Information for Candidates

relating to the post of

Teacher of Classics £25,368 - £26,941 (higher starting salary may be available for an experienced, high quality candidate)

Required for September 2014

February 2014

Dear Applicant

Appointment of Teacher of Classics

Thank you for your interest in this position. We are a large, successful and innovative organisation, providing exceptional opportunities for teachers at the outset or looking to continue their careers. I hope that having read this information you will be both excited by the post and keen to be part of Collegiate. As the largest school in the area, and the most successful non-denominational school in , we have huge ambitions to develop into an outstanding organisation. Our recent OFSTED Report in October 2011 confirmed that we are moving forward impressively and gave us confidence that we will continue to do so. We are looking for an outstanding individual to fill this role and assist the College Headteacher in delivering the good plans for improvement which are in place and already having an impact. Our aim in all appointments is to appoint colleagues who will share our aspirations and make a major contribution to building the best life chances for our students.

As a Teacher of Classics you will join one of our “schools within a school” or Colleges; you will join a close knit team of teachers across the range of subjects in the College, and benefit from the support and development provided by a large specialist team across the Collegiate; as a Teacher and Tutor you will support the cultivation of a strong College ethos through the harnessing and maintenance of positive relationships between students, staff and families. The person specification identifies the qualities, skills and attributes we are seeking, but in short we are looking for:

 a positive role model  a Teacher with ambitions for all Students  an effective classroom practitioner  a colleague with the potential to progress professionally

Colleagues who join as NQTs will benefit from a well-established and effective programme of support which includes a paid induction programme before taking up post, professional mentor and End of Year 1 Residential. Beyond the first year, colleagues are supported through line management in their College teams and further opportunities for professional development through, for example, the Riddlesdown Leadership Development Programme.

Riddlesdown has a comprehensive intake drawn mainly from the local areas of , , Purley and . We have an excellent reputation for producing “sustained high attainment” for the whole ability range, as evidenced by the Grade 1 in our recent OFSTED judgement. However, we are not at all complacent about this and seek constant improvement; in particular, we want to ensure that every student makes good or better levels of progress.

Our curriculum and extra-curricular provision are both strong and we focus on nurturing well- qualified and well-rounded individuals. To this end, our science specialism is complemented by the development of other creative and cultural skills in our students. We have a strong set of Values (Value each other; Aim High; Learn and Lead; Use your Talents; Excel in your Efforts; Stick at it) to which staff whom we appoint must subscribe and work to develop in all of our

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 2 of 12 students. Behaviour is “good and sometimes excellent” according to OFSTED and our “students develop into confident and articulate young people”. All colleagues are required to take an active part in the development of an ordered and happy community within the Collegiate, which strongly encourages students to strive for academic success whilst developing wider skills and qualities. Because of this, the Collegiate stands high in public esteem and we are significantly and consistently oversubscribed.

In applying to Riddlesdown Collegiate, you will need to understand our “small schools” model and your potential role within it. Our motto, “Learners of today, Leaders of tomorrow”, applies as much to staff as it does to students and it gives an indication of the significance we place on nurturing talent and leadership. I hope the information given in this pack is useful and I shall also make a presentation to shortlisted candidates at the start of the interview day to illustrate our structure further.

I would be delighted to receive an application from you if, upon consideration, you feel that this role and the Collegiate may be right for you. To submit an application please complete the form on our website, attaching where requested a statement of no more than two sides of A4, identifying clearly how you meet the person specification. If you have any further questions about this post or would like to arrange a visit prior to the interview day, I would be pleased to speak with you; please feel free to telephone me at the Collegiate.

Yours sincerely

Mr Gordon H Smith Principal

A: Honister Heights Purley Surrey CR8 1EX T: (020) 8668 5136 F: (020) 8660 9025 E: [email protected] W: www.riddlesdown.org

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 3 of 12

Principal: Mr. Gordon H. Smith, B.A.

“Learners of today. Leaders of tomorrow.”

TEACHER OF CLASSICS £25,368 – £26,941 (higher salary may be available for an experienced, high calibre candidate)

Required for September 2014

“GOOD SCHOOL – OUTSTANDING ATTAINMENT – OUTSTANDING ATTENDANCE” OFSTED Oct 2011

Riddlesdown Collegiate delivers high quality education through a “schools within a school” model in which each of our 2000 students belongs to a smaller learning community (a College), enjoying their own facilities and taught by a dedicated cross-curricular team. Our four 11-16 Colleges and our post 16 provision, College VI, are complemented by the Creative and Performing Arts College (CPA) which provides specialist provision for Art, Drama, DT, Media Studies, Music and PE, and the MacKay College which coordinates inclusion services.

We are now looking to appoint a Teacher of Classics to join the team of one of our Colleges.

