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Head of English/Literacy Coordinator

Head of English/Literacy Coordinator

Alun School

Flintshire

Salary:
MPS + TLR 1 (£9,284)
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
September 2015
Apply by:
13 March 2015

Job overview

We are looking to appoint a Head of English/ Literacy Coordinator to lead a large, highly successful, and well-qualified team. The school is over-subscribed with 240+ in each 11-16 year group. We also have a Sixth Form of 500 students and over 150 of these are studying either English Literature or English Language A-level. Results at both GCSE and A Level are consistently outstanding.

The successful applicant will have experience in leading department initiatives, have high standards, and be a team player. We have an excellent track record of building the leadership potential of our staff.

The school serves the town of Mold and surrounding villages and our strong House system creates a really caring environment in which pupils can excel academically. 75% of our students stay on into the Sixth Form, and we attract significant numbers who enter Year 12 from other schools.

The market town of Mold is near the historic city of Chester. The region provides a high quality of life with easy access to the North Wales countryside and coastline. To find out more about our school please visit: www.alunschool.co.uk  

To apply please download an application pack, complete the Alun School application form fully and write a letter (two sides of A4) outlining your experiences to date:
Telephone: 01352 750755
E- mail: amanda.flint@alun.flintshire.sch.uk

Closing Date:  Friday 13th March 2015 12.00pm

About Alun School

  • Alun School
  • Wrexham Road, Mold
  • Flintshire
  • CH7 1EP
  • United Kingdom
+44 1352 750755

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Our school is a large co-educational 11-18 comprehensive school with a roll of 1700 students, including over 400 in the Sixth Form, serving Mold and the surrounding villages. We are over-subscribed and attract applications from other parts of the county into all year groups. The good resources, teaching standards and continuing professional development for staff enables our students to be offered a wide range of opportunities and experiences.

Mold is just inside the Welsh border in the county of Flintshire. We are an English-medium school, meaning that all courses and school business is conducted in English, but all students study the Welsh language as part of their curriculum and take the equivalent of a short-course GCSE qualification. The school is the largest in Flintshire and shares the campus with Mold Sports Centre which gives our students access to very good sporting facilities. There is also a specialist Hearing Support Centre attached to the school.

Pastoral Structure of the School

There are twelve ‘feeder’ primary schools and the vast majority of students in these are automatically allocated places on the basis of their home postcode being nearer to the Alun School than any other high school. These students account for up to three-quarters of the places each year. After this students are admitted under specific criteria until the standard number is reached.
On entering the school, each student is assigned to one of four Houses – Clwyd, Dyfed, Gwent and Powys. A variety of information, including family connections, is taken into consideration when making allocations to Houses. Each House is led by a Head of House and a Deputy, with a team of around a dozen teachers who each take responsibility for a Tutor Group and oversee the pastoral care for their group. The House “family” helps break down the main school into four smaller units and students identify strongly with their House through a rich programme of competitions throughout the year. Continuity of pastoral care is the ideal, and so a student usually remains with the same House and Group Tutor up to and including Year 11. In this way Pastoral Leaders get to know students and their parents very well.

The Sixth Form operates independently from the House system and although two-thirds of Year 11 continue into Year 12, there is a formal enrolment process that matches that undertaken by external applicants who each year number up to one hundred. There is a Sixth Form Leadership Team, and together with around two dozen tutors they manage recruitment, pastoral care and university applications. Students are placed into tutor groups with those studying similar subjects and tutors are chosen so that their subject expertise matches as many of the students as possible.

All students study a programme of Advanced (Level 3) courses from a choice of over 40 subjects including a small number of BTEC. As well as studying from options available in the prospectus, which can be seen on-line, students also make a significant contribution to the life of the main school through volunteering activities.

Academic Structure of the School

The academic organisation is based on curriculum directorates, similar to faculties, comprising; English, Mathematics, Science, Physical Education and Sport, Humanities and Languages, Technologies and Expressive Arts. Each faculty is led by a Curriculum Leader and within each there will be a number of Heads of Department and other post holders.
Students are taught in a mixed-economy of groupings throughout the school as befits each subject. In Year 7 this is mostly mixed-ability, but from Year 8 becomes more ability-based. For timetabling purposes each year group is often split into two halves and grouped CD (Clwyd plus Dyfed tutor groups) or GP (Gwent plus Powys tutor groups). However, the Key Stage 4 option lines run across the whole year group.

In the Sixth Form there are five Advanced Level option lines. This means that students can study up to five A Levels, but the majority take four subjects. Many subjects have more than one teaching group and these are spread across option lines to maximise choice.

The PSE curriculum is delivered by teams of tutors in half-day immersion sessions scheduled once a term.

The Town of Mold in the County of Flintshire

Mold is a large market town in an essentially rural area with a number of light industrial estates and the county’s main administration headquarters on the outskirts of the town. The town has many amenities including a hospital, numerous leisure facilities and Clwyd Theatr Cymru which stages a high quality programme including national touring companies. There are many good quality restaurants and gastro-pubs in the town and outlying villages. Local festivals include the Flintshire Festival, which is a two-week arts and culture event held each October. Country fairs are also held in many of the villages and towns.  
The town of Mold offers excellent shopping facilities from supermarkets to renowned family-owned businesses and smaller specialist shops. A traditional street market (held twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturday) takes place in the High Street, which is closed to traffic on those days. Nearby is the Broughton Retail Park on the edge of Chester, which offers many High Street stores and ample parking. Larger department stores are available in the major shopping cities of Chester (12 miles), Liverpool (30 miles) and Manchester (40 miles). The area also has several craft and antique centres, as well as the well-known retail outlet at Cheshire Oaks.

The county is known as the gateway to North Wales and the award-winning Flintshire Bridge and Business Park are symbols of the area’s healthy economy and successful regeneration. The location and good transport links make it an ideal base to reach Snowdonia National Park and the North Wales coast, as well as the Midlands and North West regions of England. The local A55 Expressway links to the national motorway network and public transport systems includes bus and rail links to London and other cities. The port of Holyhead, with ferries to Ireland, is an hour’s drive away.

The area surrounding Mold is very scenic and varies from the hills and valleys of the Clwydian Range, to woodlands, country lanes and villages, as well as coastline beaches.  There are several country parks within a few miles, such as those at Loggerheads, Moel Famau and Moel Arthur. Within easy reach are Wepre Country Park and also the heritage site of Greenfield Valley County Park, with its woodland walks, reservoirs, ancient monuments, and reconstructed local farm buildings and agricultural displays (Abbey Farm Museum).

With a wide range of quality property in the local area, Flintshire offers a good quality of life for families of all ages.

For further information about Alun School, please visit our website – www.alunschool.co.uk 

For further information about Flintshire, please visit – www.flintshire.gov.uk

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Applications closed