PYP Coordinator and Teacher

The PYP Coordinator is responsible for the development and the delivery of the IB Primary Years Programme at ThIS. Your job will be to provide leadership to Lower School staff in all aspects of PYP planning, documentation and coordination. You will work collaboratively with staff, with the MYP Coordinator and the Lower School Principal to ensure high-quality teaching and learning, to foster a culture of inquiry and reflection, and to monitor the assessment and progression of the students.

As well as Programme of Inquiry and Programme Development Planning work, the IB Professional Development of the Lower School staff will be under your coordination. You will work in close collaboration with the Literacy and the Maths Coordinators to both support and amplify each other’s work. The students in your care should be ready to leave Grade 5 and move into our MYP programme with the foundation and skills to become active learners who promote positive change in the world, in alignment with our school's Mission and Vision.

This is a teaching position to which release time and a Coordinator’s stipend will be given.

The Context

The Thuringia International School is a K-12 IB World School of 340 students in the beautiful German state of Thuringia. Our school is a modern, Bauhaus inspired collection of buildings in the historic city of Weimar. Located just 2 km from the city centre which was home to Goethe, Schiller, Liszt, Klee, Kandinsky and Walter Gropius, the eponymous head of the Bauhaus University. Weimar is within easy reach of Leipzig, Berlin and Prague and is a very liveable and culturally rich city surrounded by some of eastern Germany's most attractive walking, biking and wine growing regions. ThIS is a remarkable school for teachers and teaching couples early in their careers and for those with families looking for a home with a heart. We are a smaller school that believes in talking to and knowing each other, in making connections and in collaborating with those in the building and in our vibrant city. Weimar itself has a population of 65,000 and sits halfway between the cities of Erfurt, the state capital, and Jena. Together these three cities form the central metropolitan area of Thuringia, with approximately 500,000 inhabitants.

Our Leadership Team is made up of the school’s Director, the Lower and Upper School Principals, The Business Manager, and the Marketing and Admissions Associate who serves as the secretary to the team as well as the Board.

Qualifications and Experience

The PYP Coordinator will be a capable classroom practitioner who possesses the following qualifications and/or experience:

Essential:

• A degree and teaching qualifications recognised by the State of Thüringen’s education authorities.
• At least five years of Lower School teaching experience.
• Experience in supporting the delivery of the PYP in an IB PYP school.
• Experience of leading staff toward instructional improvement and conducting staff development.
• A portfolio of continuing professional development.
• Ability to speak and write fluently in English and to speak to the audience in front of you, whether it is Grade 1 students, their teachers and teaching assistants or their parents.

Preferred:

• A Masters degree in the field of education or educational leadership.
• International work experience and profile.
• Membership of the International Baccalaureate Educators Network (IBEN).

Personal Attributes and Characteristics:

• A role model to students and teachers alike who holds themselves and others to high standards.
• A lifelong learner who reads, questions and is prepared to experiment to meet the needs of their students and teachers.
• Able to establish and maintain effective working relationships with a diverse and engaged community.
• Committed to ThIS's Mission and Vision, focusing on motivating, nurturing, and challenging students to become academically capable, globally-minded, and socially responsible individuals.
• Collaborative, outward mindset, with a focus on student and staff growth and success within the framework of the IB programmes and our Mission and Vision.
• Positive, compassionate attitude, a continuing willingness to develop professionally, and the capacity to be reflective and coachable.
• Empathy, self awareness and a high degree of professional integrity.
• Willingness to engage with the ThIS community, including attendance at school functions and trips that occasionally occur outside regular school hours.
• Cultural sensitivity and promotion of inclusion and diversity in the classroom and the community.
• Courageous, responsible and reliable. Able to respond to what is happening around you and take action. Someone who feels a sense of custodianship for the school.

Core Responsibilities

• Prepare, manage and share required IBO and IB PYP documentation to facilitate the delivery of the PYP and to support the school’s regular IB re-authorisation (last completed in April 2024).
• Manage and update all PYP curriculum documentation on Toddle and on the Lower School Shared Drive.
• Evaluate the implementation of the IB PYP and provide professional support as needed.
• Monitor the Lower School’s Programme Development Plans.
• Coordinate the design and review of the Programme of Inquiry (POI) to ensure a balanced and coherent curriculum.
• Oversee curriculum mapping to ensure vertical and horizontal alignment across grade levels.
• Collaborate with teachers to integrate transdisciplinary themes and concepts.
• Encourage student-centered learning that promotes inquiry, critical thinking, and creativity.
• Ensure all students feel valued, respected, and included in the learning community.

How to apply:

Applicants should apply through TES Schrole uploading a Cover Letter, CV and any other supporting documentation.

The next stage of this process is that the school’s Director and search committee will start meeting candidates who have that constellation of experience, aptitude and fit; this will be done using Google meet. The school will send out invitations as we work through our priority list. If you receive an invitation then we would like to hear more about your core values and how you put them into practice as a teacher or school leader. We would also like to hear you talk about how you develop the people in your students and team, and what it means to be a teacher or educational leader in the context of an international school in a world that seems to be drifting into an AI powered, populist led future.

Based on this conversation we will move to the next stage of the process in which candidates will have the opportunity to share more about themselves and their approach to teaching, leadership and decision making with the rest of the leadership team through an online exercise. Following that we will invite a few candidates to meet the other members of the team and community online before a more formal conversation about the job and a visit to the school.