Tring School

Assistant Headteacher

Required for September 2017

Tring School is an exciting place to work, learn and be part of a successful community.  Our staff overwhelmingly enjoy working in such a great school with

wonderful students.

Tring School Tring SchoolMortimer HillTringHertfordshire HP23 5JD @tringschool

01442 822303www.tring.herts.sch.uktringschool@tringschool.org

Assistant HeadteacherFull time

Leadership Pay Spine 13 - 18September 2017

We are a forward thinking and innovative school filled with ambitious and passionate staff who deliver excellence in the classroom and provide a full and enriching education for our students. Are you ready to join this aspirational and effective school? Do you see yourself as trail-blazing and making a phenomenal difference to students, staff and the wider community? If so, then please read on and we will look forward to hearing from you.

Your role will initially be crafted to meet your existing strengths and experience but over time you will take on the responsibility for other leadership functions.

Tring School can offer the successful candidate:

an outstanding experience at a senior level with involvement in all aspects of the school’s leadership

significant opportunities for professional development both in this school and further afield

the chance to work with exceptionally committed colleagues who have high expectations of students

an environment where excitement, innovation and inspiration are the norm

Tring School is very popular and over-subscribed, serving the town of Tring and the surrounding villages. It is a mixed Church of England comprehensive school with over 1500 students on roll including 330 in the Sixth Form. Academic attainment is well above average and improving year on year. The school strives to support and encourage individual growth within a caring community. We have a talented team of staff who are ambitious to become outstanding in all areas of our work. We are in the process of forming a multi-academy trust and have applied to be a SCITT.

Ofsted Inspection January 2014: 'Teaching is good overall with outstanding features. Teaching is outstanding in the Sixth Form. Students of all abilities show high achievement in a wide range of subjects. Students are very attentive and behave well in lessons.'

If you are interested at the prospect of working in an environment where you can have real impact, and where exciting things are happening, then we welcome an application from

you.

Please complete the school’s application form and submit it along with a letter of application to Mrs Susanna Collings, Headteacher, by 9am on Tuesday 7 February

2017.

Interviews will be held on Thursday 23 February and Friday 24 February 2017.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful

applicants will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check.

Dear Applicant

Thank you for expressing an interest in the post at Tring School. We are immensely proud of our school and the progress we make every day ensuring our students get an amazing educational experience. We expect our students to achieve highly because we have great staff and high expectations for all of them as well!  We make no apologies for being unrelenting in the pursuit of the highest standards for every student. In turn this requires your full and unwavering support.

It is great staff and students that make great schools and Tring School typifies this. Our staff work tirelessly because they understand what it takes to get the best out of each student and I am honoured to be leading this team of talented and dedicated colleagues. We have the power to nurture wonderful students with a sense of morality, hometown pride and ambition and we strive to teach and educate like we invented it! Our motto of ‘Live to Learn and Learn to Live’ is part and parcel of everyday life at Tring School. Within our Christian community we believe in successful learners, confident individuals and responsible citizens, and this means that we value the success of everyone, as well as their honesty and integrity.  We celebrate determination, foster resilience and encourage initiative.  We expect all individuals to respect others and have a sense of responsibility towards the community in which they live and work.  

Our external metrics such as our GCSE and A-Level results are all good and outstanding.  We are within the top 10% for ALL schools for post 16 provision and we are very pleased to see our student numbers continually growing.  To find out more please visit our website and under the ‘About Us’, you will find Ofsted and SIAMS reports which give a strong reflection of our school.  Annual staff feedback indicates that 98% of staff are proud to work in our school. They are clear on our direction and say they feel supported within their work.  Annual feedback from parents and students rate our academic provision and pastoral care very highly with over 85% satisfaction.  I also recommend that you read our strategic vision to really understand our ethos and this can be found on pages 10-13.

As the proud Headteacher of this wonderful school I have an overwhelming sense of duty to give Tring a legacy of world class education. It sounds grand, however my words aren’t about this letter but a campaign based on having no excuses for accepting anything less. We are a visionary school, passionate about learning and teaching and we embrace new initiatives with pride. As a ‘Google Reference School’ (30th in the country) we are leading edge when it comes to transforming our pedagogy and enjoy sharing this with schools across the UK. We are about to rebuild and refurbish 80% of the school which will deliver facilities for the 21st century. We heavily contribute to our Dacorum Teaching School Alliance and are the lead school for Initial Teacher Training. We are in discussions with our excellent primaries for a multi-academy trust designed to support all schools, especially the students and their learning. Tring School is wedded to the local community yet it enjoys activities at a regional, national and international level.

