POST
Director of Humanities
RESPONSIBLE FOR
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Leading the development of Humanities within the faculty and across the school
curriculum.
Strategic leadership and line management of the Humanities teams.
Ensuring student success and engagement across all Humanities courses.
Developing home-school links to promote learning opportunities.
Liaising with the Headship Team and assisting the Head Teacher with the overall
management and development of the school.
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RESPONSIBLE TO
The Headship team
PURPOSE OF THE JOB
To assist the Head Teacher, Headship Team and Governors in ensuring achievement of the
highest possible educational standards and attainment, creating an atmosphere and
structures in which pupils feel valued and staff have high expectations of them.
LIAISING WITH
Headship Team, Teachers, Tutors, Teaching Assistants, Admin Staff, External Agencies
including LA representatives and Parents.
DUTIES
The Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document specifies the general professional duties of staff
on the Leadership Spine. In addition, certain particular duties are reasonably required to be
exercised and completed in a satisfactory manner.
KEY FUNCTIONS
•
To be the Director of Humanities for Prendergast Vale College liaising with and
representing this faculty to, the Headship team
•
To lead the development of the curriculum provision for Humanities to maintain an
understanding of the latest developments in education curriculum, pedagogy and practice, in
each of these areas and represent these to the Headship team.
•
To identify appropriate resources, including human resources for the faculty and
ensure that they are deployed efficiently, effectively and safely

To control the budget for the faculty, maintain records of the financial expenditure
and stock inventory for the faculty in line with college policy.
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•
To have oversight of and ensure that there are accurate records of pupil attainment
in Humanities. To monitor this data, derive and apply suitable interventions to promote
excellence within the faculty.
•
To secure and sustain effective teaching across the faculty, evaluating the quality of
teaching and support, standards of pupils’ achievement, supporting effective CPD for
improvement
•
Develop and implement departmental and whole school policies and practices which
reflect the school’s commitment to high achievement for all and effective teaching and
learning.
•
Use school and national data effectively to identify underachievement and inform
policies, targets and teaching methods.
•
To teach classes and groups as allocated by the Headship Team
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To have an overview of and provide support for the tutors within one of the schools
Pastoral Houses
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
The main responsibilities of the post are to:

Lead and manage the provision of the Humanities faculty, including strategic planning
and day-to-day management of the faculty.

Carry out a substantive whole school leadership responsibility as negotiated with the
Head Teacher and subject to annual rotation in support of the post holders continual
professional development as a senior leader.

To act as a Head of House (lead tutor) with a responsibility for supporting colleagues
within the faculty in the execution of their pastoral role as House Tutors.

Maintain and develop the faculty resources used to implement course outlines, syllabuses
and schemes of work.

Work with the Director for the Primary Phase and advise primary colleagues in a subject
specialist capacity of resources and pedagogy which might support them in the delivery
of the Humanities curriculum in their phases.

Ensure that accurate and detailed records are kept of meetings, reports and discussions
with parents and outside agencies.

Ensure that the Humanities faculty make effective use of data to support student
performance, including in SEN and EAL matters.

Work with members of the department and other staff to ensure that individual and
group education plans are used to set subject-specific targets and match work well to
pupils’ needs.

Analyse and interpret relevant national, local and school data, plus research and
inspection evidence, to inform policies, practices, expectations, targets and teaching
methods.

Use data effectively to identify pupils who are seriously underachieving and where
necessary create and implement effective plans of action to support those pupils.
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
Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness strategies put in place to support student learning.

Produce and maintain a Faculty Improvement Plan as part of the School Improvement
Plan, to include staff development and training implications.

Lead departmental and whole school training through providing guidance to staff on the
choice of appropriate teaching and learning methods to meet the needs of different
pupils.

Be responsible for upholding the agreed school attitude to dress, behaviour and discipline
in liaison with the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher.

Monitor, manage and support the work of SEN, more able and Pupil Premium children
within the faculty.

Work with the School Leadership Team to produce a broad and balanced curriculum that
takes account of the needs and aspirations of all our students and equips them for
society.

Work with and advise the relevant members of the leadership team about appropriate
arrangements for transitions at each stage of a pupil’s development within the faculty.

Assist in the development of the School Improvement Plan and Self Evaluation and its
review mechanism.

