Head of Secondary

Organizational Relationships: (reports to whom and supervises whom. Job titles and not names)

Reports to: Principal (This is a senior leadership post, which carries with it membership of the Senior Management Team of the whole school)
Correspond to: Staff, Students, Parents

Supervises: Secondary Leadership Team, Head of Subjects, Secondary Teachers/Lead Teachers and other Admin Secondary Staff (as per organization chart)

Teaching Load
N/A

Overall Functions

• To take overall responsibility for the ongoing organization, development and implementation of teaching and learning in the Secondary school.
• To provide leadership and management of the academic and pastoral programmes of the Secondary school in line with the Vision and Mission of the School.
• The efficient and effective running of the Secondary school of 400+ students and to provide educational and professional leadership; to manage and guide the Secondary school through to its next stage of development and
• To work with the Principal and the School Improvement Consultant to promote the school in the community and the wider Qatar environment.
   
• The Head of Secondary is a senior figure in the school and as such should be an exemplary, and visible, role model for staff, students and parents.
   

Main Duties and Responsibilities
Monitoring and Review

• Ensure that all aspects of school performance are monitored and evaluated in a robust, cyclical manner and maintain a record of self-evaluation and areas for improvement, and of progress made in respect of these.
   

Relations with the Governing Authority

• Provide for liaison and co-operation with the officers of the Ta’allum Governing authority.

Absence

• Arranging for a Deputy Headteacher or other suitable person to assume responsibility for the functions of the Headteacher at any time when s/he is absent from the school.

Curriculum planning, delivery and assessment in the Secondary school
The Head of Secondary will:

• Provide leadership in the implementation of the curriculum programmes throughout the Secondary school.
• Directly line manage Heads of Departments and chair meetings.
• Ensure that department curriculum documentation for the Secondary school is consistent in terms of layout and content in line with school policy.
• Ensure that department curriculum documentation ensures a breadth of knowledge and progression of skills that will cater to all groups of students across the ability spectrum.
• Monitor the overall academic standards, assessment principles, policies and practices within the Secondary school.
• Be responsible for internal and external assessment in the Secondary school and the tracking of student progress.
• Oversee the setting up, writing and production of high-quality Secondary school reports to parents according to the timetabled schedule.
• Directly monitor standards through work scrutinies, department reviews, observations, teacher and student feedback, and individual appraisal of staff. Evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning overall.
• Oversee the production and maintenance of the Secondary part of the whole school timetable.
• Ensure adequate cover supervision is provided for absent colleagues and be responsible for, in liaison with the designated cover organiser, a high-quality programme.

Administration

• Liaise with the Registrar and other relevant staff on school queries and admissions.
• Oversee implementation of the annual budget, Manpower/Org Chart and orders of the Secondary school, in consultation with Principal and concerned Heads.
• Monitor staff and student attendance.
• Assume a leadership role in the absence of other school administrators.
• Organize and communicate the class lists, timetable and room allocation in collaboration with other administrators.
• Allocate teachers to classes and to positions of responsibility.
• Interview candidates for teaching positions.

Student support in the Secondary school
The Head of Secondary will:

• Work closely with the Deputy Head.
• Ensure that a comprehensive programme is in place that provides for the needs of all students.
• Ensure that all students receive appropriate pastoral care.
• Be responsible for discipline in the Secondary school, in particular for dealing with serious behavioral issues, suspending students where necessary, or recommending stronger action (permanent exclusion) to the Principal.
• Be responsible for the setting up and monitoring of an effective student profiling system.
• Monitor the support programmes for those with special needs and language difficulties.
• Oversee regular fire drills and emergency evacuation exercises.
• Oversee assemblies in the Secondary school and take at least one assembly per term.
• Be responsible for ensuring the highest standards of behaviour and outcome when Secondary students are representing the school.
   

Provision and efficient use of educational resources
The Head of Secondary will:
 

• In cooperation with the Principal, allocate budgets to academic departments and oversee the purchasing and inventory process.
• Ensure that all departments are adequately resourced to provide high quality curriculum delivery.

