Key Stage Two Leader (SMT member) Job Description
Accountable to the Headteacher
The appointment of a Key Stage Leader is subject to the current conditions of employment for teachers contained in:
- the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STCPD);
- the School Standards and Framework Act 1998;
- the required Standards for Qualified Teacher Status;
- other current legislation.
This job description may be amended at any time following discussion between the Headteacher and the member of staff, and will be reviewed annually as part of the Performance Management process.
Duties and responsibilities together with competencies and skills required of the post holder are set out within each of the five outcome areas.
General description of the post
All post-holders are to ensure the school’s vision, ethos and values are embedded in the day-to-day and long-term running of the school. Each post-holder must share and deliver the school’s principles and values of honesty, respect, personal development and inclusion.
The holder of this post is expected to carry out the professional duties of a Key Stage Leader and member of the SMT as described below, and play a major role under the overall direction of the Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher in:
- formulating the aims and objectives of the school;
- establishing the policies through which they shall be achieved;
- managing staff and resources to that end;
- monitoring progress towards their achievement; and
- undertaking to the extent required by the Headteacher, any professional duties delegated by the Headteacher.
Relationships
The post-holder is accountable to the Headteacher in all matters.
The post-holder is also accountable for the development, monitoring and evaluating of teaching and learning within their Key Stage and adjoining Key Stages, when appropriate.
Within the Performance Management (PM) process, the post-holder may act as a reviewer to staff.
Within the Performance Management (PM) process, all staff in the school are accountable to the Headteacher through their respective teams and leaders.
Within Continuing Professional Development (CPD) all staff in the school are accountable to the Headteacher through their respective teams and leaders, for the impact their development has on pedagogy.
The post-holder is a major contributor to the self-evaluation.
Outcomes
1. Achievement and Standards
Duties and responsibilities:
- Contributing towards embedding assessment for learning in subjects and evaluating progress through the use of appropriate assessments and records.
- Monitoring progress and evaluate the effects on teaching and learning by working alongside colleagues, analysing work and outcomes including pupil progress and attainment data.
- Ensuring that improvements in literacy, maths and the curriculum generally are priority targets for all pupils.
- Supporting teachers to provide sufficient time for pupils to self assess and review and what they have learnt.
Knowledge, skills and competencies required:
- Has teaching skills which lead to excellent results and outcomes.
- Acknowledges excellence and challenge poor performance across the Key Stage.
- Establishes creative, responsive and effective approaches to learning and teaching.
- Monitors, evaluates and reviews classroom practice and promotes improvement strategies.
- Challenges underperformance in the classroom and ensures effective corrective action and follow-up, in liaison with the SMT.
- Works alongside the SMT to set challenging targets for their Key Stage.
- Possesses the analytical, interpersonal and organisational skills necessary to work effectively with staff and leadership teams.
- Demonstrates an excellent ability to assess and evaluate teaching & learning and pupil progress.
- Demonstrates a commitment to raising standards in their Key Stage.
- Ensures creativity, innovation and the use of appropriate new technologies to achieve high standards.
- Support the SMT in translating the vision to their Key Stage.
- Knows how to improve the effectiveness of assessment practice in the Key Stage, including how to analyse statistical information to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning across the school.
2. The quality of provision
Duties and responsibilities:
- Providing models of excellent and innovative teaching and use their skills to enhance teaching and learning by undertaking and leading school improvement activities and continuing professional development (CPD) for other teachers.
- Leading the teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning throughout their Key Stage and using your own class as an example of high quality teaching and learning.
- Ensuring continuity and progression in the Key Stage by supporting colleagues in choosing the appropriate teaching and learning methods and setting clear learning objectives through an agreed action plan, developed in line with the SDP.
- Ensuring teachers’ classroom organisation and teaching methods are consistent and of a high standard.
- Supporting the SMT in the monitoring of the quality of teaching and pupils’ achievements in class, including the analysis of performance data and full participation in performance management and its delegated responsibilities.
- Actively monitoring and responding to development and initiatives at national, regional and local levels.
