Deputy Director of Residential Life / Head of Boarding (Campus)
UWC South East Asia, East Campus
Singapore
- Job type:
- Full Time, Fixed Term
- Start date:
- 01/04/2025
- Apply by:
- 16 January 2025
Job overview
UWCSEA is seeking Deputy Directors of Residential Life to join us in April 2025. Candidates who are available from August 2025 will also be considered.
We are currently seeking two Deputy Directors of Residential Life - one for each of our campuses, Dover Campus and East Campus. The Deputy Director of Residential Life (Campus) oversees operational and pastoral matters for the campus boarding community, reporting to the Director of Residential Life (College) and Head of Campus on each campus. They will maintain and enhance our strong and supportive residential culture of 190 students (Dover) / 170 students (East) from grades 8 to 12, leading a campus team of residential houseparents, non-residential assistant houseparents and boarding support staff. The Deputy Director of Residential Life will work with other pastoral, academic and support teams across the College to ensure high standards of care for our residential students. The Deputy Director of Residential Life will be a member of the extended Campus Leadership Team as well as act as one of the Designated Safeguarding Leads for the boarding students.
This is an exciting time to join the residential communities on Dover and East campuses as they build on strong foundations and innovate in the areas of best practice in duty of care, pastoral care and transitions care for our boarding communities. The initial contract is for a three-year period, subject to review of the College residential life structure and organisation. This is a non-teaching role.
Main Responsibilities
- Work with the Director of Residential Life (College) and the Head of Campus to promote and implement the UWC Mission and Values across the boarding community through the residential life programme
- Work with the Director of Residential Life (College) and the Deputy Director of Residential Life on the other campus to develop and implement boarding policies, protocols and a residential life programme to ensure the highest standards of safeguarding, pastoral care and duty of care in a Singapore and UWC context within the strategy and policies of the College
- Oversee the day-to-day operations of the boarding houses and the interactions with the wider College community
- Oversee the pastoral support programmes in place for boarding students and their families
- Lead and mentor a team of boarding staff, fostering a collaborative culture based on trust and respect
- Foster a positive community culture for boarding students, staff and their families
- Ensure the highest standards of food provision, medical provision, safety and safeguarding for the boarding community, working with the relevant College Departments and service providers in this regard
- Work with the academic teams in the College to provide an integrated and supportive academic and pastoral experience for students resident on campus
- Carry out supervisory and pastoral duties according to the duty roster as appropriate
- Assist with any other duties, tasks or jobs with similar levels of responsibility and complexity to the assigned job grade as may be reasonably requested by the line manager and/or the College
This list of responsibilities is not intended to be exhaustive but to highlight a number of the major responsibilities of the post.
Person Specifications
Qualifications
- A tertiary qualification in a field related to Boarding, Education or Counselling is required. If a candidate has a tertiary qualification in another area, s/he should have worked in Boarding in a position of leadership for at least three years.
- All candidates should have a valid first aid certificate and a boarding “Duty of Care” certification; however, these can be obtained within the first three months of employment.
Experience
- All candidates should have worked in Boarding / residential communities for at least 5 years with at least 3 years experience of leading teams in a residential or educational setting
- Demonstrated staff and student leadership and a record of success in leading young people and colleagues
- Demonstrated success in providing pastoral care for students in a residential environment
- Demonstrated success in working with adolescents and their families
- Demonstrated success in working in a diverse community, including students from African, Central/South American and Asia Pacific backgrounds
- Demonstrated success in meeting deadlines and following procedures
- Demonstrated success in project management and working with teams to effectively manage projects
- Demonstrated success in mentoring colleagues and creating a collaborative culture
Skills
- A clear commitment to the UWCSEA values in both personal and professional life
- Personal qualities of integrity, kindness, compassion and warmth
- Demonstrated understanding of and commitment to the capacity required for the demands of a 24-hour residential community
- Demonstrated understanding of the organisational and operational practices appropriate to the position
- Strong evidence of a collaborative and communicative approach with colleagues and teams with the ability to inspire and mentor others
- Strong evidence of the understanding of the developmental and support needs of adolescents and young adults in transition
- Strong evidence of cultural competence in a diverse international setting
- Strong evidence of effective written and spoken communication skills, with the ability to communicate in languages other than English an advantage
- Strong evidence of the ability to uphold legal and safeguarding requirements for residential communities
Application
Apply via our job portal by Thursday, 16 January 2025 11:59pm 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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