Person Specification
Post: Head of Coopers Mill
Qualifications
- Qualified Teacher Status
- Good honours degree
- Relevant CPD
- Application
- Certification
Experience and Knowledge
- Teaching within a school.
- Current driving licence
- An excellent practitioner
- Intelligently sequenced planning
- An understanding of data and how to apply it to raise standards
- Effective use of summative and formative assessment
- Behaviour management to ensure a disciplined and joyful culture
- SEND theory and practice
- Commitment to safeguarding
- Forest school practitioner
- Instructing and assessing Level 2 qualifications
- Understanding of what makes ContinU Plus Academy different and successful
- Simplify complex issues and communicate with clarity
- Support colleagues to bring out the best in them.
- Experience of working with children who have challenging or disruptive behaviour, including children with SEMH difficulties
Character
- Strong moral purpose and drive for improvement
- Mission‑aligned
- Kind
- Motivated, enthusiastic and flexible
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Good sense of humour
- Desire to develop yourself
- Ability to give, receive and act on feedback
- Strong attention to detail
- Ability to work under pressure
- Commitment to the full life of the academy
- Willingness to offer extra‑curricular provision
- Desire to develop professionally
What the school offers its staff
The Head of Coopers Mill will be responsible for providing leadership and management of the school’s off‑site hub, called Coopers Mill and based in the heart of the Wyre Forest. The Coopers Mill site has up to 12 pupils who are often extremely disengaged due to previously undiagnosed SEN/SEMH and/or significant trauma and disengagement with previous school experiences. The Head of Coopers Mill will lead their team in building positive and resilient relationships with pupils in their care, focusing on wellbeing, resilience, academic learning and work to improve achievement for all pupils. This core team needs an inspirational leader who demonstrates a commitment to the evolution of the educational offer in response to the changing needs of the individuals in their care. The head of Coopers Mill will be an advocate of their pupils, demanding access to multi‑agency support where applicable in order to ensure a parity in life chances when they move on from this provision. The Head of Coopers Mill will be expected to fulfil the responsibilities of a teacher, as set out in the STPCD, delivering a Key Stage 3 curriculum, including planning and teaching lessons, assessing pupils’ progress, and managing behaviour effectively. The Head of Coopers Mill will have the additional responsibility for the pastoral care, safeguarding and multi‑agency communications for the pupils in their care. As the Head of Coopers Mill, they will contribute to whole‑school self‑evaluation and school improvement planning, and be responsible for mentoring and developing staff where appropriate. They will offer guidance and support to key stage teaching staff, modelling best practices and showing up‑to‑date knowledge of current theory and practice. The opportunities presented by this role include leading the development of Coopers as a residential provision for external agencies during non‑term time; the use of Coopers as a training hub, and the development in conjunction with the Outdoor Education department of the use of Coopers as a base for whole‑school bushcraft and Outdoor Education. The role in this regard can grow in scale, in direct correlation to the imagination and dedication applied to it.
Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic development
- Contribute to strategic decision making, working with school management to share expertise and insight, and help shape the school’s vision
- Set high expectations for all pupils at Coopers Mill, and inspire and motivate staff and pupils to reach and maintain high standards
- Lead staff by setting standards through personal classroom practice, demonstrating different strategies to deliver improved pupil performance
- Provide guidance and support to staff within the key stage, working in partnership with parents and the community, keeping them informed and involved in pupils’ learning
- Create a pastoral support plan for extremely disengaged learners
- Create a 3‑year plan for the development of Coopers Mill as a training/residential and Outdoor education arm of the Continu Plus academy
Teaching and learning
- Show an understanding of the school’s current systems for recording pupil progress within the context of Coopers Mill
- Oversee the use and development of bespoke schemes of work and their delivery, and measure impact on teaching and learning
- Work with other teachers to review the curriculum to ensure continuity and progress at every level
- Develop pupil engagement and discipline policies, where needed, to help build an environment where high standards of learning and engagement are encouraged
Leading and managing staff
- Establish short-, medium- and long‑term plans for developing and resourcing the Coopers Mill site, including the development of Bushcraft
- Develop the school’s approach to assessment within key stage 3, and lead strategy to improve the quality of teaching and learning for extremely vulnerable learners
- Take a leading role in inducting new key stage staff and making sure they uphold expected values and teaching standards
- Monitor the quality of teaching and learning within Coopers Mill and where needed at the main school site (e.g. through observations, analysing performance data, etc.)
General duties
- Develop own professional knowledge and skills through courses and reading, aligning with school’s ethos and current strategic needs
- Attend meetings according to school policy, and lead where required
- Lead whole school and key stage assemblies where appropriate
- Where required, prepare and deliver reports to relevant groups (governors, parents, etc)
- Manage and monitor budgets within your area
Please note that this is illustrative of the general nature and level of responsibility of the work to be undertaken, commensurate with the grade. It is not a comprehensive list of all tasks that the postholder will carry out.
Other areas of responsibility
- Grow a training hub for external agencies, schools and the CPA based at Coopers
- Develop Bushcraft
- Develop and maintain Coopers Mill as a high quality teaching and residential hub
- These are not exhausted and are regularly reviewed
Commitment to safeguarding
ContinU Plus Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
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