Head of Art and Photography

Hours: Full time, Monday to Friday                                                                                

Salary: MPS/UPS £30,000-£46,525 + TLR 2.1 £3,214 FTE

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: Sawston Village College

We are now seeking to appoint a Head of Art and Photography for January 2025. The position is an outstanding opportunity for career development, enabling the successful candidate to build on the excellent legacy of the outgoing Head of Department, to establish the Art and Photography department as a creative hub of excellence and to contribute to the strategic development of the College. 

The current vacancy has arisen due to a change in circumstances of our Head of Art and Photography. Art and Photography are popular subjects that enjoy a high profile at Sawston Village College. We are looking for a positive, dynamic candidate with high standards, who is passionate about their subject and excited to bring Art to life for all pupils. The ability to teach Photography as well as Art is desirable. The candidate should be an excellent classroom practitioner with very high expectations for all pupils. Demonstrating creativity and the ability to inspire pupils, the candidate will have a very strong understanding of how skills, knowledge and understanding are progressed through the Art curriculum. It is desirable if the candidate has an understanding of or is willing to learn how to use DSLR cameras as well as Adobe photoshop and Lightroom. An extensive series of resources have been developed within the department to support a new candidate. This post will provide the successful applicant with a wealth of opportunities to develop their classroom practice and career, and we welcome applications from early career teachers as well as those with more experience.

 Art and Photography Department

 Art is a dynamic and popular subject that enjoys a high profile at Sawston Village College. It is taught in mixed ability classes at Key Stage 3 with Years 7, 8 and 9 receiving one lesson each week of the two-week cycle. GCSE classes are timetabled for five lessons each two-week cycle. Pupils follow the AQA Art, Fine Art specification with a consistently good uptake at KS4. We have also introduced Digital Photography as a GCSE option choice which has gained equal popularity. Visits to local and international museums and arts events are undertaken, when possible, to support folio work.

The department enjoys good facilities that support the teaching of ceramics, painting, printing, studio photography, darkroom development and digital editing. There are two specialist art rooms, one above the other in a purpose-built block, together with peripheral facilities and a computer room shared with Design and Technology. For many years, the art studios have been used at evenings and weekends for many forms of community art class, in keeping with our Village College status. We are seeking to make the art rooms come alive with art to inspire our young people. Excitingly, the art rooms may also be moved to a brand-new building from 2026 onwards.

Pupil leadership in the arts in College is strong: we have a thriving Arts Forum led by Year 11 pupils, who undertake projects such as The Big Draw and organise art exhibitions. At KS3 we have Arts Ambassadors, creative, passionate pupils, who work closely with our dedicated Arts Development Manager (a rare role for a state school but one that speaks to our passion and commitment to the Arts) and the Department.

We have delivered Arts Award at Bronze level in school since 2007 and, since 2017, have delivered Bronze Arts Award within the curriculum to Year 7. We are currently a Trinity Arts Award Champion Centre in recognition of our delivering Arts Award at scale. We are also steadily increasing the number of pupils completing Silver and Gold Arts Award, and currently have 30 pupils working on Silver and four on Gold as personal development projects. As well as this we actively display pupils work in annual exhibitions and encourage pupils to engage in international competitions such as the NUA Beyond the frame photography competition in which 3 of our yr11 pupils were shortlisted this year.

We have close ties with our Arts Council Bridge organisation, NNF Bridge, enjoy a strong partnership with our local Arts Society, and have led on organising a joint art exhibition in Cambridge for all our Trust secondary schools. We are a dedicated Artsmark school and are currently in our third cycle of completing Artsmark in its current format.

Application

 If you have any inquiries regarding this opportunity or would like to arrange a visit to our school, please contact the HR team at jobs@sawstonvc.org. 

To apply for this vacancy please complete the application process via our website at https://sawstonvc.org/vacancies/, outlining how your skills and experience will enable you to be successful in this role. Please note that CVs will not be accepted.

If for any reason you need to apply via an alternative accessible format, please contact us by emailing jobs@sawstonvc.org.

Closing date:            Sunday 13 October at midnight 

Interview date:         Monday 21 October 2024

Start date:                January 2025

Please note that we reserve the right to interview prior to the advertised date.

Employee Benefits

Anglian Learning offers the following benefits to staff.

·        Career Average Revalued Earnings Pension Scheme (CARE)

·        Free membership to all Anglian Leisure Sports Centres – Bassingbourn, Bottisham, Sawston, Joyce Frankland, Linton and Netherhall

·        20% discount on Adult Education classes run by Anglian Learning schools

·        Employee assistance programme via Health Assured

·        Cycle to work salary sacrifice scheme

·        Discounted eye care vouchers

·        Annual flu jab vouchers

·        Perkbox staff discounts

·        Investment in personal development