thekingstonacademy.org

Lead SRP/ASD TeacherArchitects of outstanding educational leadership and provision

Dear Candidate

Thank you for your interest in The Kingston Academy. I am delighted that you are considering joining our team at this exciting stage in our journey. The opportunity to share in the architecture of a new school and be integral in its delivery at a strategic level is unique. 

As the Head Teacher it is a privilege to have the responsibility of leading the creation of our new school. The work the Trust and I have already completed on the project’s delivery is well advanced and running to plan. Following our highly successful Open Evening I am totally focused on a rigorous campaign to handpick the very best staff to join our team.

From the information provided, you’ll see very clearly that we have both exceptionally high standards and great breadth in our thinking for The Kingston Academy. We want to establish a vibrant, inclusive, happy school that is excellent for everyone who works and learns there. 

We wish to appoint an enthusiastic and experienced professional to lead the work in our unit for children whose main presenting needs are those identified on the Autistic Spectrum, including social communication, language and cognitive processing.

The successful candidate will be an experienced and consistently high performing classroom practitioners with pupil outcomes that support this. You must possess the qualities to be a positive role model, with a distinct ability to inspire pupils and staff. You will be ambitious for yourself and all of our pupils and contribute in flexible ways that will ensure The Kingston Academy goes beyond what schools ordinarily do. You will have boundless energy, courage and self-belief in your ability to assist in the delivery of our vision. You will need to be an excellent communicator and a proficient user of, and advocate for the use of technology across the organisation. We require a team of professionals who are excited by this opportunity and who are ready to embrace this challenge, supporting me in delivering a great local school for our local community. In return TKA will offer unrivalled opportunities for professional development, career enhancement and my total support in delivering for you a happy, successful working environment.

At The Kingston Academy we invest in our staff and you will be offered excellent opportunities for career enhancement and professional development.

For all of us, staff, Trustees, children and parents joining the school in 2015, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. We hope you will be able to see your place in this story and come forward to apply for this exciting and pivotal role.

If I can help advise you as you consider your application, please do not hesitate to contact me at head@thekingstonacademy.org.

Sophie M CavanaghHead Teacher - The Kingston Academy

Staff Recruitment

kingstoneducationaltrust.org

Position: Lead SRP / ASD TeacherSalary: Highly competitive / negotiable dependent on experience – TLR & SENCommitment: Full time permanent roleCommencement: September 2016 Application Process

You are asked to complete and include the following:

Application Form and Monitoring Form - may be found on the website.Application statement - Two sides of A4 • Prior experience relevant to the context of the post.• What attracts you to this particular school and this particular post• Why you are uniquely qualified above all other candidates• How you will contribute to taking TKA ‘beyond what schools ordinarily do’

The deadline for submitting applications is midday on Wednesday 3rd February. Interviews will take place on Tuesday 9th February. Completed applications should be returned to enquiries@thekingstonacademy.org.

Interview Procedure

The governing body is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. An Enhanced DBS check will be carried out for the successful candidate.

Our vision for the school

Going Beyond What Schools Ordinarily DoValuing all, expecting excellence, learning from the best and striving for improvement.

kingstoneducationaltrust.org

Background to the schoolKingston Education Trust (KET) is the body formed to start up the new secondary school in North Kingston, The Kingston Academy. It was established in 2010 as a partnership between Kingston University, Kingston College and the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. KET was established to respond to community expectations that sufficient, local and fully-inclusive secondary school places should be available in North Kingston. KET bid for approval and funding to set up the new school through the Free School process and was successful in May 2013. KET has worked closely with the Royal Borough of Kingston-upon-Thames to agree on the availability of a specific site, which has now been vacated.

Peter Mayhew-SmithKingston College

Andy HudsonKingston University

Graham Willett Royal Borough of Kingston

Darren JacobCommunity Trustee

Sue ConderCommunity Trustee

Sophie Cavanagh Head Teacher

Kingston Educational Trust Trustees

• An inclusive ethos where all are welcome to the school and everyone is valued for who they are and what they offer.

• A focus on learning to learn, which will be at the heart of our pedagogy to ensure that all of our students will learn more effectively.

• The strongest possible emphasis on communication that will ensure that our students are able to interact freely and with confidence with as wide a range of audiences and across as many forms of expression as possible.

