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Lead Teacher - Full-time - Special Needs Position

The Quest School, Paddock Wood

  • Ref:KCC886-6108-51L
  • Posted:15/04/2021
  • Pay:Salary range starting from £35,000
  • Start Date:September 2021
  • App Close Date:30/04/2021 at 14:00
  • Interviews:May

Advert

This is an exciting opportunity to join our thriving and very successful independent specialist school for children with autism. Our two previous Ofsted inspections (most recently in May 2018) have rated us ‘Outstanding’ across all areas.

You will be joining a highly motivated and multi-disciplinary, collaborative teaching team.

The school has high staff/pupil ratios, and very small size teaching groups (typically fewer than 5 pupils per class; most pupils with 1:1 support, some with 2:1). This enables pupils to make excellent progress, and teaching staff to enjoy a real sense of job satisfaction and an appropriate work-life balance.

Surveys of our school staff consistently show high levels of job satisfaction and that people are extremely proud to be members of the Quest staff team. The co-founding parents of the School, founded in 2003, remain involved and the school is very well supported by a committed team of independent trustees

In the role of Lead Teacher, you will report directly to the Head Teacher and liaise closely with our existing team of Teachers, working alongside them in the planning, implementation and assessment of a full range of high-quality lessons across all subject areas.

You will also support our team of 1:1 Tutors by providing guidance and training to them in their work with pupils to enhance overall expertise in delivery of the National Curriculum and teaching.

In addition to your teaching duties, you will take on the responsibility for being the Lead Teacher, line managing the teachers and representing them with regards to whole school issues such as pupil admissions, curriculum assessment and external accreditation.

You will lead with advice on pupils’ group teaching, lesson planning and pupil differentiation as well as planning group lessons, curriculum access and identifying any external accreditation that is suitable to our cohort of pupils. You will work together with the Lead ABA Supervisor on the collation and analysis of whole school pupil progress data.

There is ample opportunity for personal professional progression. From the time of appointment, you will be a member of the School’s Senior Leadership Team (SLT). There will subsequently, for the right candidate, be the potential to progress to Assistant Head and to join the Board of Management.

The School’s positive behavioural approach is foundational to every aspect of learning within the school and uses a structured teaching approach. Training in Applied Behavioural Analysis will be provided and previous experience in this field is not a pre-requisite for this role.

Salary and school pension will be commensurate with the importance of the role and the calibre of the successful candidate.

Quest is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

All successful applicants will be required to complete an enhanced DBS check which must be maintained throughout the period of employment.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, employment status, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, nationality, pregnancy and maternity, religious belief or non-belief, responsibility for dependants, sexual orientation, social background, trade union or political activity or any other reasons which cannot be shown or justified.

Information about the school

Quest School is an independent specialist school, registered to take pupils from age 5-19 years, across the autistic spectrum. Our last Ofsted inspection in November 2022 rated us ‘Outstanding’ across all areas.

Quest was founded in 2003 by a group of parents and Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) professionals, seeking to create a specialist learning environment, designed around the specific needs of pupils with autism.

The ABA approach is foundational to every aspect of learning within the school and uses a structured teaching approach built on the principles of behaviour science. Quest is the only ABA school in Kent – there are only a handful of other ABA schools across the UK.

Regardless of ability level, pupils at Quest School have made outstanding progress in all areas of learning. For some, this is achieving everyday tasks independently; for others, it is achieving nationally recognised accreditation at Key Stage 4 and 5. All pupils at Quest have an Education, Health and Care Plan and consequently, places are agreed and funded by Local Authorities rather than individual fee-paying places.

Job Contact Information

  • Name:Ellie Drake
  • Address:The Quest School, The Hop Farm, Maidstone Road, Paddock Wood, Kent, TN12 6PY
  • Telephone: 01732522700
  • Email: ellie.drake@questschool.co.uk

Documents

Below are documents that have been added to this vacancy.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our students. You are advised that this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and therefore this post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). Please be aware that schools are also required to undertake online recruitment checks on shortlisted candidates under changes to Keeping Children Safe in Education.