FARLINGAYE HIGH SCHOOL Maths, Computing & Arts Specialist School Teacher of Science (MPR plus recruitment payment) INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS SCIENCE FACULTY INTRODUCTION Thank you for your interest in this post for a Teacher of Science. This post is available from September 2015 and is an exciting opportunity for an outstanding Science teacher to join this oversubscribed and successful school. Applicants from all disciplines are invited to apply. The Science Faculty at Farlingaye High School is an enthusiastic, friendly and very committed group of teachers and technicians. The Faculty work together as a team, sharing good practice, writing schemes of work and offering support to one another. We have high expectations of our students. The school is a specialist Maths, Computing and Arts Specialist School. This has led to new resources across the school and increased opportunities for our students and the community. There are projectors in every laboratory and interactive whiteboards in 13 out of 14 laboratories. We have just completed a cycle of refurbishments over the last 3 years which has brought the laboratories up to date ready for teaching and learning in the 21st century. Within the faculty we have strong links with our primary schools. We have supported the Year 3 Maths Days and the Year 5 ICT Days and organised lessons for Year 6 students during their taster session at the school, which they all enjoy. In September we had the opportunity to really engage the year 6 students from our feeder schools with an exciting Science show as part of their first curriculum day here. They thoroughly enjoyed it and were excited about Science in the future. We do not believe that Science should be confined to the classroom and we offer a Science club, booster classes, trips and field trips for all our students. Last term we completed a very successful Biology week to link in the national events and activities including a trip to the Natural History Museum, breakfast berries and bird song, a small mammal hunt around our school grounds, and some example dissections of a rat and a frog. All of the activities were very popular with students. In Chemistry students have benefitted from RSC “Spectroscopy in a suitcase” workshops and have entered local competitions at UEA. In Physics we have had attended local lectures from the IOP and in the recent past organised a trip to CERN. Leading up to exams we offer a wide variety of revision sessions to GCSE and ‘A’ level students. These include after school and lunchtime sessions and some master class type sessions in the holidays, and taking part in school-run residentials for year 11 students. Within Science we try to focus on exciting and creative lessons. This is an exciting time to join the school and I hope you will feel that this is a place where you can develop your expertise and gain experience, whilst making a genuine contribution to the Science Faculty and the opportunities of our great students we have at this school. May I draw your attention to the lesson you will be asked to prepare and teach, should you be called for interview. The details are attached to the back of this booklet. If you have any queries regarding this post please don’t hesitate to contact either of us on the school telephone number or by email at cjmoran@farlingaye.suffolk.sch.uk and slucking@farlingaye.suffolk.sch.uk Claire Moran and Simon Lucking Acting Head of Faculty SCIENCE FACULTY STAFF David Williams David is Head of Faculty and has been at the school since September 1999, specialising in Physics. He has oversight of Key Stages 3, 4, and 5, monitoring of teaching and learning across the faculty, Science budget planning, safety overview, Key Stage 3 strategy overview, faculty discipline, support and overview, timetable planning, analysis of student performance with team and curriculum reviews. He leads the professional development of staff and monitors the work of technicians. David currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Physics and Applied Science A2 Simon Lucking Simon joined the school in July 2005 and is the Head of Physics, monitoring and supporting students and staff in this curriculum area. He teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Physics. Jonathan Harker Jonathan has been teaching nine years and joined the school 6 years ago as the Key Stage 4 Co-ordinator. He is responsible for Core and Additional Science GCSE courses. Jon currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Biology. Rick Barnett Rick joined the school in September 1985. He is part time this year and he currently teaches KS4 and A level Chemistry. Claire Moran Claire joined the school in September 2000 and is Head of Chemistry and responsible for the teaching and learning in that area, monitoring and supporting students and staff. She teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Chemistry. Vicky Stuart Vicky joined us as an NQT six years ago and currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Biology and Applied Science. She is an Assistant Year