Deputy Head of Secondary – The Arbor School Dubai UAE – January 2025

The Arbor School is seeking an innovative, dynamic leader to join our Senior Leadership Team as the Deputy Head of Secondary – with a focus on Curriculum, Data, and Assessment, starting in January 2025. This key role will support the Head of Secondary in enhancing the quality of educational practices across the Secondary School, ensuring that the Arbor School continues to be a unique educational establishment in Dubai.

They will play a significant role in driving forward the school's continuous improvement agenda, especially within our new Post 16 offering, pushing for high standards of student outcomes, and ensuring the school is recognised for its excellence in education and environmental best practice.

 Enough For All, For Ever

The Arbor School opened in 2018 with a very different vision of what education could and should be – experiential, authentic and inspired by the natural beauty, human ingenuity, and profound ecological and social challenges of the Arabian Peninsula.

The cultivation of a learning community uniquely committed to understanding and restoring the health of ecological and human communities as interconnected parts of a whole requires equal parts optimism, ambition, and humility. A fundamental belief in the inherit goodness of people and their capacity to act with empathy and compassion underscores the sense of hope that is fundamental to learning for a sustainable future. The resilience and determination to tackle challenges that have grown to global proportion is essential to finding sustainable solutions and orchestrating the social changes needed to grow them to scale. The realisation that comes from recognising that we are all students – never a master – drives our commitment to ignite a lifelong love of learning.

 Recognising the interconnected nature of the cognitive, affective and participative domains, and their roles in shaping learning, we are pursuing a holistic approach to teaching and learning, designed to prepare learners:

•     to understand the interconnected concepts of sustainability, individual and collective well-being, and environmental and social justice;

•     to find purpose, meaning and joy in their interactions with the natural world and with each other, and to seek to understand people who are different to themselves; and

•     to experience a sense of accomplishment and self-efficacy through their actions at home, in school and in the wider world.

The Arbor School seeks a special individual for an exciting opportunity that has arisen within our school. The successful candidate will play a key role in fulfilling the school’s ecological and sustainability vision, as well as challenging students to fulfil their potential within the academic disciplines.

JOB SUMMARY

The Deputy Head will support the Head of Secondary in continuing to develop a wonderfully unique educational offering. They will have strategic oversight of the curriculum, data and assessment practices ensuring these areas align with Arbor’s mission-driven capabilities and learning frameworks. The successful candidate will be central in embedding and enhancing policies and procedures to consistently ensure our Arbor ecoliteracy ethos is blended with National Curriculum objectives. Please find attached Job Description.

THE ARBOR PROMISE

Arbor teachers are a part of a community which is inclusive, fun-loving, and active. Arbor teachers enjoy authentic friendships with their colleagues, positive relationships with school leaders, who care for their wellbeing, and are a team in the true sense. Arbor teachers are resilient in the face of challenge, are stable and calm in the face of change, and creative and flexible when solving problems. Arbor teachers bring their passions and interests to enrich our school and are clear that there is an expectation to do so. We commit to meeting agreed deadlines, to communicating proactively with an assumption of positive intent and share a passion to provide an education of the highest quality to our students.

REQUIRED CANDIDATE PROFILE:

·          Qualified Teacher Status with significant leadership experience in a growing school.

·          NPQSL, Masters (MA/MSc) or similar

·          Minimum two cumulative years of educational leadership

·          Understanding of the growth and development of Post 16 provision.

·          Understanding of timetabling (whole school) would be a benefit.

·          Proven track record of implementing successful curriculum frameworks and driving innovation in data and assessment.

·          Demonstrated expertise in data management systems, with the ability to interpret data to inform school-wide strategies for improvement.

·          Experience in leading whole-school professional development initiatives that enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning outcomes.

·          Knowledge of KHDA standards, BSO frameworks, and other relevant regulatory requirements for international schools.

·          A commitment to promoting the values of sustainability, environmental responsibility, and community engagement central to Arbor School’s vision. 

REMUNERATION:

Competitive tax-free salary, school provided accommodation, free school places for children, private medical insurance, annual airfares, and end of contract gratuity as per the UAE labour law.

APPLICATION:

To apply for this position please complete your application on TES and include:

·        An up-to-date CV with a recent photograph to be included.

·        A letter of application, no longer than two pages in length, which outlines your educational philosophy and suitability for the Arbor School.

The Arbor 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 hold ourselves to a high standard of effective safer recruiting practices with specific attention to child protection. All appointments are subject to CV and qualification checks, interview, identity checks, criminal record checks, and successful references.

All appointments are subject to the approval of the Knowledge and Human Development Authority and the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation.

Please view our school prospectus via this link: https://issuu.com/arbordubai/docs/arbor_school_secondary_school_prospectus_2023_we?fr=xKAE9_zU1NQ