The role:
The School for Girls is looking for a talented, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic teacher to lead their History & Politics Department from September 2025.
As Head of History & Politics, you will oversee the smooth running of the department, ensuring that high standards of teaching and learning are delivered, resources are used efficiently and effectively and the curriculum is managed and developed in accordance with school policy across the faculty.
The successful candidate will be able to communicate their enjoyment of the subjects to students, strive to maintain the highest academic standards and promote a genuine passion for History and Politics. They will be a passionate subject advocate, both an inspiring leader and flexible team player, who is committed to getting the best out of their departmental colleagues and working more broadly with the other Humanities Heads of Department.
The Department:
The History and Politics Department is a flourishing department with a dedicated and driven team. All students study History from Year 7 with a broad and diverse curriculum, covering traditional topics such as William the Conqueror and Medieval England, alongside learning about Genghis Khan and Mansa Musa. In Year 8 their curriculum currently includes The Reformation and Elizabethan England, alongside a deep study of enslavement in Africa and the legacy of slavery across Europe. The Year 9 curriculum focuses on the 20th Century, with topics including Women’s Suffrage, World War I and key events of World War II (including the Holocaust and use of the atomic bomb).
History is one of their most popular option subjects in Year 10/11. They follow the Edexcel IGCSE specification and students achieve exceptionally highly, with the average grade of 8.11 in the Summer 2024. For their depth studies paper, they cover Germany: development of dictatorship, 1918–45 and A world divided: superpower relations, 1943–72, and for investigation and breadth studies they cover The USA, 1918–41 and Changes in medicine, c1848–c1948. Many of their students continue to pursue the subject at A Level (and beyond) where they follow the OCR specification, with topics including: England 1445–1509, The Cold War in Asia 1945–1993 and Civil Rights in the USA 1865–1992, alongside a 4000 word topic based coursework essay. Politics is offered as a new subject at A Level, following the Edexcel specification (Option A – Comparative Politics).
The Department is well-resourced with plentiful supplies of ICT resources, books and subscriptions. There are two History classrooms in their Manor block (alongside other Humanities and English classrooms) as well as a dedicated A Level Seminar Room in their Old School block. The Department has a large office also located in Old School.
The Department runs plenty of visits, commonly including a World War I battlefields trip to France or Belgium for all Year 9 students and a visit to either Warwick Castle or the Tower of London in Year 7. Their Sixth Form Politics students have also visited Parliament, in conjunction with other trust schools. The Head of History & Politics also leads their annual Remembrance Assembly and organises whole-school mock elections.
Professional development and life-long learning are essential to their school, and they ensure variety, motivation and CPD opportunities. They value collaboration and work well as a team to provide the very best careers provision for their students. We expect Heads of Departments to take responsibility and ownership for providing CPD opportunities for their teams in their subject areas, and regular extended department meetings are factored into their after-school training programme throughout each year, alongside a dedicated academic CPD focused INSET day.
About the School:
The school for Girls is an independent, academically selective day school for approximately 880 girls aged 3-18. At the school, they value character and academic rigour equally. Their curriculum ignites intellectual curiosity and fosters emotional intelligence, building resilience through challenge.
Both pupils and staff are encouraged to find and develop their passions and talents, through clubs, societies and an extensive programme of CPD. All members of the school community are expected to act with compassion and integrity, with respect for others and the environment and an awareness of global responsibility.
Everyone is equally valued in their school family and their dynamic young women are proud of their school. Looking after one another and rejoicing in one another’s successes comes second nature to a school girl as does her ‘can-do’ attitude and drive.
The school is at an exhilarating moment in its evolution, with a dynamic and ambitious Senior Leadership Team and a range of new developments (including a Sixth Form Centre and the Alvarium science building). The successful candidate will be similarly ambitious for the school and ready to make an impact in their vibrant learning community.
Benefits:
As part of the trust, the UK's leading network of independent girls' schools, they can offer a variety of benefits, such as:
* Competitive salaries and pay progression
* Access to extensive professional development opportunities
* Good transport links
* Training grants for qualifications
* Generous pension schemes
* Free life assurance benefit
* A discount of up to 50% on fees for children at the trust schools
* Childcare vouchers, interest free loans for training, computer purchase loans and travel season ticket loans
* A Cycle to Work scheme
* Competitive terms and conditions of employment
For further details and an application form please click the apply button.
Studies have shown that women and people from under-represented ethnicities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single aspect of a and person specification. At the school they are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace, so they encourage you to apply even if your past experience does not align perfectly with every qualification or experience in the information provided.
Applications must be received by 4pm on Monday 3rd February 2025.
Interviews will take place prior to half-term.
They reserve the right to appoint prior to this deadline, so early applications are encouraged. Interviews will take place shortly after receipt of applications. References for shortlisted candidates will be taken up before interview.
The school for Girls and the trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.
All applicants need to have the Right to Work in the UK to be considered for the role.
By applying to this job advertisement, you are providing consent for the Tes Recruitment team to propose and discuss your application with the employer.
Tes Recruitment Services (UK) represent Schools and Academies across the globe, supporting them to secure a great teacher/leader for every role.
To learn more about this role please email managedrecruit@tes.com for an information pack that includes school name, role specifics and context.
Please include REF: AD2164986 job id in the email subject line. Please note that they are unable to accept CVs sent to us via email so please use the stated application route.