Co-ordinator. Gemma Hegarty Gemma is in her eight year of teaching and is the Science faculty SEN link and literacy link. She currently teaches KS3, KS4 Core, Additional and Applied Science and A level Biology. Sally Jackson Sally is in her sixth year of teaching. She currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Chemistry and Applied Science. She is also the KS3 Co-ordinator. Emma Broome - currently on maternity leave Emma joined the school in 2010. She currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Biology and is the Head of Applied Science. James Parks James joined the school in September 2012 and is the Head of Biology, monitoring and supporting students and staff in this curriculum area. He teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Biology. Iain Rogers Iain joined us in September 2013 as a Chemistry teacher. He teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Chemistry. Peter Silvester Peter joined the school in September 2014 and is an experienced Chemistry. He teaches KS3 KS4 and A level Chemistry Natasha Rai Natasha joined the faculty in September 2014 having previously taught at the school as an NQT some years ago before teaching abroad for some time. She is a Chemistry and teaches KS3 KS4 and A level Chemistry. She is the faculty Gifted and Talented link. Thomas Moore Tom is an NQT and joined the faculty this year. He is a Biology specialist and currently teaches KS3, KS4 and AS level Biology. Tim Harrison Tim is an NQT Biology teacher who trained with the school whilst completing his Homerton PGCE course. He teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Biology. Matthew Barrie Matt joined the faculty this year and is an experienced Physics teacher. He has responsibility for helping to further develop teaching and learning in Physics and ICT within the faculty. Nicola Day Nicola joined the faculty this year and is an experienced Physics teacher. She currently teaches KS3, KS4 and A level Physics. Nicola Buckley Nicola joined us this year and is a science LSA who also teaches some KS3 lessons. Rebecca Wetherell Rebecca joined us in March this year having previously taught in Swindon and Newmarket. Rebecca is a Chemistry specialist currently teaching KS3 groups. Clive Stevens Clive joined the school in September 2013 as the Senior Science Technician responsible for the day to day running and organisation of equipment. He is mainly responsible for Physics preparation across the faculty. Janet Burgess Janet has been at Farlingaye since June 1990 and is an experienced Science Technician, mainly responsible for paper based curriculum materials. Kirstij Barrell Kirstij is a part time Science Technician who joined the school in March 2010. Harriet Osborn Harriet is a full time Chemistry Technician who joined us in June 2013. Hannah Ormondroyd Hannah is a full time science technician who joined the faculty in December 2013. AIMS AND VISION OF THE SCIENCE FACULTY Our aims as Science teachers and technicians: to stimulate students and create an interest in Science so that the study of the subject is enjoyable and rewarding; to help all students, irrespective of gender, race, culture or ability, develop to their full potential; to maintain a safe, ordered and purposeful learning environment; to develop experimental and investigative abilities; to help students develop an informal interest in matters of scientific import in everyday life; to help students acquire a systematic body of scientific knowledge and be able to apply this to a rapidly changing world and environment in its widest context. The Science Faculty is fully committed to continuing improvement in the quality of teaching and learning. Teachers have high expectations of all students and provide a supportive environment in which students are challenged and encouraged to develop to their full potential. CURRICULUM Key Stage 3 In Years 7 and 8, students are taught in mixed ability tutor groups. All groups have four periods per fortnight of 100 minutes. The students follow the “Exploring Science” scheme of work which is the most popular SOW in the UK. We have developed a range of APP tasks that we use throughout the course with students to assess their progress on HSW skills. With the increased curriculum flexibility, we developed a two-year course for the KS3 SOW which is completed by the end of Year 8. Students then start some GCSE course units in Year 9 (B1, B2, C1, P1) which can them be used by them in their GCSE routes going forward into KS4. Key Stage 4 Students in Year 9 have started their GCSE courses and in year 10 they then move onto either OCR Gateway CORE Science or they can choose Triple Science as part of the option pool system which gives them additional 2 periods per fortnight to enable the triple course to be taught over the next 2 years. In Year 11 students either continue with the Triple Science courses or complete one of two other routes OCR Additional Science , OCR Additional Applied Science. Each half of the year group is split into sets by ability. The teaching team mostly teach their specialism at KS4, so most