If you feel this school matches your own beliefs and values then I would be delighted to hear from you.  In your letter I would like to hear about your experiences, achievements to date and how they will match the needs of our school.  Please consider what you could add to our leadership team which will assist us as we continue to develop and move even further forward. In addition add some thoughts on your educational philosophy and values as this will help us to understand more about you. We are also keen to discover something about you as a person; your interests, preoccupations and achievements in life.  

If you would like to arrange a visit to see Tring School and see how ambitious we are, then please contact my PA, Mrs Anna Wiltshear awiltshear@tringschool.org . We have allocated two sessions for you to have a tour of the school and to meet some of the team. These will take place at 9am on Wednesday 25 January and Friday 27 January. If either of these times are not convenient for you, please let us know and we will do our best to meet your availability. I do hope that you will make an application to join us and that will have the chance to meet.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Susanna CollingsHeadteacher

Information for candidates:

Our School:Tring is a highly popular school regularly receiving twice as many applications for places compared to our Pupil Admission Number.  Over the past years we have been graded Good and more recently with many Outstanding features.  Each year our examination results have demonstrated improved performance and in the 6th form we demonstrate high performance.  In 2016 at GCSE, 73% of students achieved English and Maths, 53% achieved Attainment 8 and our progress 8 score was -0.02 (right in the middle of the average for all schools).  What this doesn’t take into account is our desire to support students in every way possible even if they have been educated off the main school site. This is a fundamental part of our Christian ethos and does impact on these new performance measures. Saying that, there is room for improvement and we are working on a range of strategies to raise standards further.We are currently part way through our 121 chromebook rollout programme.  Staff and students have received training and we are reaping the success that this is bringing into the classroom.  Last year our middle ability boys actively used chromebooks and saw their results rise by 11% within a year.At Tring we are in the middle of many discussions with the EFA and the local Dacorum Council on the rebuild of large parts of our school.  We are at the feasibility stage which will determine the exact layout of the buildings and the potential phasing that will take place.  We are all very excited about this project.  It will not only bring benefit to the school but also to the community of Tring.

Academy Status:Tring School converted to academy status in July 2012.  We have been delighted with the move which has allowed us greater freedoms and security.

Our Community:Our school is located in the centre of the town which typifies our position within the community.  We relish the opportunity to get involved with so many events.  Music, sport, art, drama are just a few subjects that actively work with community support.  More recently the town celebrated 700 years since its charter and we were central in arranging a selection of events for all of the schools locally.  For example a walk through the town with 3000 students is no mean undertaking!  Our church is central to our values and beliefs and our Chaplain is another pair of pastoral ears and eyes for the students and staff.  We are particularly fortunate to have the support of the church with the education of our students.

The Staff:Staff morale is very high and the data in my letter has come from our annual staff opinion survey.  We have improved the working environments for our staff and soon they will have even better facilities.  Our staff Appraisal Process is well established within the school. We have a Well-Being committee and they provide events and treats for all of us throughout the year.

The Students:We are all here to enable our students to be successful in everything they do and they fill us with pride everyday.  Our mission statement of Live to Learn and Learn to Live is central to our work and is applied to every aspect of school life.  The Head Student Team lead on projects throughout the year and they assist other student leadership roles within the school.  They also lead our school council and through vertical tutoring they promote various initiatives.

The Leadership Team:Currently we have 7 members on the Leadership Team: Headteacher, one Deputy Headteacher, four Assistant Headteachers and one Business Director.  In addition we have a Director of Learning seconded to the Leadership Team each term.We also have an Extended Leadership Team comprising of our three Directors of Learning, Head of 6th form, Data Manager, Head’s PA and seconded middle leaders appointed on an annual basis.  Currently our Network Manager is seconded to this team.

Overall Strategic Functions held by the Leadership Team at Tring School:

Below are a list of key responsibilities and accountabilities for the Leadership Team. These are defined and allocated in consultation with the Senior Leadership Team. We like to rotate roles within the team so that it keeps our thinking fresh, the team learns new skills and it assists personal career plans.