Conduct break and lunch duties in line with the college duty rota
Conditions of employment
The above responsibilities are subject to the general duties and responsibilities contained in
the written statement of conditions of employment (the Contract of Employment).
The postholder is required to support and encourage the school’s ethos and its objectives,
policies and procedures as agreed by the governing body.
S/he shall be subject to all relevant statutory requirements as detailed in the most recent
School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document.
The postholder may be required to perform any other reasonable tasks after consultation.
This job description allocates duties and responsibilities but does not direct the particular
amount of time to be spent on carrying them out and no part of it may be so constructed.
This job description is not necessarily a comprehensive definition of the post. It will be
reviewed at least once a year and it may be subject to modification at any time after
consultation with the postholder.
All staff participate in the school’s performance management scheme.
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Person
Specification
Director of Learning
A Qualifications & Experience
Essential
Desirable
Qualified to degree level
Qualified to teach in the UK (QTS)
Right to work in the UK
Enhanced CRB
At least 3 years experience teaching in a UK
school
Proven track record of consistently good and
outstanding performance at GCSE
Experience of teaching in more than one
school
Proven track record of leading and managing
colleagues in achieving consistently good
and outstanding performance at GCSE
Proven track record of consistently good and
outstanding teaching
Evidence of successful experience of
planning and executing curriculum/subject
development
Successfully managed an aspect of school
improvement
Willingness to work cross-phase
Experience of working actively as part of a
highly effective team
Excellent knowledge of the characteristics of
high quality teaching and learning
Proven track record of effective coaching or
mentoring of a colleague
Evidence of having monitored and evaluated
the quality of teaching and learning and the
achievement and progress of students
Willingness to contribute to the school’s extracurricular activities
Very good IT skills
Experience of working cross-phase
Experience of leading a team or teams in a
school context
Led whole school professional development
on teaching and learning
Led on the innovative use of IT to improve
learning
External recognition as a lead practitioner
Knowledge of current curricular and whole
school developments in education
Can use data to effectively inform and
improve learning
Evidence of communicating effectively both
orally and through concise reports to a range
of stakeholders
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B Desirable behaviours
Professionalism
Challenge &
Support
Confidence
Creating trust
Respect for
others
Challenges others to bring about the best educational outcomes for all
students, persisting in overcoming barriers. Is always prepared to act in
the best interests of the student
Takes on new and difficult challenges willingly and positively. Expresses
confidence in own ability to succeed against the odds. Challenges or
expresses a different perspective from that of others, including senior
colleagues, on a professional issue, when appropriate.
even when it is difficult to do so, or there is a significant personal cost,
acts consistently in accordance with own stated values and beliefs
Makes every effort to create a feeling of community in lessons and
across the school. Encouraging students and others to value each other
when there are differences of view or background. Consistently and
appropriately gives praise and feedback to students and others.
Thinking
Analytical
thinking
Conceptual
thinking
He or she shows sound analysis of reasons for actions and behaviours.
Demonstrates an ability to think through implications. Prioritises.
Structures learning logically and coherently. Has a sound understanding
of monitoring and evaluation schedules including data analysis
Creatively adapts and applies concepts, ideas and best practice from
other schools and situations. Understands theories of learning and
applies them in a range of contexts.
Planning and setting expectations
Drive for
improvement
Information
seeking
Initiative
Sets and works relentlessly to achieve ambitious targets for all students,
appropriate to their ability; and for him or her including those relating to
personal continuous professional development. Communicates the
importance and urgency for all students to maximise their achievement.
Continuously focuses on tracking and measuring personal, team and
student performance against objectives
Systematically gathers and retains information on a regular basis that
will relevantly inform teaching and learning and school improvement.
Shares this information with others to effect impact on learning.
Anticipates and prepares for possible problems or opportunities that are
not necessarily obvious to others. Takes actions to create an
opportunity or to avoid a future problem.
Leading
Flexibility
Holding people
accountable
Managing
students
Passion for
learning
Has the ability and willingness to adapt to the needs of a situation and
change tactics. Reflects upon and reacts to individual student and group
performance, changing plans and resources if adequate learning is not
taking place. Doing so by drawing on a large range of learning and
teaching techniques and employing them effectively
Has the drive and ability to set clear expectations and parameters and
to hold others accountable for performance. Acts when students or
colleagues do not work to the required standard, and takes steps
accordingly. Having confronted poor performance, takes timely and
decisive action to ensure performance recovery
Provides clear direction to students, to enthuse and motivate them
cultivating an intrinsic motivation to learn in every student. Ensures that
individual and groups of students fully achieve their objectives at all
times. Always establishes a positive hard working atmosphere taking
students forward together.
Is capable of helping all students become confident and independent
learners. Acts as a lead learner and continuously provides students with
opportunities to experience learning as enjoyable and satisfying,
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improving their intrinsic motivation of learners.
Relating to others
Impact and
influence
Team working
Understanding
others
Produces positive outcomes by influencing with and through others,
including colleagues, parents and students
Has the ability to work with others to achieve shared goals. Speaks
positively about the team and its achievements to others. Brings issues
which hamper effectiveness of the team into the open and supports the
team in overcoming these
Demonstrates the drive and ability to understand others, and why they
behave as they do. Demonstrates objectivity in assessing others’
strengths and weaknesses and is able to assess these accurately.
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