groups have three teachers or two staff for the GCSE Additional Applied Science course groups. A level During the past seven years the number of students studying Science ‘A’ levels has gradually been on an upward trend. In Year 13 there are 44 students studying ‘A’ level Biology (AQA), 40 students studying ‘A’ level Chemistry (OCR) and 36 students studying ‘A’ level Physics (OCR-modular). In Year 12 there are 68 students studying AS Biology (AQA specification A), 70 students studying AS Chemistry and 48 students studying AS level Physics (OCR). We have in the last four years successfully run a single award Applied Science course which has 14 students on the A2 course and 16 students doing AS. Students have very good access to staff and are supported well beyond the lab and lesson time with additional revision classes, breakfast sessions, holiday revision, conferences with chief examiners, and a well-developed FLG for all the courses. Each ‘A’ level subject has 6 x 100 minutes of taught lessons per fortnight. ACCOMMODATION, FACILITIES AND RESOURCES The Science Faculty is housed in fourteen new refurbished quality laboratories. All laboratories are at ground floor level, with a large Preparation Room (plus an additional Preparation Room in the new Sixth Form block) and Team Room as the central focus. We also have a Resources Room for secure storage of Tests and ICT equipment. Each lab is equipped with basic glassware and equipment. The Faculty has 4 moveable suites of laptop computers, accompanied by “dataharvest” data logging equipment. It is also possible to book into more extensive computer facilities elsewhere in the school. We also have extensive additional simulation software for use at KS3, KS4 and ‘A’ level courses. We make very good use of the computer network shared area to have all our resources available to staff and students. We also use the FLG a lot with classes and for our intranet video library and electronic SOW. EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES Science club runs for Years 7 and 8 and usually meets on a Tuesday after school or at lunch time. A level trips are organised regularly. Throughout the year the Faculty organises a lunchtime Science surgery, where students can get extra help with any aspect of their Science work. Revision sessions take place for GCSE and ‘A’ level students. The faculty also contributes to whole school events and the links with the primary schools including year 6 taster day and year 5 ICT day. This year we have also supported the National Biology week with a whole range of activities that students could sign up to including a trip to investigate Darwin’s life ideas and evolution at the Natural History Museum, a biology photography competition, several interesting dissections which proved to be very popular, a small mammal experience and a visiting speaker who brought in a range of reptiles and snakes and talked to lower school students. In Physics we have run trips to local and national IOP lectures and in the recent past a trip to CERN to see the Large Hadron Collider. STRATEGIES FOR RAISING STUDENT ATTAINMENT Some of the strategies, which the faculty has used to raise student attainment, include: Target cards for underachievers Lunchtime Science surgery Spring term revision classes Student self-assessment cards Student checklists for topics of work and coursework Student friendly assessment criteria for coursework After school and lunchtime revision sessions for post-16 students Extensive use of ICT modelling and revision software Regular use of word games and start and plenary activities Well organised and developed VLe for use by all students Open access to all past paper materials we have available. EXAM RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE KS3 performance 2008-2010 Year % Level 5+ % level 7+ 2008 81 22 2009 87 24 2010 85 29 GCSE Additional Science A*/A A*-C 2009 31 % 72 % 2010 21% 72.3% 2011 14.8% 62% 2012 26% 64% 2013 27% 83% 2014 3% 70% GCSE Gateway Core Science (exam taken in Year 10) A*-A A*-C 2009 29.0 % 75.9% 2010 25.3% 77.6 % 2011 28.7% 73.8% 2012 33 % 70 % 2013 21% 56% 2014 1% 50 % Triple Science GCSE 2009 - 2014 Subject Biology Chemistry Physics 2009 % % A*/A A/C 69 98 57 98 71 98 2010 % % A*/A A/C 72 100 65 98 70 100 2011 % % A*/A A/C 60.5 96.4 70.9 90.9 69.1 94.5 2012 % % A*/A A*/C 55 95 60 95 61 97 A2 Biology performance 2009-2014 Year 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 No taking A2 44 40 44 45 42 40 % A to E 98 100 98 100 100 97.5 %A/B 52 53 61 57.8 60 61.5 2013 % % A*/A A*/C 50 100 52 98 61 100 2014 % % A*/A A*/C 42 92 45 92 37 90 A2 Chemistry performance 2009-2014 Year 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 No taking A2 30 40 41 31 33 30 % A to E 97 95 98 96.8 100 100 %A/B 77 75 56 64.5 57 65 A2 Physics performance 2009-2014 Year 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 No taking A2 27 34 28 31 22 20 % A to E 100 100 100 100 100 100 %A/B 82 62 54 63.5 64 75 A2 Applied Science 2010-2014 Year 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 No taking A2 12 12 15 13 6 % A to E 100 