CCF Contingent Commander - Part-time

Gad's Hill School, Rochester

Ref:KCC886-6007-205T
Posted:20/09/2023
Pay:£13,500 per year
Start Date:January 2024
App Close Date:27/10/2023 at 16:00
Interviews:ASAP following closing date

Advert

Gad's Hill School is a 3-16 co-educational independent day school in Higham, Kent, set in the beautiful home of Charles Dickens. From January 2024, we are seeking a Contingent Commander to lead our highly successful CCF contingent.

Gad’s Hill CCF is a single service Army Contingent affiliated to the Corps of Royal Engineers. It was formed in 2000 with a first parade strength of some 30 cadets. Since then, CCF at Gad’s Hill School has grown year on year and now boasts an establishment of over 150 cadets. We are a very driven and successful contingent and regularly enter cadets for such events as Military Skills Competition, CADSAAM and Cavalry Horse Trials. Our cadets are also involved in a high level of community engagement, with cadets representing the school on Remembrance Sunday, Corps Memorial Day, the General Gordon Parade, Armed Forces Day and Mayoral inauguration.

In addition to onsite training, the cadets also undertake weekend training camps, range days, annual camp and travel to Arnhem, Netherlands, each September for the airborne march. The contingent’s sponsor unit is 1 RSME (some 5 miles from the school) and so benefits from direct support and visits to Brompton Barracks, the RE Museum and also the RE Boat Training Section at Upnor.

At Gad’s Hill, we believe that the development of core personal strengths, such as self-confidence, self-discipline, resilience, teamwork and leadership is every bit as important for young people as their academic progress.

To that end, participation in the CCF is required for all pupils in our Lower Fourth (Year 8) and above and CCF sessions are incorporated in our weekly timetable on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

In those sessions, cadets undertake a range of activities including skill at arms, fieldcraft, first aid, map and compass, drill, command tasks and adventurous training.

Our cadets study, via their CCF sessions, for a level 2 BTEC in Teamwork and Personal Development, an Institute of Leadership & Management Diploma, and an Emergency First Aid at Work qualification, to go alongside their academic GCSEs as evidence of the well-rounded, confident young leaders that they have become.

Information about the school

Gad’s Hill School operates as three distinct departments within one school. The Kindergarten takes children from age three in our Nursery through to Year 2. Here, alongside the foundation in literacy, numeracy, sciences and humanities, there is a strong emphasis on play, physical education, music and drama with all pupils performing in a number of short productions each year. The school places particular emphasis on communications and therefore pupils from Reception upwards receive twice weekly lessons in Spanish and also Computing.

The Junior School is two-form entry from Years 3-6. Our Junior pupils receive a high proportion of lessons with subject specialists; in particular Modern Languages (Spanish), DT, Computing, Art, Music, Science & Games. By Years 5 and 6 nearly all lessons are delivered by specialist tutors. In sport our students have the opportunity to represent the school in fixtures against other schools.

Our school is located geographically within a selective secondary system and historically many of our pupils would leave to attend grammar schools at the end of Lower Shell (Year 6). However, in the last few years, the growing success of our Charles Dickens Scholarship Award, providing financial assistance to the most able pupils from our own Junior School and many from the wider community, has resulted in the development of highly capable and aspirational cohorts at Key Stage 3. Our strength is to make the most of our small class sizes and supportive atmosphere to add significant value to every individual.

The Upper School generally has a two- or three-form entry. The curriculum is relatively broad, with all pupils taking a spread of subjects including Art, DT, Food & Nutrition, Spanish, Computer Science, Music and Drama. Students choose a range of options at the conclusion of Year 8. They follow a core of Maths, English (Literature & Language), Separate or Combined Science and CCF (comprising BTEC Teamwork & Personal Development and Institute of Leadership & Management diplomas). As options they may choose from History, Geography, Spanish, Art, Food & Nutrition, DT, Computer Science, Music, Drama and PE, and in recent years we have supplemented these options with Psychology and Statistics exam courses for our increasingly able cohorts.

At present there is no sixth form education at Gad’s Hill and pupils currently depart for local schools, colleges or other independents. In recent times we have partnered with the University for the Creative Arts and several of our leavers have commenced Extended Diploma courses with them.

Job Contact Information

Name:Tracy Barker
Address:Higham, Rochester, Kent, ME3 7PA
Telephone: Tel: 01474 822366
Email: information@gadshillschool.org

Documents

Below are documents that have been added to this vacancy.