• A curriculum that celebrates all disciplines including STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) to ensure our students have a deep and rich understanding of the world around them.

• A belief in the power of new technologies and the online world to develop our students as digital citizens and to enhance, support and stimulate the learning experience.

• Purposeful and challenging learning across the curriculum that will help to ensure that all of our young people are able to succeed to their highest potential.

• A strong global dimension that will enrich our students’ learning and broaden their knowledge of other people and cultures.

• Successful partnerships and links to external institutions and industry experts to support our students.

The Kingston Academy, a school with …

• Provides effective pastoral care to ensure that all students are well-known and understood, and which will support all of our young people to be able to perform as well as they possibly can.

• Promotes healthy lifestyles to provide our students with sound advice and guidance and opportunities to engage in a range of physical activities that will offer something for all.

• Prepares young people for life beyond the boundaries of the school and after our students have moved on to the next phase of their lives.

• Provides an outstanding educational experience for local children.

• Nurtures and challenges children’s intellectual and imaginative capacities as intelligence is not fixed and aspirations matter.

• Empowers learners and their teachers by bringing tools (mobile technology/devices) into the centre ground of activity. The use of these technologies will be commonplace as ‘Digital Literacy’ will be an overarching aspect of school life.

• Strives to maximise students’ potential for later schooling, post-school education, training and employment and for the quality of life itself so that they can contribute to and enjoy living within a society.

• Encourages students to take a lead in shaping their own learning.

The Kingston Academy, a school that …

kingstoneducationaltrust.org

• Aspiration knows no bounds, from which outcomes are outstanding and whose reputation is unparalleled.

• Purposeful and challenging learning will be the cornerstone of the school’s success and excellence.

• Parents matter and make a difference.• All students will enjoy learning, make

excellent progress, attain high outcomes and be helped to become confident individuals and responsible citizens.

• Learning pathways are tailored to students’ individual talents and special needs, and progression of learning is closely monitored.

• All students will benefit from strong leadership, an inclusive ethos and practice, excellent teaching and a broad and balanced curriculum in a local school.

• The physical environment impacts positively on learning.

• Young people are challenged to risk failure, to collaborate, to reflect on their experiences and learning and to learn to overcome adversity and difficulty.

• Students will be encouraged to raise concerns for themselves and on behalf of others with confidence.

• Sport and physical development are celebrated and friendly rivalry is seen as natural and healthy.

The Kingston Academy, a school where …

The Kingston Academy, a school which offers …

• A safe place for young people to interact with others, learn, play, research, explore and discover for themselves including in online spaces.

• A strong sense of identity for all its students, with an emphasis on their understanding of their valued place as a young citizen contributing to the wider world.

• A diverse, enriched curriculum. A significant proportion of our curriculum time will be devoted to the STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, but will be taught alongside more traditional subjects such as English, Humanities, Languages and the Expressive and Performing Arts.

• World class exam results. Students will study qualifications that are of genuine value and be encouraged and supported to maximise their potential.

• Regular assessment. Whilst the school will place a strong emphasis on stimulating, engaging and nurturing students, it will regularly review students’ progress and development and personalise learning where necessary.

• Highly qualified, professional teaching staff who have a passion for teaching and learning. Teachers who can enthusiastically convey their subject to all students and create enjoyment and excitement.

• Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for all staff. In the interest of life-long learning, our valued staff will participate in their own personal and professional development to enhance their knowledge and skills and keep abreast of new technologies, methodologies and pedagogical practices, in order to enrich the daily lives of students.

• Rewards for those students who achieve highly, sustain good and respectful behaviour, complete all activities with admirable effort and maintain high standards throughout their school career.

Pastoral Support

Our new school will be fully inclusive and devoted to its students’ success. To make this a reality, its curriculum will be underpinned by a strong pastoral system, built round personal tutors who will stay with their tutor groups through the whole time they are at the school. This vertical tutoring approach will be supported by active training and development for the tutoring staff to ensure they are always well-equipped to deal with the challenges faced by young people as they grow up through school and find their feet in the world. We believe that this strategy will provide the right mix of challenge and support to ensure that every student’s potential is identified and realised through their time at the school.