Riddlesdown Collegiate is an with:

 an excellent programme of professional development for staff at all levels  traditional values and forward-looking approaches  high standards of achievement at every Key Stage  a strong commitment to the professional learning of all staff  a very good reputation and strong support from parents and the community  well-established partnerships that support on-going development  a relentless focus on continuous improvement

Riddlesdown is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. An appointment will be dependent upon further health, medical and attendance checks.

Full details and an online application form are available on our website. Please click on the Vacancies link. Closing Date Wednesday 19th March 2014.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 4 of 12

GENERAL INFORMATION

A. Our Vision Riddlesdown Collegiate is a set of small schools, known as Colleges, through which we are implementing our vision and ambition to deliver “human scale” education on a large campus of almost 2000 learners. In particular, our vision for the Collegiate is to:

• enhance the emotional, physical, cultural and intellectual well-being of our students and staff • accelerate improvements in standards and provide the highest chances of success for all • reinforce the confidence of the community in our work and standards • maintain improvements in our learning environment • contribute to the development of outstanding education in Croydon

In October 2011, OFSTED judged the Collegiate to be a good school with outstanding attainment and attendance. In order to best support and prepare our students for their most successful futures, we are now determined to build on our achievements and become the truly outstanding organisation that we know we can be.

B. Our Values Our ethos is to be a community in which all members are valued and value each other. We are all leaders of the Riddlesdown community, responsible for our learning and the Collegiate. We work together to maximise our own achievements and those of others.

V alue each other

A im high

L earn and lead

U se our talents

E xcel in our efforts

S tick at it

C. Our Structure i. Background Riddlesdown is the largest school in Croydon with almost 2000 students. In September 2009, we became Riddlesdown Collegiate; one school made up of five smaller learning communities, or Colleges, each with their own staff and facilities. These Colleges each cater for 400 learners and allow us to provide even better pastoral care to all students, as well as engage with learners and their families in effective partnerships. They also provide teaching across the curriculum and learning teams focusing on a personalised approach and best serving the needs of the individual students in their care. Year 7 students on transfer join a College probably similar in size to their primary school, with only 80 students in their Year Group. In each of the four 11-16 Colleges, there are three Tutor Groups in a year. These Tutor Groups remain together throughout their first five years before students transfer to College VI for post-16 studies. In addition, the Creative and Performing Arts (CPA) College delivers specialist education to students across the Collegiate in Art, Drama, Design Technology, Media, Music and Physical Education whilst the MacKay College provides inclusion services to students with additional need.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 5 of 12 ii. Senior Leadership Team and Collegiate Leadership Group The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) operates across the Collegiate, providing strategic direction and working closely with the team of College Headteachers to ensure that standards are consistently high in all areas. Each member of the Senior Leadership Team has Collegiate-wide responsibility for aspects of our work and ensures that best practice is developed and implemented.

Principal Mr Gordon Smith

Senior Vice Principal Mr Soumick Dey

Vice Principal Collegiate Development Mr Rob Moorhouse Vice Principal Teaching and Learning Mrs Kerry Targett Vice Principal Curriculum Development Mr Dan Wilkinson

Business Manager Mr David Clarke

The team of College Headteachers and four further Assistant Principals join the SLT to form the Collegiate Leadership Group (CLG).

Assistant Principal Headteacher, Aquila College Ms Sarah Findlater Assistant Principal Headteacher, Orion College Mr Rob Watkins Assistant Principal Headteacher, Pegasus College Mrs Nicole Williams Assistant Principal Headteacher, Phoenix College Mrs Fiona Langan Assistant Principal Headteacher, CPA College Mr Jack Vass Assistant Principal Headteacher, College VI Ms Sarah Chant Assistant Principal Headteacher, Mackay College Mr Tom Holway

Assistant Principal Learning Development Miss Rebeccah Hurst Assistant Principal Director of English Miss Lucy Harrop (maternity) [Acting: Miss Philippa Bigden] Assistant Principal Director of Mathematics Miss Abi Ogunseye Assistant Principal T&L Consultant Mrs Katie Turner iii. The Colleges Each College is led by an Assistant Principal who is designated as the College Headteacher. Whilst the College Headteacher is accountable and responsible for the students, staff, achievement and progress of their College, s/he is supported by a range of additional postholders:

Post Key Responsibilities Deputy Head of College Supports and deputises for the College Headteacher as required Coordinates performance management arrangements within the College Leads the professional development of staff Monitors attendance and punctuality Coordinates timetabling and curriculum organisation

Director of Learning Leads and monitors the delivery of a subject area across the Collegiate Leads the development of teaching and learning across the College Constructs and monitors the performance of teaching groups within the College

Assistant Director Leads and monitors the delivery of a subject area across the Collegiate of Learning

Senior Tutors Lead the learning and personal development of students in a Key Stage in the College

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 6 of 12

College SENCo Coordinates support and provision for students with special educational needs within a College

Curriculum Leaders Lead and monitor the delivery of a curriculum area within a College

In total, each College has over 20 members of teaching and non-teaching staff, including a full range of subject specialists, learning support, student supervision and administrative assistants.

