Scale A Teaching
1 x Permanent
Position
2018
Dear Applicant
Thank you for expressing an interest for the positions at Weston School.
The following documents are included in this application pack:
· Information about our school and community
· Person specifications
· Role description
· Application Form
Information about our school can be obtained from our school website www.weston.school.nz and our Facebook page. Our latest Charter is also available on the website.
The application for appointment is to be returned with your CV and covering letter by 20th October 2017.
Any applicants short listed for interviews will need to provide proof of identity in two forms with at least one being a photo identity i.e. Drivers Licence or Passport.
Timeline
01/09/2017 Advertisement goes on-line Education Gazette
11/09/2017 Advertisement published in print Education Gazette
20/10/2017 Applications close
24-25/10/2017 Candidates shortlisted & referees contacted
27-28/10/2017 Interviews if required (Skype option available)
30/10/2017 Board makes decision
30/10/2017 Successful applicants advised
The appointments will commence at the beginning of the school year in 2018.
Yours sincerely
Nicky Ryan
Nicky Ryan
Principal
Criteria for Appointment
Criteria for teaching positions 2018
Weston School has a unique collaborative culture whereby all teachers take responsibility for all children.
Therefore the teachers Weston School appoint will:
1. Be willing to adopt the “Weston Way” where every teacher has ownership of every child in the school’s learning and wellbeing.
2. Accept that student voice/agency is pivotal to our learning culture and will be so in your teaching practice.
3. Be an enthusiastic and innovative classroom teacher.
4. Have sound Literacy and Numeracy skills.
5. Be experienced or interested in personalised learning and teaching through the inquiry process.
6. Be a collaborative and highly motivating teacher.
7. Be able to use modern learning practices in a flexible learning environment.
8. Be able to integrate their teaching practice throughout curriculum areas.
9. Be able to show effective classroom practice techniques and management skills in multilevel classrooms.
10. Be able to use data to improve teaching practice and student outcomes.
11. Have the knowledge and ability to use ICT in everyday classroom programmes and management.
12. Be able to develop positive relationships with students, staff and parents.
13. Accept and fulfil extra non-teaching responsibilities and is able to get involved in the extra curricula activities the school is able to offer students.
14. Have a willingness to keep up to date with changes and developments in education.
15. Be committed to being a continuous learner and Involved in developing themselves as a professional through professional learning and development opportunities.
16. Be willing to work as a team member of the school. This includes syndicate and whole school planning and meetings.
17. Be prepared to participate in a Community of Learning by accepting a responsibility towards all learners across the community of North Otago.
18. Have a sense of humour and is an appropriate role model to student and community members.
Applicants will have the opportunity to meet the DP/AP to discuss our Weston way of working together.
About our School
Weston School is full primary with a well-established but also changing community. We have growing dairying families who are bringing diversity and richness to our school culture.
Our school is very active, our children take part in many out of school and in-school sports. Our school is currently the lead school for North Otago with the Sports Activator Programme.
Literacy is encouraged and developed across the Curriculum. Weston School strives hard to lift all children who are at risk of not achieving in reading and writing. Teachers use a variety of assessment tools to gather reliable information on children and this is gathered and analysed closely. We have support from RTLB and RTLit for a number of children as well as Teacher Aide support. These children are often the subject of teacher inquiries in order to improve teaching and learning in our school.
Numeracy & Mathematics –Weston School has a commitment to improving teacher capability in Numeracy. All teachers are striving to lift all children who are achieving below or at risk. Their progress is being tracked throughout the year and teachers are encouraged to seek innovation and use flexible learning groupings to develop learning and understanding. Teachers use all the current numeracy tools to assess progress and applicants would need to be well versed in these. To raise Numeracy achievement in 2013 we were successful in gaining entry to ALiM for two groups of students. We have gone on to incorporate JAM since 2014. In 2016 teachers have undertaken a school wide inquiry to lift student’s knowledge and strategies with Place Value. We hope to engage with the ALiM programme again in 2017 in order to offer equity for children to access the curriculum successfully.
Science
Weston School has embraced Science as a subject that is vital in 21st century learning. Two teachers undertook fellowships with the Royal Society and the school has worked to deliver an exciting programme that has included the building of teacher capacity, collaborative lessons taught on rotation. Our students are strong participants in local and regional Science Fairs. They thoroughly enjoy our participation with the University of Otago’s Outreach Science Programme and get to engage with real Scientists. We are concentrating on the 5 capabilities building our curriculum and developing meaningful assessment. Our biggest drive though is engagement and curiosity! Our school will work towards a local ‘Sustainable Future’ focus in 2018.
Whitestone Kāhui Ako
We were part of an exciting initiative that saw local schools working together to engage with families and whanau about their child’s learning. This was called a Learning and Change Network. Our school has gone on to engage with the idea of forming a COL in 2016. We are a small CoL and are picking our way through the requirements to make sure this initiative is set up for success. We are focused on the strong and sustainable development of student agency and our students engaging with 21st century learning practices that put them in charge of their own learning. We want to work altruistically with our wider communities to support local business and government to create open sourced opportunities for our children’s future. We will all be active participants in breaking down barriers and providing genuine sharing across schools. Our Kāhui Ako currently includes Primary, Secondary and ECE.
Digital Learning
At our school we are building our use of technology to support student learning. However, we still believe in tactile experiences and being able to hand write is an important skill which as research tells us helps memory and reading competence.
