Head of Secondary Geography & Humanities

Head of Secondary Geography/Humanities As the lead member of the Secondary Geography/Humanities team at The British School of Guangzhou from August 2015, the Head of Geography will be an outstanding leader, organiser and classroom practitioner who develops students, directly by inspiring and enabling other staff, so that they become the best that they can be. Geography has been enriched through our involvement in a number of initiatives including residential Geography trips and a Premium School trip to New Zealand is scheduled to run in June 2015 . The school is looking for an energetic candidate, preferably with an interest in Physical Geography, who will aim to maintain and further develop the high profile that the subject enjoys in the school. Please note that the Head of Humanities position will be available for a suitably qualified candidate.

Reporting to the Assistant Head of Secondary School, the successful applicant will be an effective professional with a thorough knowledge of the curriculum and experience of teaching the subject to A-level. The Head of Department/Faculty will also be expected to monitor and develop the assessment procedures of the subject area and take responsibility for the professional development needs of their department/Faculty. The successful candidate would be instrumental in maintaining or improving our excellent levels of student attainment within Geography.

EACH APPLICANT Will hold a PGCE and Qualified Teacher Status and a good Bachelor’s degree in Geography, or a closely related discipline. In addition, they will have at least 2 years’ teaching experience in the UK and have experience of the UK Curriculum.

The Head of Geography/Humanities teacher will have excellent interpersonal skills and a high level of personal organisation. Our teachers are encouraged to be reflective classroom

practitioners and to develop opportunities to add value to our students experience both in and out of the classroom. We wish to recruit staff that aim to encourage participation and the promotion of excellence within a friendly and supportive environment for our students.

In fulfilling the requirements of the post, the teacher will demonstrate essential professional characteristics, and in particular will: 

Actively promote a love of their subject as part of our stated in our mission.

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Inspire trust and confidence in students, parents and colleagues

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Be passionate about providing a supportive environment where students are challenged to excel

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Demonstrate team commitment with colleagues to help advance the educational provision that the school provides for our students

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Be able to engage and motivate pupils

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Be an innovative and creative thinker to ensure all students are offered stimulating opportunities

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Demonstrate analytical thinking to improve the quality of students' learning

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Contribute to the strategic development of Geography within the school

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Act as a role model in promoting the core values of respect, integrity, responsibility and commitment

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Be willing to go above and beyond to help students reach their potential.

Use technology and facilitate our student’s use of technology, to further inspire and engage our students and to enrich their learning opportunities.

Some key tasks and responsibilities of the post will include: 

Contributing to the wider school community by supporting events

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Contributing to the enriched curriculum through after-school and extra-curricular activities

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Promoting school and departmental initiatives through articles on the website and newsletter

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Monitoring and intervening to ensure student progress is in line with the school’s expectations

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Tracking, monitoring, assessing and reporting on student learning in your lessons

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A commitment to reflect on and consistently improve his/her own practice;

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Ensure compliance with all child protection, child safeguarding and health and safety expectations of the department

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Other professional requirements in line with the Job Description.

THE BRITISH SCHOOL OF GUANGZHOU The British School of Guangzhou offers high quality education in an international setting, comparable to the best schools in the UK. The school provides a superb learning environment through the recruitment of highly qualified, technologically literate teachers, who are dedicated to providing our highly motivated students with the very best education. Last year 76% of our Secondary students achieved A*- A grades in their IGCSE examinations; an impressive achievement which we provides us with a challenging target for the future.

The Southlake Campus is situated with picturesque views over Nanhu Lake and a golf course; a 20 minute taxi ride north of the city centre with convenient high speed train links to Hong Kong. All classrooms are attractively furnished, air-conditioned and equipped with WIFI and an interactive whiteboard. The school site has impressive resources and facilities that include music rooms, a well equipped fitness room, guided reading rooms, IT zones, a dance studio, library, theatre and a coffee shop for staff and parents. Outdoor facilities include age specific football pitches, a swimming pool, basketball courts, a climbing wall and an adventure playground. An additional Secondary building will open in January 2016 and this will include two new Geography rooms, with Storage and exhibition space built in to further enhance the profile and reputation of the subject.

There will also be an externally sited Kiln and storage area for ceramic work.

To find out more about our school we welcome prospective candidates to visit our website at www.bsg.org.cn.

NORD ANGLIA EDUCATION Nord Anglia Education is the world’s leading premium schools organisation. We are a global family of 31 international schools, providing outstanding education to over 19,000 students in China, Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and North America. The successful candidate will benefit from the career and development opportunities that come from being part of the world’s leading premium schools organisation. Nord Anglia University unites our team through a vibrant online forum, which harnesses the collective expertise of their peers in an exchange of knowledge, ideas and best practice. We also provide extensive online and face-to-face professional development through Nord Anglia University to ensure that our team don’t just maintain their skills and expertise; they develop at the cutting edge of educational thinking. There has never been a better time to join the Nord Anglia Education group to find out more visit www.nordangliaeducation.com

BENEFITS Our teachers enjoy a competitive salary, spacious accommodation, an annual flight allowance, a relocation allowance, international healthcare, an end of contract gratuity bonus and free school places for up to two children. You will also have the opportunity to live in and work in one of China’s most vibrant and dynamic cities.

The cost of living in Guangzhou remains comparatively low and, as a result, many of our staff are able to save over 50% of their salary and still travel to exotic destinations throughout Asia. We want teachers to feel valued and well rewarded for their efforts. However if your motivation in applying for a position is simply financial then this is probably not the school for you. If however you are motivated by a desire to make a difference to the lives of our students then we look forward to receiving your application and discussing this in detail during your interview.

TO APPLY Please apply with an application letter and full CV (including photograph, phone number, Skype address and e-mail contact details of 2 referees – one of whom is your current Head Teacher/Principal) to: Head of Secondary iain.ruck@bsg.org.cn and to HR penny@bsg.org.cn The closing date for application is 20th March 2015. On occasions, we are able to make a decision following Skype interviews with offers being subject to satisfactory references and DBS checks.

Nord Anglia Education use an online recruitment system to track applications and help us to make a fair and balanced assessment of your suitability against other candidates. To register your details go to www.jobtrain.co.uk/nordanglia and follow the online instructions to record your interest for specific jobs within Guangzhou.

The recruitment of high quality candidates is critical to the development of our school and a number of people will be involved in reviewing your application. We also understand how difficult it is to be left waiting and will do our utmost to review all applications by the closing date for the vacancy. Soon after the closing date we guarantee that we will contact all applicants to give them an update with regards their application. Courtesy is very important to our school, and we go to great lengths to update all applicants on the situation with regards their application.

CHILD SAFEGUARDING

The safety of the students is the number one concern of the British School of Guangzhou. All applicants will need to provide contact details of at least 2 confidential referees, one of whom most be your most recent/current employer, who can reassure us that they are safe to work in an environment with children. As part of our safeguarding procedures we will also call one of the referees to verify the authenticity of references and insist on a criminal records disclosure from your home country.

Nord Anglia Education use an online recruitment system to track applications and help us to make a fair and balanced assessment of your suitability against other candidates. To register your details go to www.jobtrain.co.uk/nordanglia and follow the online instructions to record your interest for specific jobs within Guangzhou.

The recruitment of high quality candidates is critical to the development of our school and a number of people will be involved in reviewing your application. We also understand how difficult it is to be left waiting and will do our utmost to review all applications by the closing date for the vacancy.

Soon after the closing date we guarantee that we will contact all applicants to give them an update with regards their application. Courtesy is very important to us, as a school, and we go to great lengths to update all applicants on the situation with regards their application.

Closing date: 20th March 2015