Head of Art and Photography

Whitstone; Shepton Mallet; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Whitstone School in Shepton Mallet is seeking a dedicated curriculum leader to provide strategic direction for the department, ensuring high standards of teaching and learning across key stages. The role includes shaping schemes of work, leading department meetings, and collaborating with colleagues to raise pupil outcomes.

You will mentor staff, manage performance, and drive improvements in assessment, planning, and student engagement.

Responsibilities

• To provide strategic leadership for your department, ensuring high standards of teaching, learning, and student outcomes across both key stages.
• To establish and articulate a clear, ambitious vision for your subject, aligned with whole-school priorities and improvement plans.
• To lead the development and regular review of schemes of work and curriculum planning, ensuring full coverage of national curriculum and the qualifications of chosen specifications.
• To line manage staff within the department, providing support, guidance, and challenge to ensure high performance.
• To monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching and learning within the department through coaching drop-ins, book looks, student voice and to implement improvement strategies where required.
• To oversee the department’s budget, making informed decisions to enhance teaching and learning.

Job description

Main Duties and responsibilities:

The duties and responsibilities outlinedin this job description complement those covered by the latest School Teacher’sPay and Conditions document and the Teachers Standards document. Whilst everyeffort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of thepost, each individual task undertaken may not be identified. Elementswithin job descriptions may be subject to change, but all duties associatedwith this role will be achievable within directed time and reasonableadditional hours, consistent with STPCD expectations. The role will besupported by appropriate timetable allocation, administrative support, andleadership time commensurate with the responsibilities outlined.

Leadership and Strategic Direction

• Toprovide strategic leadership for your department, ensuring high standards ofteaching, learning, and student outcomes across both key stages.
• To establish and articulate a clear, ambitiousvision for your subject, aligned with whole-school priorities and improvementplans.
• To ensure a strategic departmental commitment tothe progress of all students, particularly those students who are vulnerable,for example through SEND or because of experiencing disadvantage.
• To lead the development and regular review ofschemes of work and curriculum planning, ensuring full coverage of nationalcurriculum and the qualifications of chosen specifications
• Tohave regard for Key Stage 2 curricula in partner primaries, and to plan fortransition based on this knowledge, and knowledge of the onward learning in KeyStage 5.
• Ensure that curriculum planning takes account ofthe necessity of regular opportunities for reading, extended writing, and fordeveloping oracy.
• To model outstanding teaching and promote a cultureof continuous improvement across the department.
• To lead departmental meetings effectively, ensuringthat priorities are clearly communicated, actioned, and reviewed
• Towith work colleagues across the school, exploring opportunities forcollaborative working to enhance pupil learning.
• To lead the development of a richranges of experiences alongside the curriculum, that build cultural capital andenrich the taught curriculum for all.
• To ensure outcomes across both keystages are carefully analysed and appropriate plans are created responsively.

Staff Development and Line Management

• To be a visible leader, who knows, understands andvalues their team, and who creates a respectful, collaborative culture ofmutual trust.
• To line manage staff within the department,providing support, guidance, and challenge to ensure high performance.
• To identify and address training needs within thedepartment, supporting the professional development of colleagues throughmentoring, coaching, and CPD.
• To carry out regular appraisals and providehigh-quality developmental feedback.
• To ensure that departmental colleagues areconsulted in creating and supported in implementing, the curriculum across bothkey stages.
• To lead the induction of new staff and traineeteachers within the department.
• To work collaboratively with the department,undertaking regular 360 evaluations of your leadership and responding to thisfeedback.

Quality Assurance

• To ensure the curriculum is inclusive, coherent,and sequenced to support knowledge retention and progression for all learners,with a particular focus on the progression of vulnerable learners.
• To monitor and evaluate the quality of teaching andlearning within the department through coaching drop ins, book looks, studentvoice and to implement improvement strategies where required.
• To ensure the consistent implementation of schoolpolicies, such as behaviour management, assessment, homework and marking acrossthe department.
• To oversee homework completion across the team,managing behavioural interventions, parental contact and departmentaldetentions. Tackle repeat offenders by meeting with parents and carers toreinforce shared expectations
• To lead the effective use of assessment within thedepartment, ensuring that formative and summative data informs teaching andintervention.
• To analyse departmental data regularly to monitorprogress and attainment, identifying underperformance and leading timely, evidence-basedinterventions.
• To ensure accurate and timely completion of datadrops and reporting in line with school assessment policy.
• To report on departmental performance to SLT, Trusteesand other stakeholders as required.

