Head of Technologies (leading Design & Technology, Food, Computing & ICT, Business, Health & Social Care and Engineering)

Head of Technologies (leading Design & Technology, Food, Computing & ICT, Business, Health & Social Care and Engineering)

Required for January 2025

MPS/UPS - TLR 1b

At The Derby High School we ‘Inspire to Make a Difference’. We have high ambitions for all our students. We are passionate about improving life chances and are committed to providing an outstanding education. We want each and every one of our students to achieve exceptionally well and succeed in life.

The school is an oversubscribed 11-16 Co-Educational Comprehensive (currently 960 students on roll). We are situated in the Northwest of England in the heart of Bury, Greater Manchester and have good transport links to the city and neighbouring towns. The school's intake is truly comprehensive, with students from a diverse range of backgrounds.

The Derby High School, built in 1959, is an iconic building within the town with its distinctive look and extensive playing fields. Over recent years there have been some unique additions to the school, and these have enhanced our curriculum offer: a bespoke Performing Arts building, INSPIRE, three state of the art science laboratories, DISCOVER and a multimillion-pound Sports Hall, EXCEL. In 2018 we built a STEAM Garden, a cross-curricular outdoor learning space, designed by our students for the school and wider community. Two years ago we opened CREATE, a purpose-built Design & Technology block that enables our students to develop skills working with various materials, Food and Nutrition, Engineering and CADCAM. Computing and Business lessons are taught in ExcITe. Reflecting our commitment to providing an outstanding education for our most vulnerable students we have also renovated an area of the school to house INCLUDE, a bespoke base for our SEND students

Our curriculum is based on a ‘Resilience Framework’. It is dynamic, challenging and engaging, enabling our students to excel in all areas in school and preparing them for their lives beyond high school. We offer a vast range of external excursions for every curriculum area, including to local colleges and universities, challenging stereotypes, raising aspirations, and engendering a sense of awe and wonder from the world around us.

There is a strong willingness to grow independent learners with the skills and experiences to thrive in a modern world. We prepare our students to become tomorrow's leaders through extensive opportunities to develop leadership skills. We are a school where all matter, and our pastoral care ensures our students feel safe and happy.

We believe that enabling our students to flourish and reach their true potential is what drives our staff and that is why we achieve outstanding Progress 8 scores year on year (P8: 2018 = +0.40, 2019 = +0.30, 2022 = +0.44, 2023 = +0.41, 2024 = +0.37 (unvalidated)). Our data puts us as the highest performing school in Bury since 2017. We are driven by strong moral values that puts students at the centre of all we do and so we are particularly proud of the positive progress our Pupil Premium students make. This commitment to excellence will be unceasing. We want to make a difference to the lives of the young people we serve.

I firmly believe that The Derby High School has the capacity to raise attainment still further and that the school has the potential to develop as a leading proponent of forward-looking education. This view is shared by Governors and the leadership team. A strong and innovative Technologies Faculty is essential to realising this vision.

The Technologies Faculty has grown over recent years and we now offer a wide range of subjects across the key stages (Design & Technology, Food Studies, Computing – KS3 & KS4/ Business, Engineering, Health & Social Care and ICT – KS4). Engineering and Health and Social Care are recent additions to our curriculum. We have healthy numbers of students opting for Technology subjects at Key Stage 4. Students mostly excel in Technologies, especially in Design and Technology (+0.81) and Food Studies (+0.27). We have only had one set of Health & Social Care results and these indicated positive progress (+1.00). We are currently posting negative progress in Computing, ICT and Business. The Head of Computing & Business joined us in September 2023 and has been developing the curriculum and we are starting to see improvements in our data but there is still more work to do here.

This is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding Technologies teacher and leader who wants to work in a high-performing school that is committed to providing the best education. They must be able to deliver at least one of the subjects within our offer and have a proven track record for doing so. I am seeking a talented candidate with a keen understanding of curriculum development and assessment alongside an enthusiasm for providing an enriching experience for our students. A key part of the role is to connect our various disciplines within Technologies creating an authentic faculty feel for students and staff. The successful candidate will have drive, resilience and most importantly a positive outlook. Furthermore, they will have high standards and expectations and the ability to build a team and bring others with them. I guarantee that we will support, guide and prepare you for the next stage in your career.