- Approving, monitoring and evaluating performance management plans for teaching which identify clear targets, times-scales and success criteria for its development and/or maintenance as part of the performance management cycle.
Knowledge, skills and competencies required:
- Has an extensive and deep knowledge and understanding of theirKey Stage and related pedagogy.
- Takes a lead in planning collaboratively with colleagues in order to promote effective practice.
- Has teaching skills which lead to excellent results and outcomes.
- Demonstrates excellent and innovative pedagogical practice.
- Acknowledges excellence and challenges poor performance across the Key Stage.
- Establishes creative, responsive and effective approaches to learning and teaching.
- Monitors, evaluates and reviews classroom practice and promotes improvement strategies.
- Challenges underperformance in the classroom and ensures effective corrective action and follow-up.
3. Leadership and Management
Duties and responsibilities:
- Leading the induction and mentoring of newly qualified teachers and students.
- Leading the programme of continuous professional development and evaluating and reporting on its impact on the quality teaching and learning.
- Supporting the SMT in monitoring the Performance Management policy, procedures and outcomes for all staff in the school.
- Supporting teachers who are experiencing difficulties.
- Ensure that behaviour in and around the curriculum area is conducive for learning and responsible for managing the behaviour of pupils in their Key Stage and whole school.
- Working with the SMTto ensure that staff development needs are identified within the group for whom the post-holder is responsible and that appropriate programmes are designed to meet such needs.
- Being responsible for the day-to-day management of staff within the designated area and acting as a positive role model.
- Liaise with Local Authority Consultants and Advisors.
- Attend weekly SMT meetings as a member of this team.
- Liaise and work with parents and carers on how to support their child e.g. through parent evenings
Knowledge, skills and competencies required:
- Honesty, personal integrity and ethical decision making; taking responsibility for their actions and consequences.
- Emotionally intelligent and resilient especially in the face of difficulty and challenges.
- Awareness of their personal impact on others, particularly when they are under pressure as they have an understanding of the 'triggers' to which they are susceptible.
- Applies the leadership of processes of change to demonstrable improvement.
- Delegates management tasks and monitors their implementation.
- Consistent and equitable management of staff.
- Inspires, challenges, motivates and empowers others to carry the school vision forward.
- Makes well-founded appraisals of situations upon which they are asked to advise, applies high-level skills in classroom observation to evaluate and advise colleagues on their work and devises and implements effective strategies to meet the learning needs of children and young people leading to improvements in pupil outcomes.
- Contributes to the professional development of colleagues using a broad range of techniques and skills appropriate to their needs so that they demonstrate enhanced and effective practice.
- Works closely with leadership teams, taking a leading role in developing, implementing and evaluating policies and practice that contribute to school improvement.
- Has an excellent ability to provide learners, colleagues, parents and carers with timely, accurate and constructive feedback on learners’ attainment, progress and areas for development that promotes pupil progress.
- Prioritises, plans and organises themselves and others.
- Makes professional, managerial and organisational decisions based on informed judgements.
- Thinks creatively to anticipate and solve problems.
- Promotes teamwork and motivates staff to ensure effective working relations.
Person Specification
- Qualified Teacher Status
- Be an excellent classroom practitioner
- Experience of teaching in KS2, including year 5 and 6
- Evidence of ongoing Continuing Professional Development
- Know how children learn and how progress can be accelerated
- Knowledge and practice of the National Curriculum and Primary Strategy.
- Experience of leading a subject, year or Key Stage.
- Demonstrate a clear understanding of Every Child Matters and how to apply its aims.
- Experience of effective assessment for learning strategies including analysing assessment information.
- A clear understanding of positive behaviour management strategies and experience of implementing these.
- Clear understanding of high quality teaching and learning
- Ability to work with parents and other agencies
- Ability to work as part of various teams
- Excellent inter-personal skills
- Ability to lead, support and develop other members of staff, including through performance management
- Excellent communication skills, to communicate with a variety of different audiences for a variety of purposes
- Awareness and knowledge of safeguarding best practice
- A clear understanding of equal opportunities
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