Main areas covered within our Leadership Team include: Strategic vision, governance, academy accountability, policy implementation, management

of government initiatives, performance management,  staff appointments and related induction/support

Curriculum design, implementation and review. Partnership programmes, staffing analysis and deployment, options, timetabling, strategic lead of IT, designated CP

Learning and teaching, quality assurance of practice, CPD, strategic lead for 6 th form, Teaching School Alliance, teacher training

Pastoral care, safeguarding, behaviour policy implementation, monitoring and review Overview and deployment of Academy budget, premises planning and implementation,

legal aspects for the whole school, oversight of separate trading company Academic data, interventions, PPM, SENCo code of practice, progress of specific cohorts

eg. academically most able Curriculum enhancement, Christian ethos, student wellbeing, primary liaison and

transition, day to day running of the school

Job Description – Assistant Headteacher, Tring School

Prime Purpose:   To take responsibility for the leadership and management of a variety of whole school areas

To line manage designated staff

To share responsibility for the daily administration and management of the school

To contribute to the all-round success of the school

To promote and be involved in the wider life of the school community

Responsible to: Deputy Head or Headteacher

Leading/Managing Policy

Contribute as a member of the LT to the development of the strategic direction of the school

Lead on specific whole school initiatives Monitor, review and evaluate the work of teams and individuals in the context of

school policies and plans Implement and support behaviour management systems in line with school

policies Support Governors in their policy development and monitoring roles by servicing

sub-committees and Governor meetings as necessary Ensure that policies and practices are inclusive.

Leading/Managing People

Have a visible presence around the school during the day Advise the Headteacher, LT and Governors on staffing appointments Establish, lead and chair, as necessary, meetings of groups of staff Take a full and committed part in your own performance management, as well

as those of your team members Set performance appraisal review and development objectives for an agreed

group of staff and to monitor performance against those objectives in line with school policy

Advise the LT of the performance of staff, ensuring that good practice is recognised and praised and that any potential areas for development can be managed

Provide advice and guidance for staff in terms of their development within the profession

Assist with the effective induction of new staff, as required Undertake regular whole school assemblies throughout the year Be seen as a role model in terms of industry, innovation, commitment and the

positive impact upon children’s lives and education.

Managing Resources

Monitor health and safety practice and report any issues to relevant staff Monitor the management of accommodation and resources, in order to promote

the creation of a stimulating learning and teaching environment Manage budgets for your areas of responsibility.

External Relations

Represent the school and its interests in meetings and other relationships with parents, members of the community, the DfE and a wide range of organisations and agencies

Participate and play a lead role in planning for designated major school events such as Open Evening and other major school events in the absence of the Headteacher and Deputy Head, to liaise with appropriate authorities and advise on such decisions as may be necessary to ensure that the school can continue to function in a safe and effective fashion, taking account of agreed policies and working practices.

Line Management

The line manager will be identified on appointment and will carry out the post holder’s performance appraisal.  Line management might change as a result of staff changes/post changes

Formal line management meetings will take place at the request of either the line manager or the post holder

The Assistant Head will also report to the relevant Subject Leader for their teaching responsibilities.

Supervision

The majority of this work will be undertaken with minimum supervision.  Matters of policy are discussed as the need arises with the line manager by whom work is also monitored.

Safeguarding Children

The school is committed to the safeguarding of the children in its care.  To this end all employees will need to undergo pre-employment checks including references, a check of any relevant qualifications, photo and address identification

All posts in a school are deemed to have a high degree of contact with children and are, therefore, exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.  An enhanced disclosure will be sought through the Disclosure and Barring Service as part of the pre-employment checking process.

Additional Information

All employees will need to confirm their right to work in this country, or seek sponsorship to work via the school, where appropriate

Tring School and its Governing Body are committed to ensuring consistency of treatment and fairness, and will abide by all relevant equality legislation

This is a job description only and is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post.  It may be subject to modification or amendment, after consultation with the post holder.

Contracted Hours and Pay Scale

Full-time.  L13 – L18 on the Tring School Leadership Pay Spine (£53,486 to £60,341)

Person Specification – Assistant HeadteacherEssential Desirable Evidence

gathered application (A), Interview (I) or reference (R)

Education and qualifications

First or Second Class Honours Degree

Qualified Teacher Status Evidence of appropriate

professional development

Evidence of further study

A

A, RA, I, R

Knowledge and understanding

Familiarity with current national initiatives and developments in educational leadership

Awareness of research on teaching and learning

Understand academic data including tracking progress and monitoring performance

Experience of classroom based research

A, I

A, I

A, I, R

Experience A proven track record in raising achievement within his/her own teaching

Experience of raising achievement through intervention in teaching processes

Experience of leading and motivating a successful team

Experience of raising achievement through school orprofessional networks

Experience of working with more than 1 school, eg this could include delivered Inset in other schools or secondments

