Geography Teacher

Dunbar Education are currently working with an Ofsted Good secondary school who are now seeking a Geography Teacher to join their team ASAP. If this could be of interest, please see below for further details.

Role: Geography Teacher

Location: Welwyn Garden City

Salary: MPS/UPS England and Wales

Contract: Full time, until October half term

Start Date: ASAP (Depending on your notice period)

About the school:

This is an Ofsted good, mixed gender school for ages 11 - 18 with about 1,400 students in Welwyn Garden City, a Hertfordshire new town on the outskirts of London. The grounds are magnificent and the view from the school is lovely. In September 2020 they also opened a new teaching block to replace one of the more rundown ones.

Form tutors, heads of year and heads of house all play important roles in the social, personal, and academic support of individuals. Their house system is strong, providing a range of all-ability competitions and activities for mixed-age groups. Recently, they have become the first school in the country to have a recycling machine which awards house points as credit. All members of staff are allocated a house. Unfortunately, some schools are making cuts in creative subjects such as art, music, drama, and PE and even some DT specialisms. At this school, these subjects are strong as they see these areas providing important learning opportunities for our students. All these subjects are running at GCSE and A Level. Science subjects are among the most popular subjects at A Level.

They have a full orchestra (as well as other musical groups), thriving art, music, PE and sport and an outstanding drama department. Members of other departments involve themselves in extra-curricular activities in music, sport, and drama.

Professional Development

• Induction, training and continuing professional development have a very high priority in the school.
• All new members of staff take part in a comprehensive induction programme on joining the school.
• Proven track record in training teachers and have both School Direct and PGCE trainees.
• They take an active part in the Alban Teaching School Hub.
• All staff are supported by a broad programme of continuing training and development.
• Individual staff are supported on programmes of further study/professional qualifications.
• The school runs a well-developed performance management system.
• All staff are actively supported to achieve their individual targets.

Staff Benefits

• Initiatives and wellbeing INSET days are arranged throughout the academic year to support staff wellbeing.
• Free confidential 24-hour Employee Assistance Program which offers support on a range of issues including bereavement and impartial financial and legal advice.
• Generous staff pension scheme for both Teachers and Support Staff
• Relocation scheme for Teachers moving into the area to take up a post

Transport:

• Transport links are superb - direct rail links to London in less than 30 minutes.
• M1, A1(M), M11 and M25 all minutes away.
• This is a pleasant place to live, and the school is situated in a greenbelt area in the prosperous northwest corner of the city.

Behaviour and SEN within the school:

• This is a genuinely comprehensive school, although the intake profile is changing - the prior attainment of students coming into the school is rising. The number of students with learning challenges is below the national average, with 11.6% supported at school action plus or with an Education and Healthcare Plan (EHCP). The support for students with SEND is a real strength of the school.
• They have a small number of blind or partially sighted students who receive specialist support. They work very closely with Knights field School, a special school for deaf children on our campus. Parental confidence in the school is high; there were 693 applications for 236 places in Year 7 for September 2022, with 246 of those as first preference. Each year the school hear the appeals for students wishing to join the school.
• The school has an extremely effective behaviour policy and in general behaviour is very good indeed. The students want to learn, and the parents are, overall, extremely supportive. Attendance is high. Their aim is for our students to be co-operative, courteous and kind.
• In terms of progress, disadvantaged and SEN students do better in the school than they do nationally. BAME students attain very well and have good progress, as do each of the ability groups. Girls' and boys' attainment traditionally has been the same. They pride themselves on the fact that this is an inclusive school.

Sixth Form

• The school has about 260 in the sixth form, and this is the largest sixth form the school has ever had.
• They are also a member of a consortium with four other schools which provides a wide range of opportunities for students.
• Has the largest sixth form of the five schools and currently have 76 guest students in Year 12 and 75 in Year 13.
• They concentrate on providing A level only (except for iMedia), with decent numbers of students studying the facilitating subjects.
• Sixth form results in 2022 were outstanding with an average A level grade of B and an average point score per entry of 42.00, (nationally 38.84).
• In 2022 all students who applied, made it to their first or second choice university, high quality apprenticeship or employment. Students access a range of universities, including top institutions such as Cambridge.