Head of Design Technology
Walton-le-Dale High School, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 6RNThis job expired on 18 February 2022 – see similar jobs
Job start date
1 September 2022
Closing date
18 February 2022 at 12pm (midday)
Date listed
28 January 2022
Job details
Job role
- Teacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Subject
- Design and technology
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- MPS/UPS
Additional allowances
TLR 2_2
Head of Design Technology job summary
Dear Applicant
Thank you for your interest in the post of Head of Design and Technology at Walton-le-Dale High School from 1st September 2022. I hope that our website www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk will give you a good overall “flavour” of the school.
Commitment to safeguarding
Walton-le-Dale is committed to the safeguarding of all students. The successful candidate will be required to undertake the Enhanced Disclosure process via the DBS.
Please consult the application pack for further information, available at www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk
Additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About Walton-le-Dale High School
- School type
- Local authority maintained school, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary
- School size
- 748 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- Email address
- vacancies@waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk
- Phone number
- 01772335726
Walton-le-Dale is a relatively small school which gives us a distinctive atmosphere. Many visitors comment on the warmth and friendliness of the school. It is a school where the students and staff know each other well. Our smaller size allows us to see each child as an individual and to cater for them individually. We are proud to be one of only a few secondary schools in Lancashire with the Inclusion Mark, achieved in 2008 and renewed many times since. We currently have Flagship status for the Inclusion Mark and this reflects the importance of this to our ethos.
This is, and will continue to be, a student-centred school. Everything we do must have the interests of our students at the heart of it. The strengths of Walton-le-Dale lie in the relationships within the school. Our challenge is to ensure that we make use of these strong relationships to get the best out of our students in terms of achievement. A great education is more than exam results and I believe our success is also reflected in the way our students turn out after 5 years at Walton-le-Dale. Everyone in the school works hard to make this happen.
Our students come from a wide catchment area. Around a third of the students come from the Blackburn area, whilst the rest are local or from the Preston area. We have a large number of feeder schools. We are truly a comprehensive school, with a mixed ability intake. It is noticeable that we have a significant number of students who join the school late. These are often vulnerable students with a wide range of educational, social and emotional needs. We believe they are attracted to us because of the quality of care and learning support that we offer. We place a strong emphasis on trying to deliver a curriculum which is relevant and appropriate to our students. The school offers Key Stage 4 students a wide variety of options for a relatively small school. These curriculum developments are matched by a very strong focus on teaching and learning as part of our current school improvement plan (https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/about-us/school-improvement).
There is a strong team of staff across the school – all staff, not just teachers. They are incredibly supportive of each other, both in a personal and professional sense. Lesson planning is often shared and cross-department sharing of expertise is also common. Our team of pastoral and learning support staff is exceptionally strong, with Progress Co-ordinators responsible for year groups across the school. We have a team of 14 teaching assistants at various levels and we are extremely proud of the work that we do to support our students based on need. Individual continuing staff professional development is a strong focus for us, underpinned by a core belief that individuals matter and that the strength of any school is based on the quality of its staff.
The Design and Technology department has flourished over many years under the long-standing leadership of the current Head of Department. A strong team of specialist staff teach their specialisms of Resistant Materials, Graphics, Textiles and Food. We currently offer GCSE courses in Design and Technology as well as Food Preparation and Nutrition. We are seeking a strong leader, focused on brilliant teaching and learning with excellent pedagogical and subject knowledge, to take the department forward in the next stage of its development. The Head of Department will be responsible for teaching the Resistant Materials elements of the subject area in the first instance. We are developing our use of technology across the department, with significant use of our laser cutter and a recent acquisition of a 3d printer.
Ofsted found that our school "requires improvement" having been "good" for a decade. As you will see from our website we have taken this judgement to heart and we are absolutely focused on ensuring that consistently brilliant teaching is the cornerstone of our community. We care about our school and what we do and we are determined to regain our "good" or better status in the shortest possible timescale. See https://www.waltonledale.lancs.sch.uk/about-us/school-improvement for an overview of our direction of travel.
You will receive high quality support and encouragement from Governors, myself, the senior leadership team and other middle leaders. If you feel you are up to this challenge and believe you have the same educational philosophy as us we would welcome an application. If not, I wish you good luck in your future career.
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