JOB DESCRIPTION
The Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and
young people and expects all staff to share this commitment
POST TITLE:
Head of Humanities Faculty
GRADE:
Main Professional Scale and TLR 1
RESPONSIBLE TO:
Headteacher
Cottenham Academy is a federation of two schools, Cottenham Village College and The Centre School.
The Village College (www.cvcweb.net) has approximately 900 students on roll. This includes a small
post-16 group who are studying Level 1 and 2 qualifications.
Purpose:
The Heads of Faculty are key figures in the management of Cottenham Village College. They are
expected to take overall responsibility for their subject areas and to contribute to whole college policy
and the development of the school community. They will actively promote the college’s values and work
with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure that the provision of education is of the very highest quality.
The Head of Faculty will be required to:
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play a key role in the leadership of the college in achieving ‘The Best in You’ for all of our students
lead the Humanities Faculty to provide an excellent education for all students in geography, history
and religious education
model a passion for humanities subjects that inspires staff and students alike
lead Faculty members to design fascinating, academically rigorous schemes of work
lead the Faculty in the design and redesign of our Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 curriculum to ensure
that all of our students receive a coherent, rigorous education in geography, history and religious
education
lead Faculty members and other staff to support academically weaker students and to target groups
of students at risk of underachieving
design effective and meaningful processes for tracking the achievement and attainment of students
within the Faculty without reducing this vital component of teaching and learning to a mere ‘data
exercise’
manage a system of behaviour management that maintains the highest of standards in the light of
our whole-school policy
manage the performance management of up to four staff, setting rigorous and challenging targets
that develop those staff professionally and improve the attainment and achievement of students
communicate closely with parents and others, particularly regarding humanities subjects, to ensure
that Cottenham Village College remains at the heart of the local community
enthuse a passion for the humanities subjects at events such as open evenings and assemblies
develop the ways in which geography, history and religious education can meaningfully contribute to
a whole-school focus on literacy
explore and grasp opportunities for extra-curricular work for humanities students at Key Stage 3 and
4
encourage and support Faculty members in building links with individuals and organisations beyond
Cottenham Village College
have excellent inter-personal and communication skills
possess resilience and a sense of humour
May 2013
The Humanities Faculty
The Humanities Faculty at Cottenham Village College is already very strong and needs an
exceptional leader to take it to new heights. Recent GCSE results for both geography and history
have been excellent. In 2011 Cottenham Village College was used by OFSTED as a ‘good practice’
case study for history. You can read the OFSTED case study for an introduction to the Faculty, its
values and its strengths.
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/resources/good-practice-resource-ensuring-rigorous-historical-thinkingcottenham-village-college
We believe that our success comes from an extremely collaborative environment in the Faculty, and
our new Head of Faculty will need to work hard to create the conditions in which members of the
faculty have the space to focus on the very best teaching in the humanities subjects. There is a
particular need for greater collaboration in geography and R.E. and we would expect our new Head
of Faculty to take a proactive lead in effecting collaboration and collegiality.
Key Stage 3
Students in Years 7, 8 and 9 follow a programme of study that meets the requirements of the
National Curriculum and the Cambridgeshire Agreed Syllabus for Philosophy, Religion and Ethics
(PRE). Our Faculty members constantly review and improve our Key Stage 3 enquiries, and with a
new National Curriculum and GCSE specifications due we are looking forward to developing our
schemes of work further. Students enjoy their humanities subjects and large numbers opt for one or
two of the subjects at GCSE.
As a Faculty we believe that not everything that is valuable in education can be assessed, and not
everything that can be assessed is valuable. We have a strong focus on formative assessment and
two of our history teachers, Geraint Brown and Matt Stanford, have a national reputation for their
work on assessment in history that is reflected through publishing in a professional journal, running
workshops at national conferences and teaching Masters students at the University of Cambridge.
We are not complacent, however, and although our assessment procedures have been praised in
two OFSTED visits, we think there is still room for improvement and our new Head of Faculty will
need to take a lead on this.
