Ferndown Upper School
Head of Biology
Main Pay Scale/Upper Pay Scale plus TLR 2b (£5,352)
Permanent 1.0fte
Required for September 2024 a Head of Biology teaching at GCSE and A Level.
Ferndown Upper School is a very special place to work because we have well behaved students, who allow their teachers to teach, we focus on work life balance to ensure that staff spend their time on the activities that actually make a difference and we have a friendly and supportive staff body.
Ferndown itself as also an ideal location; it is ten minutes from the historic market town of Wimborne, thirty minutes from the sandy beaches of Bournemouth and Poole and twenty five minutes from the New Forest.
Ferndown is a successful 13-19 Upper School that is a centre of excellence for STEM. We have a strong reputation and full team of experienced teachers. The Science Faculty is a friendly, collegiate team, who work hard together to achieve high standards and have achieved excellent results. It is a strong faculty with high levels of recruitment and success at A Level, with many going on to take these subjects at University. There are four teachers of biology in the department, four physics teachers and four chemists.
As a lead STEM school, we have a sophisticated range of STEM enrichment in place, including various competitions, green powered car and careers events. To further enhance our provision we are now offer ‘Triple for All’, which means all our students will be entered for triple science GCSE. At FUS, we only teach our students in separate sciences and believe that they should have access to teachers with specialisms and high quality subject knowledge.
We are looking for an outstanding and ambitious teacher to work in partnership with the Director of Learning to be accountable for progress in Biology at Key Stage 4 and 5 and to implement appropriate intervention strategies where necessary. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to teach A level to our passionate, curious and organised students.
What Ferndown Can Offer You:
1. Great students who behave – you can make a difference to their learning.
2. The opportunity to work with outstanding colleagues.
3. Tight, robust behaviour systems.
4. Centralised detentions, including homework detentions (you do not need to organise/run/chase), helping to underpin our excellent behaviour, so you are free to teach.
5. Ongoing ‘no-stakes’ feedback, helping you to continuously develop.
6. We believe that trusting our staff with autonomy helps to develop a strong staff culture.
7. Centralised, shared units of work and resources.
8. Excellent, ongoing CPD, career development and promotion opportunities.
9. A well-kept site and a very pleasant location in beautiful Dorset.
10. A tax efficient Childcare or Car Lease Scheme through salary sacrifice.
11. Private Healthcare Plan including 24/7 access to a GP by phone, gym discounts and cashback for optical, dental and other appointment expenses for employees and their children.
12. Access to the staff benefits and discounts portal through Dorset Council.