Secondary Head of Sport

The Alice Smith School (Secondary); Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious international school in Kuala Lumpur seeks a dynamic Head of Sport who will lead and manage the sports programme effectively. This role requires an inspirational leader focused on building team commitment, enhancing students' experience, and maintaining high standards across various sports activities. Candidates should demonstrate exemplary leadership, the ability to motivate others, and a proactive approach to performance monitoring. A collaborative spirit and commitment to student achievement are vital components of the ideal candidate's profile.

Qualifications

• Proven leadership skills to inspire trust and confidence.
• Ability to engage and motivate both staff and students.
• Strong analytical skills to enhance learning experiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead sports initiatives and maintain effective communication.
• Ensure high quality of sports programme and learning.
• Monitor performance and address concerns proactively.

Skills

Leadership

Analytical thinking

Engaging and motivating

Collaborative teamwork

Effective communication

Job description

The Opportunity

The Head of Sport plays a leading role in creating a strong professional culture based on interdisciplinary teamwork and lively professional dialogue. The Head of Sport provides professional leadership and management for the Alice Smith School to ensure that programme staff work effectively as a team, that provision in the programme is of excellent quality, that resources are used effectively, that standards of learning and achievement are very high, that the team and programme are continually seeking to improve these standards, that creativity and innovation figure prominently in the team’s approach to learning and teaching, and a wide range of competitive local and regional fixtures are planned to take place throughout the school year.

What You Will Do

As a leading professional in education, Head of Sport should be able to demonstrate that they are an effective leader and manager who challenges and supports all staff and students to do their best through:

• Inspiring trust and confidence
• Building team commitment with colleagues and students
• Engaging and motivating staff and students
• Analytical thinking
• Positive action to improve the quality of students' experience
• Adhere to the school's policies and procedures.

Main Tasks

• Inspire trust and confidence through their own practice and a positive, solution-focused approach to improve the quality of session delivery and sport provision.
• Provide a channel of communication between the department and SLT, actively promoting sports initiatives and ensuring that information is communicated in a timely and supportive manner.
• The Head of Sport is proactive in their communication, both in timing and content; they are acutely aware of the needs of others and the school, preempting potential obstacles and modelling a solution-focused approach.
• Create a climate of high-quality professional dialogue, nurturing professional relationships, collaboration and supporting the professional growth of individuals and the team in general.
• Provide professional learning direction to the team, identifying and accessing school-based and external Professional Learning opportunities and incorporating the learning from these into training and support.
• Support internal and external staff working within the sports programme by ensuring they are provided with clear expectations, appropriate safeguarding training, channels of communication, resources and feedback.
• Be proactive in monitoring performance and addressing concerns as and when they arise; they clarify expectations, put support in place and set clear targets for improvement.
• Ensuring that coaches are recruited, quality assured, allocated and paid according to the needs of the sporting programme, fixtures, tournaments and events.
• Maintain an active overview of the health and safety of the physical learning environment and facilities, communicating with Maintenance and SLT where appropriate and risk assessing all events, fixtures and tournaments.
• Models excellence in their own teaching and attitude towards professional growth, actively seeking out opportunities for pedagogical innovation, collaboration and the sharing of best practices within their team.
• Ensure the programme is well-resourced to meet the needs of all students. This includes preparing, presenting and negotiating the sports programme’s annual budget.
• Work with the EPA Leader when designing the exploration pathways sports programme.
• Work in partnership with the Primary Head of Sport to support the arrangements for all SEASAC, FOBISIA and AIMS entries. This includes ensuring that teams are selected by fair and open criteria and that each team has a dedicated coach.
• Coordinate local fixtures and tournaments. This includes tournament organisation (set up, venues, maintenance, transport, First Aid, risk assessments, referees), ensuring that teams are selected by fair and open criteria and that each team has a dedicated coach.
• Support the House Leader with the organisation of inter-house sports events (facilities, hiring and payment of officials, programmes, allocation and communication of tasks and expectations to all staff involved, tournament organisation, record keeping for posterity, scoring and celebration).
• Ensure that notice boards and SOCS are regularly updated for students for all sports fixtures (up-to-date team sheets, results and awards from fixtures; photographs any other relevant information regarding fixtures).
• Lead on quality assurance and where reflection is ongoing and built into team dialogues and meetings, with the Head of Sport utilising a range of school-based and external data.
• Devise and operate systems for monitoring and improving students' engagement and performance within the Sport programme; put appropriate training or support in place where necessary.
• Celebrate student success through the school’s celebration and achievement structures.
• Ensure that there is appropriate communication of all relevant information to parents regarding school sports fixtures and competitions including (selection letters, newsletter, match reports, future news, whole or part school presentations, phone calls and problem‑solving) and that the parent code of conduct is in place.
• Ensure that the programme maintains a high profile within the school community, for example, through presentations, excellent learning environments and cross‑curricular collaborations, up‑to‑date records of the Alice Smith School sports year and preparing the School yearbook entries for sports events and fixtures.
• Establish, encourage and maintain strong links with local, regional and international organisations, including employers, and links with other schools.
• Support school events and initiatives through attendance, active involvement and collaboration.
• Uphold the reputation of the school and its standing in the community at all times.

Alice Smith Educators are

• Learner‑centred
• Interculturally literate
• Open‑minded
• Promoters of personalised pathways
• Sparkers of courage and curiosity

Responsibilities / Duties

The Head of Sport is responsible to a member of the SLT, either the Campus Principal or a Vice‑Principal and oversees:

• Leadership of programme leads and sports coaches
• Leadership of excellence in learning and teaching/sports programme
• Leadership in celebration, achievement and progression
• Leadership in the wider community

All staff are responsible for ensuring that safeguarding is central to everything we do, adopting a whole‑school approach. Please refer to the Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy for more information.

Safe Recruitment Practices

As a school with a diverse collective of experts, we uphold recruitment protocols that adhere to the highest possible international standards. We conduct thorough pre‑employment checks on candidate references and verify qualifications. If you require further information regarding the School's 'Pre‑Appointment Checks', please liaise with our People and Culture representative, as the process may vary for individuals of different nationalities.

We prioritise the careful scrutiny of checks as they are essential in ensuring a safe and secure environment for our students. By maintaining stringent recruitment practices, we aim to provide a nurturing and protected learning environment for all our students.

The duties and responsibilities of this post may vary from time to time according to the changing demands of the school. This job description may be reviewed at the reasonable discretion of the Head of School and school leadership in the light of those changing requirements and in consultation with the post holder.