Staff and Teacher support

• Lead the selection and appointment of the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school.
• Deploy and manage all teaching and non-teaching staff of the school and allocate particular duties to them in a manner consistent with their conditions of employment, maintaining a reasonable balance for each teacher.
• Ensure that the duty of cover provision for absent teachers is shared equitably among all teachers in the school (including the Head of School), taking account of their teaching and other duties.
• Ensure that teachers at the school receive information they need to carry out their professional duties effectively.
• Lead, motivate, support, challenge and develop staff at all levels in order to secure and sustain continuous improvement and staff well-being.
• To be committed to personal continuing professional development.
• Support the middle and senior leadership of the school to build capacity, recognising existing talents and encouraging delegation.
• Challenge underperformance at all levels and put in place effective procedures to deal with underperforming staff.
• Provide information, references and testimonials about the work and performance of staff employed at the school, with due regard to the principles of equal opportunities, where such information is relevant to their future employment.

The Head of Secondary will:

• Lead, supervise and support the professional staff, assistants and admin staff in the Secondary school.
• Coordinate regular Secondary meetings to continually develop teaching and learning.
• Be responsible for monitoring and raising the quality of teaching and learning in the Secondary school.
• Be responsible for the running of a rigorous performance management process for all Secondary staff that takes account of both personal and school developmental needs.
• Oversee a programme of professional development opportunities, both internal and external, which links to school needs and the performance management process.
• Be responsible for organizing the induction of new staff.

Links
The Head of Secondary will:

• Develop cross curricular links in the Secondary school.
• Liaise on a regular basis with the various school administration departments supporting staff and student well-being.
• Ensure that connectivity between the Secondary school and Primary school is developed at every opportunity.
• Develop opportunities for connectivity between Ta’allum Group Secondary schools.
• Take every opportunity to develop links with the local community.

Communication
The Head of Secondary will:

• Run Secondary school Briefings
• Be responsible for the organisation of Parent- Teacher conferences according to the calendar.
• Be responsible, in collaboration with other senior leaders, for the production and updating of a school calendar, which includes meeting schedules and events.
• Be responsible for the production of a duty rota for secondary staff
• Be responsible for monitoring staff communication to parents
• Be responsible for the Secondary school content in the website, publications and advertisements.
• Be responsible for ensuring the publication of a high-quality weekly newsletter for each year group.

Safeguarding

• To ensure that safeguarding is of paramount importance in the school.
• To ensure the commitment of all staff to safeguarding and promotion of the welfare of children and young people is at the heart of the school and to ensure that all staff and volunteers share this commitment.
• Undertake the role of Designated Safeguarding Officer and carry out the associated responsibilities.

Student Damages:

• To follow the procedure of payment collection & follow-up pertaining to student damages within the academy premises.
• Head & Deputy Head of School to avail quotations for the repair of damaged property by the Admin Officer.
• Head and Deputy Head of School will contact parents, explain the incident with evidence, and present repair costs. (The parents must then sign an agreement acknowledging the damage and agreeing to pay for it.)
• The Finance Department should receive all documents, including the parents' agreement, for billing and collection from Head of School & Deputy Head.

Health and Safety

• Be responsible for all health and safety matters in the Secondary school, both on and off site, including overseeing school trips according to school policies and ensure that the Secondary school is a healthy and safe place
• To ensure the maintenance of a high standard of care in the school environment, including the grounds, buildings, furniture, equipment and learning materials.
• To ensure that health and safety, the wellbeing of staff and children, along with safeguarding, emergency and contingency planning, are carried out to the highest standards.
   

Qualifications:
Educational Qualification:

• Master’s degree in Education, from a recognized University (from the UK preferred)
• Master’s degree in Educational leadership or similar preferred.
   

Number of years of Experience:

• Minimum of Three experience as Head of Secondary or other high level Senior Leadership position at an International School(s) or in the UK
  Certification:
• Teaching License from one of the following Countries: (UK, US, CA, AU, NZ, ZA and Scandinavian countries).
  Specialized trainings desired
  (if any)
• NPQH and/or similar Certification.
   