We are using variety of 23 iPads, 45 Chromebooks, 10 Smart TV’s, 2 Activboards and 30 Android tablets to enhance the learning of our students. We operate with sustainable planning and have an annual purchasing plan. We also run a BYOD programme for our Senior Students. We are a Google Apps for Education school and have been since 2010.
We have dipped our toes into POND through N4L and are fully up and running with Ultrafast Broadband.
Inclusive Education
Weston believes in equity and excellence for all students and enjoys an inclusive culture that allows all children to access education together as a basic right. We have been working towards creating a school and classroom culture that is caring, supportive and respectful.
Cultural Responsiveness:
Weston was successful this year in our application for PLD around Cultural Responsiveness. We are currently working with Ruth Snowden from Auckland University and are exploring what our Māori community has to share regarding cultural capital. We are focused on listening to each other’s stories From here we plan to develop effective teacher practice to support the learning of our Māori students and find that point of difference to lift achievement.
What else do you need to know:
Our school has strong teacher relationships and we work together using collaborative practices. This means that some teachers are working in learning hub situations and share the teaching and learning. Some are in MLEs and work alongside and with each other during the day. Some are still in single cell classrooms but provide opportunities for collaboration and working together for both teachers and children. Leadership is encouraged at all levels across the school. Teachers are supported to follow educational passions and invest in themselves as learners.
Our school is large and open with plenty of space for physical action. Our children are encouraged to be active and take part in many games and opportunities for physical education and fitness.
We have a committed Board of Trustees and highly active Home and School both groups are focused on the betterment of students academically and holistically. We enjoy working with our community and use our local hall for assemblies, events, sports and large group work.
We are a COOL School and use the Peer Mediation programme. In 2018 our plan is to become a Positive School for Learning.
Our school is currently in a state of growth and we are placed with 250 students. We have an enrolment scheme in place but our local community has new subdivisions emerging from land previously used for small scale farming.
One of the aspects that makes us a little different is our adoption of Covey’s Wildly Important Goal. Each year we begin with Skilfull thinkers.... This year our WIG is Skilfull thinkers look ahead as we develop understanding of future focus. We have started to unpack PaCT as a teaching and learning tool to support our moderation practices and understanding of embedding next steps.
We are happy to share more about our school and encourage visits and phone discussions. Before you join our team we would like to get to know you and therefore our DP and AP are also available to discuss the way that we operate.
The Community
Weston is a semi-rural community with a country flavour situated only five kilometres away from the thriving provincial town of Oamaru. Presently 43% of our pupils reside at a rural address on farms or on life style blocks. Weston Township itself continues to grow with several new sub-divisions underway or being planned for. Many of our families have more than one caregiver working in employment on farms, in Weston, or enjoying the short commute to Oamaru.
The school community is of approximately 81% Caucasian, 15% Māori, 3% Asian and 1% Pasifika. We have a growing Filipino community due to the dairying industry. Over recent years Weston has merged with Ngapara and Enfield Schools onto the Weston site. These are farming and
dairying districts who have successfully settled into becoming part of our school community. Interaction between the school and community is warm and open. We have a very supportive community that assists with Home & School activities (including our major fundraiser each year ‘Fireworks at Weston’), EOTC activities and in-class assistance.
Role Description
Name:
Responsible to: Principal, Deputy Principal
Person Specifications:
· Uphold the School Charter and follow the school’s vision, beliefs and values
· Adhere to the Education Council Code of Ethics Code of Conduct
· Implement Incredible Years programmes and use of restorative justice when dealing with behaviour issues
· Meet the 6 Practicing Teacher Criteria and Interim Professional Standards
Primary Objectives:
· Model and promote positive and constructive relationships with staff, students and community
· Actively engage in professional, open to learning conversations
· Value team work and collaborate with others
· Share knowledge, skills and resources
· Explore, recognise and celebrate Māori identity, language and culture, including making good use of local expertise and the local context
· Apply the Spiral of Inquiry process and strategies with a view to improving practice and student outcomes
· Use classroom practices and implement programmes that engage all learners, support agentic learning, accelerate learning of all students so that they experience success
· Use a range of strategies to support students to have a voice in co-constructing what and how they learn
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Key Tasks / Expected ResultsTeaching and Learning / · Maintain appropriate planning and assessment records.
· Maintain a safe, well-organised, student focused learning environment.
· Continually adapt and modify activities, resources and technologies in order to scaffold students’ learning.
· Reflect on classroom practice in an on-going way.
· Change and adapt current practice in response to students’ needs and new evidence and research
· Create a classroom environment where students can take risks with their learning and see mistakes as learning opportunities
· Acknowledge, respect and encourage student voice, their perspectives and values
Professional learning and development / · Undertake professional support and guidance
· Attend all PLD opportunities offered
· Be open to learning
· Commit to making on-going improvements to practice
· Actively engage in the school’s coaching programme with a view to improving practice and student outcomes
Application for Appointment
IMPORTANT NOTES FOR APPLICANTSWE PREFER ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS TO
the Executive Officer Joy McGee
Thank you for applying for a position with our school
1. Please fully complete this form personally. Read it through first then answer all questions and make sure you sign and date where indicated on the last page.
2. Attach a curriculum vitae (CV) containing any additional information. If you include written references, please note that we may contact the writers of the references.
3. Copies only of qualification certificates should be attached. If successful in your application you will be required to provide originals as proof of qualifications.
4. If you are selected for an interview you may bring whanau/support people at your own expense. Please advise if this is your intention.
5. Failure to complete this application and answer all questions truthfully may result in any offer of employment being withdrawn or appointment being terminated if any information is later found to be false.