100 100 100 83 %A/B 0 23 13 30.8 33 Uptake for Science A level courses compared to national uptake Chemistry Biology Physics FHS % 16.9 22.5 11.2 Nationally % 5.0 6.6 3.5 THE POST This post is available from September 2015 as a permanent position. There is some flexibility in the courses you would be expected to teach including KS3 SOW to year 7 and 8, GCSE Core Science, Additional Science, Applied Science, Triple Science within specialism, and A level teaching may also be available. There may be a recruitment payment available for the position. All new staff are offered a mentor and we operate a line management system with the Head of Faculty for curriculum matters and the Head of Year for pastoral matters. All staff are ultimately responsible to the Headteacher. The following taken from the job description for a main scale teacher. We apologise if it sounds a bit formal, but it does show what is expected. The general responsibilities of a main scale post include: to teach as directed by the Headteacher to work at the direction of the Headteacher and the Head of Faculty to enable the efficient delivery of the curriculum identified through Schemes of Work and in line with the National Curriculum to promote attainment at the highest level of all students through effective teaching to maintain accurate and appropriate records of students’ learning and achievements in line with other schools and faculty agreed policies to regularly set and mark homework, classwork and coursework in line with the agreed school policy to write regular reports to parents in accordance with the agreed school policy to provide subject information to parents and attend parents’ meetings and respond to parents’ enquiries as required by the Headteacher and Head of Faculty attend Open and Information Evenings as required by the Headteacher within the agreed school’s time budget allocation attend appropriate meetings and in-service training within the agreed school’s time budget allocation to undertake faculty responsibility as reasonably directed by the Head of Faculty to maintain in good order teaching room/area and resources for learning, including text books, student materials and equipment to promote and celebrate achievement by students through the implementation of the school’s rewards policy and effective use of display to maintain effective discipline through implementation of the school’s agreed procedures to take part in the school’s appraisal scheme to inform Head of Faculty or LT of concerns that may affect Health & Safety of school population to implement all agreed school policies All new staff will probably be tutors and will undertake the following: to attend year team and other relevant meetings to act as a form tutor, where required thereby following the agreed procedures laid down in the School’s Pastoral Care and Guidance document to be available for the marking of registers to promote the attainment of all students within the relevant tutor/year group to maintain effective discipline and the agreed uniform code through implementation of the school’s agreed procedure LESSON If you are called for interview you will be asked to teach the following lesson:Timing: 40 minutes Students: Approximately 25 mixed ability Year 8 students. Topic: Exploring Science topic: 9Fd The reactivity league. Students will not have covered this unit previously but they will do it in year 8 at the end of the 2 year course we run on KS3 SOW. Please plan a lesson to support some of these learning objectives and if you would like to include a practical that would be great. Learning objectives: use the reactivity series to describe the reactions of metals with oxygen, water and acids; draw on qualitative evidence from several sources to place metals in order of reactivity; use qualitative and quantitative evidence to decide when a displacement reaction has occurred; describe some uses of common metals such as iron, bronze, tin, zinc, gold, and magnesium use qualitative evidence from displacement reactions to place metals and their compounds in order of reactivity; explain how to use the reactivity series of metals to predict whether a reaction will take place; write word equations for a range of reactions of metals; distinguish logical and illogical explanations for the uses of metals based on their reactivity. explain that a more reactive metal will react with a compound of a less reactive metal in a displacement reaction; how to use the results of displacement reactions (including negative results) to deduce the order of reactivity of metals. Each lab will have a whiteboard, marker pens, rulers and pencils, data projector which you may want to use and plug in your laptop. If you need a laptop to be provided please can you tell us when putting in your order? If you have any questions about the lesson or this pack, please telephone Claire Moran or Simon Lucking at the school or email at cjmoran@farlingaye.suffolk.sch.uk or slucking@farlingaye.suffolk.sch.uk . If you want to order equipment for the lesson please contact the technicians on preproom@farlingaye.suffolk.sch.uk