The Senior Teams in each of the Colleges are as follows:

Aquila College Headteacher Ms Sarah Findlater Deputy Head Miss Roisin Ahearne Director of Learning Miss Jill Baker

Orion College Headteacher Mr Rob Watkins Deputy Head Mrs Dannielle Batten Director of Learning Mrs Fiona Robertson

Pegasus College Headteacher Mrs Nicole Williams Deputy Head Mr Daniel Osborne Director of Learning Mr Mark Pain

Phoenix College Headteacher Mrs Fiona Langan Deputy Head Mr Adrian Sherriff Director of Learning Miss Elizabeth Donne

Students in Years 7-11 spend about 75% of their time studying within their own College. Students will leave their own College to attend classes in the CPA College or to study an option at GCSE.

CPA Headteacher Mr Jack Vass Director of Art Miss Tracey McKeefry Director of Drama Ms Andrea Gillie Director of DT Mr Andrew Kay Director of Media Studies Mrs Louise Walmsley Director of Music Miss Theresa Ward Director of Sport Mr Paul Langan

Post 16 students attend College VI.

College VI Headteacher Ms Sarah Chant Deputy Head Mr Nicholas Foney Director of Learning Mr Thomas Beecham

MacKay College Headteacher Mr Tom Holway

The MacKay College coordinates and drives our inclusion work across the Collegiate. The Headteacher of the MacKay College is also the Collegiate SENCo.

D. Our Staff Each member of staff is part of a teaching and learning team in one of Aquila, Orion, Pegasus, Phoenix, CPA, College VI or MacKay College. Where teachers work in more than one College, this is usually to facilitate post 16 teaching.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 7 of 12

E. Our Students Students come from reasonably well off backgrounds and the level of free school meals is below 4%. Other indicators of disadvantage or higher levels of challenge are also low. However, students represent the full range of socio-economic backgrounds usually found in a secondary school. The ability of students on entry to the Collegiate is above average with the majority of students having achieved level 4 or better at Key Stage 2.

F. Our Standards Attainment is high across the Collegiate and GCSE results are improving dramatically.

95 90 85 80 75 5+ A*-C 70 5+ A*-C inc. E&M 65 60 55 50 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

GCSE Results 2006-2013

The controversy over GCSE English grades in summer 2012 meant that 35 students received a grade D in the June English exam when, if they had been assessed in the same way as students in other schools taking the exam in January, would have received a grade C. The result of this was that performance tables record 59% of students achieving 5+ A*-C including English and Mathematics in 2012; about 10% less than we were expecting. We were pleased, therefore, that in summer 2013, English achieved 84% A*-C and Mathematics achieved 71% A*-C, leading to an improvement to 67% 5+ A*-C. This describes a strong position from which to build further success this year.

A level Results 2006-2013 Year A*-B A*-C APS 2006 29 60 A Level results are significantly stronger than in 2007 31 57 previous years although the challenge remains to 2008 33 57 take them consistently above national averages. An 2009 42 68 690 increasing number of students achieve straight As 2010 44 72 640 at A Level with 84% of students accepted at their 2011 35 70 567 first choice university in 2013. College VI at 2012 40 77 700 Riddlesdown is the place to be for Sixth Form success. 2013 43 75 700

G. Our Community Riddlesdown Collegiate is an important part of a number of different communities: . we are located on a very attractive greenbelt site, adjacent to the North Downs. Students work closely with the Wardens on the neighbouring Riddlesdown Common as part of our Specialist Status commitment, maintaining the area and learning new skills.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 8 of 12

. the Collegiate is popular with local parents with over 1000 applications each year for 320 places, and almost 300 candidates for the 48 places available through the Entrance Examination. We have particularly close relationships with our 5 feeder primary schools, whose students have preference in our admissions.

H. Our Development We invest greatly in the professional development of all staff and are very proud that all of the Vice Principal team have progressed to their posts from less senior positions within the school, and that 3 of the College Heads began their careers with us as NQTs. While it is always sad to lose high quality colleagues, we feel it is a strength of Riddlesdown that in recent years colleagues have been successful in gaining through national adverts positions at Headteacher, Deputy Head, Assistant Head and Head of Department level. It is also clear to us that we are already developing the next generation of school leaders at Riddlesdown Collegiate.