It will be especially important for us to ensure that, as the first cohort of young people join the school’s inaugural Year 7, there is a high level of integration between them as well as an effective pastoral system to cultivate their ambitions. We see investment in our pastoral care system as a key priority for achieving the high levels of motivation and curiosity we aspire to for our students.

We will also introduce a house system to ensure that every student has an additional point of engagement with the breadth of the school’s life and can contribute to team successes in their different individual ways. We believe it is important for our school’s young people to have a strong sense of belonging and mutual support within an ethos that will ask more of them while giving them the skills, confidence and encouragement to achieve more.

2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021Year 7Year 8Year 9Year 10Year 11Year 12

Year 13Totals 180 360 540 720 900 1044 1188

StructureStructure of the School

180 180 180 180 180 180 180180 180 180 180 180 180

180 180 180 180 180180 180 180 180 180 180 180 144 144

144

Curriculum Offer

English & Drama

Geography

Maths

Digital Literacy

Science

Philosophy& Ethics

Music

MFL

Art

PE

History

Technology

ASPIRE - SMART

kingstoneducationaltrust.org

Job Description Lead SRP / ASD TeacherResponsible to:

Head Teacher in the first instance

Job Purpose

Lead teacher in SRP for ASD and pupils with Special Educational Needs and Disability.

Key responsibilities

The following list is typical of the level of duties which the postholder will be expected to perform. It is not necessarily exhaustive and other duties of a similar type and level may be required from time to time given that we are a new and evolving Academy. • To co-ordinate and manage the gathered provision in line with the recommendations in  the SEN

Code of practice, and in liaison with the Headteacher, Inclusion Leader and Local Authority.• To develop, plan and deliver the National Curriculum (suitably modified to take account of each

child’s special educational needs).• To have a specialist knowledge in ASD.• To provide advice and support to other teachers in the school working with resource centre

students, focusing on a whole school approach.• To disseminate advice and information with regard to the educational implications of Autism,

identifying the effects of autistic spectrum disorders on learning styles and provide appropriate strategic advice to staff working with students.

• To liaise with the mainstream staff to plan, monitor and evaluate the provision for each student.• To lead the delivery of the school based in-service training.• To raise awareness of staff and mainstream students of the main issues related to autistic

spectrum disorders.• To ensure that programmes devised for children are in line with their needs as laid out in their

Statement of Special Educational Need or EHCP and contribute towards the achievement of agreed outcomes.

• To assess progress towards meeting outcomes for each child and take appropriate action as a result of these assessments.

• To meet with parents/guardians to discuss their child’s progress and take appropriate action as a result of these discussions.

• To keep abreast of new developments/initiatives in both special needs education and mainstream education.

• To provide reports to the Headteacher and governors on the development and progress of all pupils in the SRP.

• To make maximum use of the facilities in the provision and the facilities in the school and surrounding borough.

• To work as a member of the school team, attend weekly staff meetings and training and be willing to accept an appropriate curriculum responsibility.

• Participate in the school’s Performance Management and, in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team, to be responsible for planning his/her own professional training and development and that of other Resource Centre staff.

• Take responsibility for researching and applying knowledge of national legislation, regional policies and up to date research regarding children on the Autism Spectrum, both within the Centre and within the mainstream school.

kingstoneducationaltrust.org

Person Specification

Part A: Application Stage

The following criteria (experience, skills and qualifications) will be used to short-list at the application stage:

Essential

• QTS.• Broad base of subject knowledge in Special Educational

Needs and Disability.• Ability to teach across key stages 3, 4 and 5 ultimately.• Successful training, teaching practice and / or successful

prior teaching experience with SEND, in particular pupils with ASD.

• Vision of successful, inclusive and personalised  classroom practice.

• Possess a range of teaching and learning strategies to appropriately deliver a  broad and balanced differentiated curriculum to pupils with SEND, in particular those with ASD.

• Ability to work effectively as part of a curriculum / subject team and liaise with mainstream staff to support their teaching of pupils with ASD.

• Effective ICT skills.• Effective organizational skills e.g. lesson preparation,

schemes of work, development, meeting deadlines, good record keeping etc.

• Effective inter-personal skills.

thekingstonacademy.org

The Kingston AcademyRichmond RoadKingston upon ThamesSurreyKT2 5PE