Role: Lead Teacher, FTE (with QTS and relevant experience – paid with an SEN 1 Allowance)
Location: Caedmon College Whitby and Eskdale School
Contract Term: Full-Time, Term Time Only.
Salary: Main Pay Scale / Upper Pay Scale dependent upon experience - (Relocation package of up to £8000 may be available for the right candidate)
Closing Date: Midday, Friday 2nd September 2022
Start Date: January 2023.
Caedmon College Whitby and our Whitby Secondary Partnership partner of Eskdale School, in collaboration with our primary school colleagues, share a special and unique learning community on which we wish to develop our provision to meet the needs of students with Communication and Interaction difficulties and disabilities at secondary level. We already have a strong SEND provision at Caedmon College and accommodate additional Alternative Provision for our Federation for students who need to be educated out of mainstream lessons.
We are very excited to have had the opportunity to develop our provision further for children with significant communication and interaction needs for our Federation, to be accommodated on our Normanby Site of Caedmon College Whitby, building on our existing specialist SEND provision. This will be the second targeted provision of this kind for Whitby and our local area - East Whitby Primary Academy has developed similar provision at primary level this year and we remain in close collaboration with them, as well as with our wider community of local primary schools.
The aim of the Lead Teacher for the provision will be to ensure the provision of an inclusive, bespoke education model for up to 8 children to enable them to meet their individual academic and social potential. Each child will require a personalised timetable and educational programme which the ATA for the provision will assist with. The postholder will operate under the direction of the Whitby Secondary Partnership Federation SENCos from Eskdale School and Caedmon College Whitby, with the Lead Teacher managing day-to-day decisions and operations and liaising with parents and other staff, as necessary. The timetables to be developed will be both for mainstream lessons that the students are able to partake in and for any specialist teaching within our new inclusion area which will be housed above the College Learning Centre. The timetables will be agreed with staff and parents and will depend upon each child's needs, adapting as the child develops.
Our new targeted provision area will provide an inclusive space specifically designed and equipped to support children with a range of communication and interaction needs. This may include children with a diagnosis of autism, speech and language difficulties or children who present with challenges in their social interactions. The provision will be needs’ led rather than diagnosis led.
The students will need to be taught by a specialist communication and interaction teacher, who works closely alongside the SENCo and our mainstream class teachers to create individual programmes to reflect the children’s EHCP outcomes and to address any barriers to their learning within mainstream lessons. Our vision is that the students who have a place in this targeted provision will be equally supported to be fully-integrated members of the College community.
The new provision will be situated upstairs in the College Learning Resources Centre, and will comprise of a main classroom space, an intervention area, a sensory room and a quiet room. We also have suitable outdoor spaces that the students will be able to access, including a gardening area.
Our Opportunity
We are looking to appoint a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual who will work as part of the College community and wider Federation network, working with the students in our new targeted provision, providing the support they need to succeed. The vacancy will be based in our targeted mainstream provision, however, the postholder will need to interact and work with our wider school and Federation community.
We pride ourselves on supporting colleagues to develop their knowledge and practice through offering specialised training and development routes. Many of our staff have been able to progress in their career whilst working at the College and Eskdale School.
We encourage applications from candidates who have a passion for supporting students in their education with individual needs and who wish to work in a setting which offers rewards and challenges, where no two days are the same.
Candidates will be required to have relevant experience and qualifications to support the students in this targeted provision in their teaching and learning and wider development. The Lead Teacher must hold Qualified Teacher Status and have suitable past experience and appropriate qualifications or knowledge to be able to effectively support students with differing SEND needs. While each post is different, we are looking for the following for this post.
You will:
- Have suitable previous experience in working with children and young people, with a passion for developing their practice and knowledge further to best support the students in the provision.
- Be able to support in the delivery of high-quality learning experiences for all students.
- Be supportive, nurturing and understanding.
- Seek to make learning exciting and a positive experience.
- Enjoy working as part of a team.
- Demonstrate good communication skills both orally and in writing
- Have experience of working with children with SEND and ideally those with autism and communication difficulties.
- Be flexible and adaptable as every day will be different.
- Have a good sense of humour and be approachable and friendly.
- The Lead Teacher must have a working understanding of the SEND Code of Practice.
We can offer you:
- A caring environment where we value our community ethos.
- An enthusiastic and dedicated team of staff to work with.
- A Federation with unique and inspiring learning environments.
- An opportunity to work with an experienced and committed team and to join a team of staff who are determined to help each student to succeed.
- A Federation at the very heart of the transformation that is taking place in our coastal area.
Join us and develop your career in a provision that you can feel passionate about.
We would love you to get in touch so that we can share with you why we are so enthusiastic about this new provision and give you the chance to see what we have to offer. Please contact Jo to organise this.
The date of commencement for these posts will be January 2023.
Closing date is Friday 2nd September 2022 at 12:00noon.
Shortlisting will be on Wednesday 14th September 2022.
Interviews will be held on Wednesday 21st or Thursday 22nd September 2022.
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response. All candidates are advised to refer to the job description and person specification before making an application. These can be found below, along with the application form to be completed and returned to Jo Robinson at j.robinson@ccwhitby.org.
For an informal conversation about the role, to arrange a visit, or to submit a completed application form, please contact Jo Robinson, 01947 602406 or by emailing j.robinson@ccwhitby.org
We are committed to protecting and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expect all staff to share this commitment. This post is working in regulated activity. If you are successful we will undertake additional recruitment checks which will include a check to see if you have had any criminal convictions, a check of police information and we will check the barred list(s). It is a criminal offence for a barred individual to apply for a job in regulated activity.