. NQTs benefit from a paid 2 week Induction Programme in the June / July before taking up post. A mentor and training programme then supports these colleagues through the first year before the NQT Residential draws together the issues from the first year and helps to prepare for year 2.

. Colleagues have the opportunity to study at the school for a Masters in Education. This 2 year programme is heavily subsidised and provides a convenient way to develop high level knowledge and skills.

. The Leading from the Middle and Leadership Pathways programmes are available each year to colleagues assuming more senior leadership positions. These opportunities allow colleagues to explore their leadership styles and develop highly effective practice with teams.

. The Riddlesdown Leadership Development Programme provides an internal framework for nurturing talent and ensuring that colleagues at all levels have access to high quality experiences that will support the enhancement of their leadership skills and qualities.

. Colleagues ready and keen to move onto Headship are supported in applying to undertake NPQH.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 9 of 12

LATIN AND CLASSICS AT RIDDLESDOWN

The main aim of the Latin teaching programme is to enable students to have good access to the classical world, whilst building their grammatical ability and vocabulary. We seek to challenge them linguistically and teach them deductive reasoning. In addition to this, our teaching of Classics at GCSE and A Level pushes students to explore more fully the history, literature and culture of the ancient world, in order to improve their understanding of both past civilisations and present ones.

We currently have two full time specialist Latin and Classics teachers, as well as two other senior members of staff, who are also specialists, who contribute to the team. The team is expanding in order to accommodate the increasing popularity of Latin and Classics. All members of staff are hardworking and dedicated to establishing Latin and Classics as firm fixtures within the school.

Latin is currently studied in Year 7 by two ability based teaching groups in each College, with only the most able group in each College continuing to Year 8 and Year 9. All students work from the Cambridge Latin Course. From September 2014, we will continue to teach Latin to two ability based groups in each College in Year 8 and from September 2015, Year 9 also. At GCSE, there is currently a single Classical Civilisation class in each of Year 10 and Year 11 and two Latin classes in Year 10 and Year 11. At A Level, we have Classics and Latin in both Year 12 and Year 13. All of our GCSE and A Level exams are taken through OCR.

The students’ learning is supported through the provision of challenging and appropriate teaching resources and materials, replaced and upgraded as necessary. Each teaching room has a computer and projector and access to the curriculum network. The Classics team regularly organise trips to a variety of classical sites, including Bath, Fishbourne, Hadrian’s Wall and the British Museum. For older students, there are a variety of theatre visits to see classical plays, which enables the students to approach the texts that they have studied in the classroom in a different light. We also regularly take the students to lectures and work closely with the University of Roehampton. We have enjoyed visits from guest speakers, such as Friends of Classics founder Peter Jones and Paul Roberts, who set up the Pompeii exhibit at the British Museum. In addition to this, we run an annual trip to a European destination, usually Greece, Italy or Turkey.

Classics staff work closely as a team but also have links with other subject areas, particularly Drama, English and History. They are energetic and committed to ensuring that all students enjoy full access to Latin and Classics and achieve the highest standards of which they are capable.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 10 of 12

JOB DESCRIPTION Teacher of Classics

Purpose of Post

To teach a full timetable across the age and ability range of the College, delivering agreed Schemes of Work and contributing fully to the subject area and College.

Reporting to:

Head of College

Principal Accountabilities

A. Curricular Leadership 1. To teach an agreed timetable.

2. To prepare and deliver effective lessons, ensuring regular assessment informs all aspects of planning.

3. To contribute fully to collaborative development and improvement within the subject area, College and Collegiate.

B. Pastoral Leadership 1. To be a form tutor within the College, monitoring and supporting the academic and social development of members of a Tutor Group.

2. To undertake duties at the direction of the College Head.

C. Professional Leadership 1. To participate in all performance management processes.

2. Through line management arrangements, ensure professional developments needs are identified and addressed.

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 11 of 12

PERSON SPECIFICATION Teacher of Classics

How Assessed

Qualifications

1 Good honours degree Application

2 Qualified Teacher Status Application

Experience

3 Effective working with young people of a Application range of ages and abilities

4 Evidence of making an effective contribution Application to a team

Skills and Attributes

5 Ability to deliver high quality learning over Application; Interview; reference time to all students in the subject area

6 Ability to be an effective Tutor Application; Interview; reference

7 Capacity to work alongside colleagues, Interview; reference contributing effectively to a team

8 Ability to quickly establish and maintain Application; interview positive relationships with students, staff and families 9 Understanding of safeguarding issues and Interview; reference promoting the welfare of children and young people 10 Well-developed communication skills, Application; interview including high level of written and oral literacy and competent ICT use

11 Suitability to work with children Reference and other checks

12 Potential for professional progression Interview

13 Commitment to extra-curricular activities Application; interview, reference

Teacher of Classics February 2014 Page 12 of 12