Area of experience required:

• Experience teaching the National Curriculum for England in the UK or an international setting
• A thorough knowledge and experience of working with British Curriculum as well as familiarity with all other key aspects of UK education
• Respect for Islamic religion, Arabic and Qatari traditions, all members of school community, irrespective of position, gender, age and ethnic background.
  Competency requirements: (State the competencies required for this job)
   

Key competencies include:

• Strong leadership skills, supervisory experience, and willingness to accept responsibility as a leader and supervisor of a full instructional staff.
• Demonstrate success modeling and inspiring a love of learning.
• Must possess excellent organizational skills as well as an ability to work cooperatively with others.
• Must possess a genuine interest in the academic, social, and emotional growth of adolescents, exhibit maturity and a positive attitude, and be willing to serve as a role model for students.
• Able to continue to help us to raise the standards of teaching and learning, leading and promoting outstanding teaching on a day-to-day basis.
• Work effectively with other school leaders, helping to promote and embed the school’s mission and vision statements
• Can balance their operational and strategic responsibilities on a day-to-day basis, ensuring successful outcomes always by being/having:
• A great communicator and able to forge excellent relationships with all stakeholders, parents, staff and pupils.
• A thorough and up-to-date knowledge of educational policies and practices, particularly at Secondary Level.
• A proven record of academic achievement and success as a teacher and Head of Secondary.
• A strong belief in the values of an international education, with international experience.
• The capacity to inspire, identify, recruit and retain outstanding staff.
• A capacity to plan for and lead the Secondary school to the highest levels of success in school inspections (Ministry of Education accreditation and WASC etc.).
• Demonstrate strong team leadership and excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to enhance the collaboration and partnership between staff, students, parents and the wider community to ensure support and alignment of all stakeholders towards shared school goals.
• Community-oriented and motivated to involve the full range of the school community - staff, students and parents in the management and development of the Secondary school.

Have:

• Sensitivity towards, and familiarity with, a diverse range of student learning needs.
• Cross-cultural openness and understanding.
   

Children Safeguarding and Welfare
Ta’allum Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and has zero tolerance to any divergence from Children Safeguarding and Welfare. All applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers, prohibition from teaching and the Disclosure & Barring Service.
All Successful applicants will be required to provide criminal records check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) before employment is confirmed. Candidates from outside the authority of the DBS will be required to provide an approved Certificate from the similar authority in the Country in which he/she is currently residing.
With Ta’allum Group’s commitment to Child Protection, Safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, all staff and volunteers are required to share this commitment.

The following duties are expected of all staff:
 

• comply with child protection & safeguarding, discipline and health and safety policies and procedures
• promote and safeguard the welfare of children and young persons for whom you are responsible for and come into contact with ensure full compliance with all Ta’allum Group Policies, statutory regulations, communicating concerns to the line manager and other staff of Ta’allum Group as appropriate.
   

Confidentiality
The nature of your responsibility means that, during the course of your employment, you will see or have access to information of a confidential nature relating to the work of the school or the health or personal affairs of students, parents and staff. Under no circumstances should such information be divulged or passed on to any unauthorized person or organization.
The post holder hereby undertakes and agrees to the Confidentiality Agreement/Policy of Ta’allum Group as stipulated in the HR Staff Handbook.

Additional Information
Education is an ever-changing service, and all staff are expected to participate constructively in schools’ activities and to adopt a flexible approach to their work.
The duties and responsibilities listed above are provisional. Further details may be supplied when the person is appointed. The post holder is expected to accept any reasonable alterations that may from time to time be necessary.
It is understood that areas of responsibility of the job description are not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post, or an exhaustive list of all duties performed. The main duties and responsibilities are indicated above. Other duties of an appropriate level and nature may also be required, as directed by the Line Manager.
This job description might be reviewed from time to time and where necessary and will be varied in the light of the business needs of Ta’allum Group. The job description sets out the main duties of the post at the date when it was drawn up. Such duties may vary from time to time without changing the general character of the post or the level of responsibility entailed. Such variations are a common occurrence and cannot of themselves justify a reconsideration of the grading of the post.
The job description allocates duties and responsibilities but does not direct the amount of time to be spent on carrying them out and no part of it may be so construed.
This job description shall be discussed with the relevant employee and he/she should be made aware of his authorities, responsibilities and roles in support of company’s objectives and the competency requirements. An uncontrolled copy of relevant job descriptions can be distributed to employee and modifications made should be communicated to him.