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Sir George Monoux College has a strong commitment to safeguarding students and safe recruitment. All posts are subject to enhanced DBS clearance.
Guidance notes for applicants
It is the College’s policy to ensure that as far as possible that the recruitment and selection procedure is consistent with employment legislation and that the recruitment and selection of the right person for each vacancy regardless of the protected characteristic set out in The Equality Act 2010 (gender, sexual orientation, transgender status, marital or family status, colour, race, nationality, ethic or national origins, creed, culture, religion or belief, age (unless justified), disability) is free from bias and discrimination as the College is committed to ensuring equal opportunities and fair treatment in the workplace.
The College aims at all times to recruit the person who is most suited to a particular job. Recruitment will be solely on the basis of the applicant's abilities and individual merit as measured against the criteria for the job. Qualifications, experience and skills will be assessed at the level that is relevant to the job
Completing the application form
When completing the application form, please read the job description and person specification carefully. These outline the duties of the post and the minimum knowledge, skills and experience we require. You must provide evidence that you possess the skills and experience required, preferably by giving specific examples. Relevant skills may have been gained through unpaid employment which can be included in your application if it is relevant to the job.
The longlist is decided based on those who most closely meet the person specification requirements. Candidates who have not taken this into account and not provided evidence on how you meet the requirements rarely get longlisted. The job description gives you an overview of what the job entails and listed on the person specification are the desirable and essential criteria.
Each role and person specification will vary. To give yourself the best chance of being shortlisted your application should be adapted to showcase how you meet the criteria listed for each role.
All applicants must complete Part 1 and Part 2 of the Sir George Monoux Sixth Form College application form and email the forms to before the closing date. CV’s will not be considered as part of the shortlisting process.
Selection Process
Due to the volume of applications we receive only those longlisted will be notified. Candidates who have not heard anything within 4 weeks of the closing date should assume that they have not been longlisted.
After the closing date we start our longlisting process, this can take several days to ensure we evaluate all the information you have given us and to ensure we shortlist the right people. A longlist of candidates will usually be invited to the College, detailing any preparation that may need to be completed in advance. Successful candidates are asked to confirm to HR that they will be attending and make us aware of any special requirements. Reasonable adjustments will be made to accommodate the particular needs of any person who has notified us that he or she has a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010, at all stages of the recruitment process.
Where appropriate, tasks, exercises or skills tests will form part of the interview. These assessments will vary according to the post and may be written, practical, computer-based or oral.When recruiting teaching staff the candidate will usually complete a micro teach. The topic will be given to the applicants prior to the selection event. The outcome of the micro teach will contribute to the judgement given to the applicant progressing to the next stage. Assessment marking will be free from bias and is administered and validated by a suitably trained person. The results of these assessment, together with your original application are then used to decide whether you will be shortlisted to the interview stage. Interview are usually on the same day but may occasionally be held on a later day.
The panel will usually be chaired by a senior manager. The rest of the panel will consist of other relevant managers or staff. We attempt to represent different racial groups and more than one gender on the panel, but we cannot guarantee this. There will usually be three or four panel members. For senior appointments, college governors will be involved.
During the interview we ask the same main questions of each candidate. Panel members may ask additional questions arising from your initial responses. All questions will be relevant to the post and intended to allow you to show your suitability for the post. The members of the interview panel take notes during the interview to allow them to discuss candidates' responses in detail later on.
At the end of the interview you will be given the opportunity to add anything further in support of your application. There is another opportunity to ask questions if needed. Please don't feel obliged to add anything at this stage unless you wish to.
The panel makes its decision based on the evidence presented throughout the recruitment process with reference to the criteria in the person specification and job description. You will not normally be expected to wait after the interview. We will contact all interviewed candidates as soon as possible to inform them of the outcome of the interview.
Safer Recruitment
The College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the students in its care. As an employer, the College expects all staff and volunteers working with students in the College to share the same commitment.
The definition of Regulated Activity and frequency is ‘Regulated activity for children is unsupervised activities on a frequent basis, for example, teaching, training, care or supervision, advice or guidance on wellbeing or driving a vehicle with children as passengers. Frequent is once a week or more on an ongoing basis or four or more time in a single month or overnight.’
The College will always consider carefully the knowledge, skills and experience required to safeguard children and vulnerable adults and include these within a person specification.
Vacancies will be advertised in a manner that is likely to attract a wide range of applicants without regard to the applicant’s gender, sexual orientation, transgender status, marital or family status, colour, race, nationality, ethic or national origins, creed, culture, religion or belief, age (unless justified), disability, or any other personal factor or quality.
