outstanding IB Diploma results. In May 2019, our cohort of 561 students achieved an average IB Diploma score of 36.6—the worldwide average was 29.8 (in 2018). Each year a number of our students are admitted to highly selective universities in the US, the UK and many other countries. For further information please see the results section of our website.
Staff and structure
Each campus has its own Campus Leadership team and academic and administrative staff to support the delivery of UWCSEA’s world-class education. Each campus is divided into Schools (Primary, Middle and High). Each School is managed by a Principal, assisted by Vice Principals and Heads of Grade or Department.
The College President oversees both campuses, supported by senior educational leadership on each campus. The campuses have the same Board of Governors.
The Dover Campus has 3,000 day and boarding students (K-12) and employs 300 teaching and 200 support staff. The East Campus has 2,550 day and boarding students (K-12) and employs 240 teaching staff and 160 support staff.
The boarding houses on both campuses are supported by live-in teaching staff and offer a unique opportunity for a city-based residential boarding programme to students aged 14-18 years - 192 students on Dover and 160 students on East.
Our expectations
We welcome applications from educators who share our vision and values, and are willing to contribute to UWCSEA's unique learning community and to the UWC mission.
Teachers are expected to contribute wholeheartedly to the provision of all elements of this programme both inside and outside the formal academic curriculum. All teachers run activities or service projects in addition to their teaching, which can include supporting the College's range of sporting, dramatic and musical performances, as well as providing support for the extensive expeditions programme.
Safeguarding children
UWCSEA is committed to safeguarding our students and protecting them from harm. In keeping with the expectation that all staff and volunteers share this commitment, those applying for a position at the College must be willing to undergo employment background checks and screening appropriate to the post.
Professional life and development opportunities
UWCSEA aims to provide an exceptional professional experience to its teachers and to be an Employer of Choice. The UWCSEA benefits package includes a competitive salary, contribution towards housing, medical insurance, a service gratuity (set at 20 percent of gross salary at the end of each year), recruitment and repatriation flights and biennial leave passages.
We offer a wide range of professional development opportunities. Teachers are expected to commit to three professional development days scheduled each year, and are provided many additional opportunities for professional learning through our the extensive Professional Development Programme.
We have a highly experienced teaching faculty who provide excellent opportunities for peer-to-peer learning. Among the full-time teaching staff, we have large numbers of IB PYP Trainers, IB MYP workshop leaders, IB DP workshop leaders and IB DP Examiners or Moderators, allowing us to run in-house workshops and seminars.
Teachers attend workshops or seminars in the region, and at the College’s Centre for Professional Learning. This in-house Centre allows UWCSEA teachers to attend a range of educational conferences and other events that draw teachers from across the region, providing extensive opportunities for peer learning and networking. In the past, external experts who have visited to provide workshops or seminars on campus include Bambi Betts, Kath Murdoch, Dylan Wiliam, Lyn Sharratt and Sarah White.
Our teachers also regularly act as lecturers, seminar leaders and facilitators at educational conferences and workshops run by organisations such as EARCOS and ECIS.
Engage with us and learn more
UWCSEA Perspectives - the newsroom of UWCSEA
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