The Faculty has schemes of work in place for all year groups, but we are constantly looking to
revise, update and change our curriculum and we want our Head of Humanities to take a lead on
this, particularly for Key Stage 3 geography and Key Stage 4 Religious Education. Lessons last for
one hour. We are particularly fortunate to have a number of specialist Teaching Assistants, and
Ruth Brown works extensively with the Humanities Faculty. History is taught to mixed-ability groups
in all year groups. A number of extra-curricular trips are run in the Faculty though we are keen to
explore how further provision might be offered, particularly for geography and R.E. The Faculty is
well-resources with computers and projectors in every classroom, and some classrooms having an
interactive whiteboard.
GCSE
Geography and history are very popular subjects. Our results are well above the national average
and we typically have 40-50% of our students achieving a Grade A or A* in geography and history.
We also have considerable success at working with our weakest students and helping them achieve
good results. We work hard to ensure that we do not simply ‘teach to the test’. Many of our students
go on to study A-Level geography or history at a local sixth form, and several have gone on to
undergraduate and postgraduate study in the subjects. In line with our whole-school focus, our
emphasis at GCSE is currently on supporting particular groups of students who are at risk of
underachievement, and a major part of the role for our new Head of Faculty will involve managing a
programme of intervention for such students.
May 2013
Links to wider subject communities
Our Faculty has built strong links with a number of individuals and groups beyond Cottenham
Village College. At a local level, we work closely with other schools in Cambridgeshire, and we
would hope that a new member of our Faculty would help to develop our inter-school relationships.
Our work in history has been very strong in this respect, and fruitful collaborations have been made
over developing our Key Stage 3 R.E. curriculum. We would very much like to see stronger links
formed with other schools for geography. We have worked closely with the Faculty of Education in
the University of Cambridge for many years and frequently welcome PGCE students into our
Faculty. Most members of the Faculty have mentored trainee teachers to the exceptionally high
standards demanded by the Faculty of Education, and have had further roles within the Faculty,
including the running of workshops and the supervision of MEd students. We actively encourage
members of the Faculty to publish their work and numerous articles and book chapter have
emerged from the Faculty for history in recent years; our new Head of Faculty should be ambitious
in achieving this for geography and R.E. as well. We encourage attendance at national and
international conferences – in 2013 members of our Faculty have presented work at local, national
and international conferences, and we would expect our new Head of Faculty to support and further
this wider engagement. In particular, we want our new Head of Faculty to form strong links with the
geography and R.E. subject communities.
Staff from September 2013
 Jos Abbott (Head of Year 10 and Head of GCSE Geography)
 Tracy Brogan (Deputy Head – RE specialist)
 Geraint Brown (Assistant Head – history specialist)
 Ruth Brown (Teaching Assistant)
 Steve Ellison (Headteacher – history specialist)
 Matt Stanford (Head of History)
 Corinne West (history – NQT)
 Nicky Woodroffe (geography)
May 2013
PERSON SPECIFICATION ~ HEAD OF HUMANITIES
QUALIFICATION AND
PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
SKILLS AND
EXPERIENCE
KNOWLEDGE AND
UNDERSTANDING
INTERPERSONAL
SKILLS
CRITERIA
ESSENTIAL/
DESIRABLE
EVIDENCE
Degree or equivalent
Essential
Application
Qualified Teacher Status
Essential
Application
Evidence of relevant professional development
Essential
Application
A commitment to developing professional skills
Essential
Interview
Relevant experience as a successful classroom teacher in secondary
education
Essential
Application
Understanding of contemporary assessment practice and target setting
Essential
Interview
Ability to successfully manage behaviour in the classroom
Essential
Application/Interview/Teaching
Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
Essential
Interview
Understanding of developments of teaching and learning in the relevant
subject area
Essential
Application/Interview/Teaching
Excellent knowledge and interest in the relevant subject area
Essential
Application/Interview/Teaching
Commitment to inclusive and high achieving comprehensive education
Essential
Application/Interview
Effective management of equipment and resources
Essential
Interview
Demonstrably good relationships with colleagues, students and the
wider community
Essential
Interview/Teaching
Commitment to contributing to extra-curricular activities of the school
Desirable
Interview
Commitment to promoting and safeguarding the welfare of all students
Essential
Interview
May 2013