A, I, R

A, I

A, I, R

Skills and attributes

Highly skilled classroom practitioner, teaching “good” or “outstanding” lessons

Excellent oral and written communication skills

Emotional Intelligence Strong interpersonal skills Capacity for hard work and

highly effective time management

The ability to think analytically and strategically

Persuasiveness Effective prioritising Creative problem solver The ability to lead, challenge

and support others

Ambition to progress to Deputy Headship and Headship

Experience of leadership roles, eg curriculum, timetabling, pastoral, interventions, SEN, AMA

Ability to manage work-life balance and own well-being

A, I, R

A, I

I, RII, R

A, I, R

II, RI, RA, I, R

The ability to identify examples of best practice elsewhere and adapt these where appropriate to Tring School

A commitment to professional development and leadership

I, R

A, I, R

Strategic development

Experience in an 11 – 18 setting

Experience of leading, or significant involvement in, successful whole school initiatives impacting positively upon student attainment and achievement

Experience of school improvement planning

A

A, I, R

Teaching and learning Experience of monitoring

classroom performance A critical understanding of

modern approaches to learning and teaching

An excellent track record of teaching

Can engage with social media to develop own learning and teaching

A, I, R

A, I, R

A, I, R

Motivation and personality Commitment to a

comprehensive and holistic education

Sensitivity and empathy towards others

Self-motivation and initiative Supportive of the Tring School

ethos Capacity to be a good role

model for all members of the school community

Sense of humour Flexibility and desire to

adapt to different role and tasks

A, I

I, R

I, R

I

I, R

***

Successful Learners

Confident Individuals

Tring School Ethos

Live to Learn — Learn to Live

Responsible Citizens

Back to the Future Strategic Vision, 2016 - 2021

Introduction: The Head Our Vision A world-class school: This is how we would wish Tring School to be viewed in 2021 - a fitting culmination to the journey laid out here. This is our aspiration. And it is a collective aspiration. Governors, staff, students and many parents have contributed to this five year strategic vision; assisted and contributed to by other educationalists, business leaders and facilitators, all in some way linked to Tring School. To quote a well-known ancient African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ For all of the apparent complexity, the myriad of thought, speech and intended actions found in this document, our work in secondary school is actually very simple. Children arrive at age 11 - alive with energy, hope and dreams. They leave at 18 or 19 as adults - needing, quite simply, to be ready to thrive in the adult world. They must qualify for this. However, academic qualifications themselves are not enough. In the twenty-first century, with the staggering pace of change - social, technological, economic and environmental - the now global, young e-citizen will, without doubt, need a different view of themselves and the world in which they live than any previous generation of young adults. They will need to possess a deep-rooted confidence and self-belief, a level of creativity, resilience and competitiveness that borders on the entrepreneurial and above all a well-rounded character, rooted in care for self, others and their environment; and these characteristics must be values-based.

Our motto: Live to Learn — Learn to Live In addition to securing the highest standards of achievement, our motto underpins all that we seek to do to nurture the same in the young people whom we are privileged to serve for the formative seven years of their lives. I invite you to join us on this journey.

Sue Collings

Our Journey Here Tring is no ordinary school. After a short time spent here, the majority of visitors to the school come to similar conclusions: ‘it’s about the people, isn’t it?.’ They marvel at the quality of relationships: between staff, staff and students, students with each other. They note how happy students appear to be and how incredibly hard-working and dedicated are our staff - teaching, support and administration. Relaxed but with a real sense of purpose is a frequent summary. Our Christian ethos underpins our work.

‘There is a real sense of collaboration between teachers and students, who show a high degree of maturity in their attitudes as learners.’ Ofsted 2014

And their reflections are not misguided. Tring is about our people. It is about our shared values and beliefs and above all the place of work and study and, collectively, we want this to be our vision.

Our beliefs, vision and values: Tring School is a dynamic learning institution which continually strives for ever-higher standards. In the future it will achieve the top percentage of the highest value-added scores for pupil progress and be the school of choice for all our parents. It will be recognised both locally and nationally for its partnership working, and its status with the church will continually shape its development. It will be oversubscribed in every year and have an even more successful Sixth Form. It will work in partnership with a number of educational and business institutions to provide a personalised curriculum both for individuals and for groups of students. Its curriculum and teaching will be innovative, risk-taking and relevant to the demands of life today and in the future and be sustained and enhanced by cutting-edge technology.

The next phases of development will not only be in the classroom but also in the infrastructure of the school. The school site will be reviewed and actions generated and prioritised to meet the growing needs of learners, e.g. rebuilding its sporting facilities, refreshing the laboratories in Science and building a Sixth Form centre. As a church school converter academy we will be developing our entrepreneurial qualities to generate income to fund learning and structural developments. We will work with businesses to share and develop expertise.

