Director of Teaching & Learning

Job description
A new school in Chengdu, in South West China, will follow the successful development of Nanwai King’s College School and RDFZ King’s College School in Wuxi and Hangzhou respectively. The Chengdu school will open in September 2021 and will serve over 2,100 students from 3 to 18 years of age at capacity.

We are seeking to appoint an exceptional individual with a proven track record of academic leadership who will drive forward the quality of teaching and learning across the school. Reporting to the Executive Principal, the Director of Teaching & Learning will provide visionary leadership of whole school pedagogy, assessment and reporting, working in close collaboration with the heads of school sections. This is a pivotal role to establish a world-class learning community at a new school that aspires to become one of the leading schools in Asia.

Representing a new standard of bilingual education in China, the school will provide for both local and international pupils via an innovative model that combines Chinese and western approaches to learning and academic excellence, in the context of first-rate pastoral support and opportunities to excel outside the classroom. Our goal is to produce confident, articulate young people with a broad set of life skills who will go on to attend universities across the world.

Facilities will be outstanding and include a 600-seat theatre, 130-seat black box theatre, dance studio, first-class laboratories, sports fields, a running track, an Olympic 50m indoor pool, and a fitness and weight training suite. Our iconic new campus will be located to the north east of the city centre, with beautiful hills and open green spaces surrounding it. The district is being developed for high-end residential projects and as an area for leisure and tourism.

In this crucial role, the post-holder will work in close alignment with the Executive Principal, the Head of Pastoral and Boarding and the heads of school sections to ensure that the educational experience for all pupils is developed in its broadest sense by forging strong links between the academic, co-curricular and boarding lives of the school. This commitment to genuinely holistic learning will be reflected in the post-holder initially overseeing co-curricular provision as well as pedagogical leadership.

Job requirements
The successful candidate will be a flexible, driven and ambitious educational leader with a talent for inspiring and empowering pupils, teachers and the wider school community. A passion for ensuring that pupils of all abilities are supported to realise their full potential is essential, together with strong and current knowledge of the latest pedagogical developments globally and the ability to turn vision into measurable reality. Effective use of data will be crucial given the added emphasis of the role on overseeing the assessment and reporting functions of the school.

The post-holder will also be receptive to new ideas and challenges, culturally aware and willing to contribute fully to all areas of what will be a premium independent school.
The post will be suitable for candidates with:
• Prior senior management experience
• Excellent leadership, organisation, presentational and management skills
• The ability to work collaboratively and cross-culturally to help lead the development of the school into a world-class learning environment