Advertisements will always include a statement about our commitment to safeguarding and our expectation is that all applicants will share the same commitment.
The advertisement will state that the post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) clearance in additional teachers will also be subject to a Prohibition list check. This list is held by the National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) and teachers must provide their Teacher’s reference number otherwise known as DfES number on the application form.
All completed applications received will be longlisted with Part 2 of the application form containing personal details being separated from the application form before being given to the panel to shortlist.
If a member of staff involved in the recruitment process is related to or has a close personal or relationship with an applicant they must declare it as soon as they are aware of the individual’s application and avoid any involvement in the recruitment and selection decision-making process.
The College will not accept CVs as applications.
The names of at least two professional/character referees must be provided by the applicant when completing part 2 of the application form. These will always be sought and obtained directly from the referee and their purpose is to provide objective and factual information to support appointment decisions. Any discrepancies or anomalies will be followed up.
References will be taken up prior to appointment, preferably prior to interview and specific questions about the candidate’s previous employment or experience of working with children and vulnerable adults will be asked. The only exception is where an applicant has indicated on their application form that they do not wish their current employer to be contacted. In such cases, this reference will be taken up immediately after interview and prior to any formal offer of employment being made.
Open references, testimonials or references from relatives will not be accepted.
Face to face interviews will always be conducted even if there is only one candidate to interview and the same panel will see all the applicants for the vacant position. The interview process will explore the applicant’s ability to carry out the job description and meet the person specification.
All offers of appointment will be conditional on all requested pre-employments checks e.g. DBS certificate, references, medical check, copies of qualification, right to work being returned as satisfactory. Teaching staff will also be checked against the Prohibition database held by the NCTL which shows their Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), Induction status and whether they have received a sanction which prevents them from teaching.
Whenever possible, pre-employment checks will be completed prior to the commencement of employment, however if documents are still awaiting to be returned then a risk assessment will be carried out before confirming any start of employment.
If any pre-employment checks are received which demonstrate that the applicant is unsuitable for work then as the offer of employment has been made subject to specific conditions and those conditions have not been met, then the offer will be withdrawn after a risk assessment has been carried out.
Any persons whose checks reveal that they have sought work when barred from working with children and vulnerable adults will be referred to the DBS.
New appointments will receive training in child protection and safeguarding. For further information on safeguarding see the statutory guidance for schools and colleges written by the Department for Education on “Keeping Children Safe inEducation.” The link provided below:
Where any allegations are made against staff the College will follow policies, including the staff Conduct and Disciplinary policy and confidential reporting (whistleblowing) policy.
The College will refer to the DBS/NCTL if any member of staff who is dismissed because of misconduct relating to a child or vulnerable adult.
The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 does not apply to positions which involve working with, or having access to young people. Therefore, any convictions and cautions that would normally be considered ‘SPENT’ must be declared when applying for any position at the College.
Adults working in or on behalf of our College have a duty to safeguard all students and promote their welfare. We aim to provide a safe and supportive environment for our students through the relationship we have with them and their parents/guardians and will always seek to ensure that all adults working in our college behave in a manner that fosters this relationship.
Staff are expected to be clear about their behaviour towards all students and will be asked to sign the Code of Conduct and that any incident that falls below our expected standards will be dealt with appropriately.
All staff and volunteers at the College require an enhanced DBS certificate and therefore a DBS certificate must be obtained before the commencement of employment of any new employee.
All staff and volunteers will be required to complete a Disqualification Declaration form prior to starting in line with statutory guidance from the Department for Education on “keeping Children Safe in Education.”
It is the College’s policy to re-check employee’s DBS Certificates every three years.
Re-application
Applicants who have applied for a vacancy and have been unsuccessful at the selection process will not be able to re-apply for a similar position (should it be re-advertised) for a minimum of 6 months from the closing date of the original recruitment campaign. The College can decide to use its discretion here.
Feedback
If you are unsuccessful, you will be given feedback on request. Please contact Human Resources at to arrange this. The chair of the panel will coordinate for feedback from relevant panel members.
Monitoring of recruitment
All candidates will be asked to complete an equal opportunities monitoring form, which is Part 2 of the application form. This part will be separated when applications are given to the recruiting manager for shortlisting. Details from Part 2 of the candidates application form will not be divulged to the selection panel and will be used for monitoring purposes only.
Reports on trends and statistics relating to recruitment and appointments will be provided to the Senior Leadership Team and governors on an annual basis.
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