Flexible teaching spaces need to be considered: spaces that can be adapted to the changing demands of the curriculum. Fully staffed with specialists in every area, the school will have a highly developed programme of continual professional development modelling the concept of lifelong learning. This will be the single biggest driver to make our school exceptional. Through self-evaluation at all levels across the school, we will be devising and developing new approaches to education and will be robust enough to take on, adapt or leave the variety of local and government initiatives in line with the school’s clearly defined sense of purpose and direction. All stakeholders - pupils, staff, parents, local community and governors - will have a significant voice in the life and ethos of the school which will centre on the highest expectations possible for the students in our care.

At Tring School we will continue to believe, as we do now, that every child matters. All students will live to learn and learn to live and through our motto they will enjoy and have a hunger for learning, and be challenged by their education. They will achieve or exceed their individual academic potential, and be socially responsible and emotionally literate. They will have a sense of ownership of their learning and know how to manage perceived failure within their school life. As citizens of the 21st century they will be fully involved in the successful running of our school, shape future society through their positive behaviour, respect diversity and engage with local, national and global communities. They will be encouraged to engage in lifelong learning, have healthy and safe lifestyles, be economically secure, develop resilience and respect themselves and others. They will have opportunities to develop self-confidence and positive relationships and be open to and excited by the possibilities of our challenging and changing world. Above all, the learning environment provided by the school will challenge our students to stretch themselves academically and to be socially responsible, self-assured and happy in their work.

Future Plans— ‘To Go Beyond Outstanding’:

Ongoing - Monitoring of L & T, QA of Data and interventions, House Events, Celebrations, SEN updates, Assemblies, Enhancement Days, Exam Analysis, Transition, SEF Updates, ROL Analysis, H&S, Timetabling, Line Management Systems, Visits, Budgeting, Day to Day, IT, SIMS, Staff Opinion Survey, Safeguarding, Ofsted

Leadership Student

Expansion

To go beyond

Outstanding 2016-2021

OutstandingPastoral

Deliver High Quality PM

OutstandingSupport

OutstandingAchievement

OutstandingCurriculum

An Exciting CPD/TrainingProgramme

Develop a Marketing Plan / Corporate Image

Promote 6th Form numbers and possible

increase in KS3

Outstanding Networking

Strategic Planning for learning and for

premises

OutstandingSIAMS Development

Maintain Outstanding Community Links

Review LT Responsibilities

Review Governance Structures/ Multi Academy Trust

Staff

Tring community Visits WCh/DoE AlumniLink to Tutor Programme

Deliver CuttingEdge Careers

Refine Enrichment Programme

Review sytems using

Uniform development

s with a separate trading

Effective Tutor Time

Student VoiceDevelop Rewards - KS3 Graduation, Tring Passports

Revise Admission Criteria

Devise a seamless academic data

management system

Pupil Premium in line/better than school overall

KS4 80% 5A*-C inc E&MBest 8 Progress

Best 8 AttainmentProgress 8

KS5 APS 230 on entry820 in total?Set Aspirational Targets

Review KS3

Review Pathways

Develop Literacy

Marking for Improvement

Deliver appropriate homework

Use of L4L in all areas

Develop International Educational Innovation

Monitor Government

Review Policy

Review Teacher

Phased Approach

Enhance our Website

Kite Marks

Business Plan for Income

Generation

Stretch career grade expectations and

link to ROL national

Active part of Dacorum Teaching

School Alliance

ML /OT Programme

INSET for all staff

SecondmentsDevelop learning

projects eg pressures of

societyTraining for all stages in life/career

Build further ITT/universities

Schools Direct/SCITT

Expand Dacorum Herts Links

Expand ASCLOfsted

DfEEFA

Expand Businesses

Network

Leading Edge IT Planning

Review student

tablets for all

Google Development

Develop Flexible Working Policy /

Opportunities

Collate All Feedback

Implement actions where possible as part of well being

Attendance

Information on Tring

Tring is a vibrant market town with a population of 12,000 situated in the Borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire. Tring railway station is 1.5 miles from the town and is served by London Midland services from Milton Keynes Central to Euston. The facilities in the town include a hotel, theatre, four primary schools, many good local restaurants and coffee shops. Shopping is made easy with Tesco, Marks & Spencer, excellent individual shops and a local farmer's market.  A short drive into Aylesbury, Hemel Hempstead, Watford and Milton Keynes will provide you with large shopping centres.