Resource Management

• To work with the AHT responsible for the timetableto ensure an effective and fair timetable allocation for the department.
• Ensure equal distribution of classes, particularlyensuring that vulnerable learners receive the highest quality teaching.
• To oversee the efficient deployment and use ofdepartmental resources, ensuring value for money and equitable access for allstudents.
• To manage the department’s budget, making informeddecisions to enhance teaching and learning.
• To lead the development and maintenance ofhigh-quality learning environments, including providing suggested content orwork examples for displays as well as managing digital resources includingGoogle Classroom and, as appropriate, the Sparx suite. There is no expectationthat leaders should create corridor displays themselves, but collaborating inthe provision of resources to display would be valuable.
• To ensure that all department resources arecompliant with health and safety requirements

Contribution to Whole-School Life

• To contribute to the wider development of theschool, supporting whole-school policies, initiatives and events.
• To plan and deliver enriching curriculumexperiences, both within and beyond school. There is no expectation thatleaders deliver trips beyond directed time if they do not wish to, howeverenriching in school opportunities should be sourced instead, or team membersidentified and supported who could support an enrichment activity that isovernight or after school hours.
• To play a key role in curriculum development at awhole-school level where appropriate.
• To support school improvement priorities, includingliteracy and numeracy strategies, attendance and behaviour.
• To represent the department in middle leader meetingsand work collaboratively with other subject leaders to promote cross-curricularlinks.

Planning, Teaching, and ClassroomManagement

• Toensure that lessons are well planned, adapting the department’s shared planningwhen appropriate to meet the needs of all learners, with particular emphasis inensuring that all learners, particularly vulnerable learners, experiencesuccess in lessons.
• Toteach consistently high-quality lessons, adhering to the principles set out in‘The Whitstone Way’ & utilising the ‘Excellent Whitstone Lesson to allowall students to make good or better progress.
• Toensure that students are set appropriate but challenging tasks, while providingappropriate scaffolds as necessary to allow all students to experience success.
• Toensure high standards of behaviour from students both inside and outside of theclassroom, following the school’s behaviour policy consistently.
• Toensure the effective and efficient deployment of classroom support, includingteaching assistants
• Toensure that homework is set regularly in accordance with the school’s homeworkexpectations, that completion of this is monitored and that non-completion isfollowed up, using the departmental detention system.
• Toensure that effective planned cover is set in line with the school’s absencepolicy and placed onto Google Classroom.
• Toprovide work for classes to cover illness when possible. When this is notpossible, to provide the necessary information for the Subject Leader to setmeaningful cover work.
• Towork as an active member of the subject team, seeking to implement its aims andobjectives, extending knowledge and understanding of the curriculum,recognising the need for change and contributing where necessary to thewriting/development of new material and schemes of work.
• Toensure that learning resources, including opportunities for stretch andchallenge, are regularly to enable students to continue their learning duringtheir own time.

Assessment,Recording and Reporting

• Toutilise regular formative assessment to allow lessons to be responsivelyadapted, to help meet the needs of all learners.
• Toensure that student work is regularly marked, in accordance with the school’sfeedback policy.
• Toundertake summative assessments in line with the school’s assessment policy,ensuring these are accurately marked and generate realistic grade projections.
• Tomaintain accurate records of pupil attainment, and to be aware of the standardsachieved, enabling effective and timely interventions when necessary.
• Tocomplete formal data drops in a timely manner, meeting the deadlines set out inthe school’s assessment policy.
• Todiscuss with the relevant colleagues those aspects of pupils’ performance whichare a cause for concern, and to seek advice, guidance or support whenappropriate.
• Torecord and log all behaviour sanctions, achievement events and interventions inan accurate and timely manner in line with the relevant school policies.

PastoralDuties

• Tobe an effective form tutor to an assigned group of students.
• Todeliver high quality tutor time sessions, as directed by the Head of Year.
• Topromote the progress and wellbeing of individual students and of the tutorgroup as a whole.
• Toregister students in a timely and accurate manner, accompany them toassemblies, encourage their full attendance at all lessons and theirparticipation in other aspects of school life.
• Tocommunicate, as appropriate, with parents of students and persons or bodiesoutside the school concerned with the welfare of individual students, afterconsultation with appropriate staff.
• Topromote the personal development and social wellbeing of all pupils by deliveringthe school’s tutorial and Character Curriculum.

OtherProfessional Requirements

• Toconsistently implement the vision and values of Whitstone School, as set out bythe Headteacher.
• Tohave a working knowledge of teachers' professional duties and legalliabilities, adhering to these at all times.
• Toactively participate in performance management, identifying areas fordevelopment and accessing appropriate training, support and professionaldevelopment.
• Tocontribute to the school’s wider development programme, including trips, afterschool activities and enrichment opportunities.
• Tocommunicate with the families of pupils in a timely and professional manner,through attendance at parents’ evenings, making regular use of phone callshome, particularly in working with parents to overcome challenge.
• Toco-operate with other staff to ensure a fair and effective usage of resourcesto the benefit of the school, department and students.
• Toattend all lessons, meetings, duties and other-directed events punctually.
• Tohave strong digital literacy and confidence in using technology, to allow youto effectively engage with the school’s IT systems and to support the use ofthese consistently within your professional practice.
• Tomodel high standards of professional conduct and dress at all times whenrepresenting the school.
• Tooperate at all times within the policies and practices of both the school andacademy trust
• Topromote and safeguard the welfare of all of our students.
• Performall other reasonable requests from the Headteacher, or members of the SeniorLeadership Team.

Thisjob description will be reviewed at the end of each academic year or earlier ifnecessary. Substantialchanges to responsibilities will be subject to consultation and formal review.In addition, it may be amended at any time after consultation with you.