Teacher of Geography

Teacher of Geography - Outwood Academy Shafton

Salary - £30,000 to £46,525 (M1 to UPS3)

About our Academy

Outwood Academy Shafton is an academy bursting with potential for excellence. The students and staff are passionate about their school and there is a strong sense of belonging within the academy. The Academy is a large 11-16 school with just over 1,400 students on roll. It sits at the heart of its community. The academy is full, annually, with first choice preferences and we have a large number of families who are waiting for a place for their child. The academy is a new-build academy, opening almost a decade ago. As a learning community, it is a vast space covering 4 floors with excellent suites of classrooms, labs and specialist learning facilities. 

We are proud that Outwood Academy Shafton is a welcoming and supportive academy, with a relentless determination to provide the very best education for every child. We place students at the centre of everything we do, with a focus on creating a culture of success and a positive climate for learning. In 2023, the academy was recognised by the Inclusion Quality Mark as a National Inclusion Champion, placing in the top 6 schools nationally for our work on creating a place where all young people feel that they belong and can succeed. 

The Academy became part of the Outwood Family of Schools in 2015 and as a member of the Outwood Family we believe in putting Students First, raising standards and transforming lives.

Our key aim is to create a positive, happy ethos and culture where our students behave well, have good manners, develop age appropriate self-discipline, engage positively with their learning and show integrity in their words and actions.

Student Voice is a huge strength of the academy serving to raise student engagement, encouraging participation in charity, community, learning and peer support. We strongly believe our student voice makes students feel valued and included in their schooling. 

Praise culture for staff and students sits at the heart of our vision of belonging. Our system of praise values and celebrates the achievement of all students and staff, both within and outside the classroom. This culture of praise is visually represented in each classroom with teachers encouraged to praise students for going above and beyond. Students receive a Praising Stars report every 6 weeks which reviews and praises their effort in their classes. The academy calendar is built upon a number of regular weekly, termly and annual praise events such as our weekly PROUD Thursday which we welcome you to come and view when you visit us. 

You will join a highly skilled and experienced senior leadership team of 2 Vice Principals, 1 Associate Vice Principal, 3 Assistant Principals and a number of other SLT colleagues. Teaching and learning is very well-led across the academy by a team of exceptional middle leaders who ensure a curriculum for our students which will set them up for lifelong success. 

Teachers and leaders are able to draw on the sources of research, thought and practice that are integral to our professional development and daily practice. Through Trust-wide subject training and in-school department meetings, all subject teachers and leaders have responsibility and involvement with the Trust-wide curriculum development. We work collaboratively in our curriculum decision-making, to draw upon collective expertise and minimise unnecessary workload.

Join our Humanities department where you will become part of a dedicated and enthusiastic team who passionately strive to enable young people to reach and exceed their potential.

The Humanities department here at Shafton is a close-knit team which currently consists of 12 members who are all at various career stages, from ECT to UPS and school leaders. This ensures that our curriculum benefits from professionals who have many years of experience but also the perspectives of colleagues fresh out of teacher training. This range of experience within the team is a real strength, as all members of the team are committed to working collaboratively, and all are able to benefit from the range of experiences each member of the team is able to offer. Continuous professional development is an essential part of our practice, where individuals are committed to a culture of continuous improvement. This ensures that every member of the team is able to thrive. In addition, we have a department with members who play a wider role in the whole academy, with a variety of roles in teaching and learning, student voice and developing a culture of praise.

We benefit from having a range of classrooms close to each other, meaning colleagues within the team are close to support one another, and to really promote the importance of both history and geography with the students in the academy. All classrooms have state of the art smartboards and we also have access to computing labs which are bookable resources should you wish to utilise them. Humanities is a well resourced curriculum area which is constantly being refined to ensure that it offers an exciting and diverse experience for our students. 

In Geography students follow a three-year Key Stage 3 programme of study. In Year 7 students study geography for two hours per week, one hour in Year 8 and two hours in Year 9 where students. We have a strong geography curriculum that is meticulously planned and based around the five core concepts: sustainability, human and physical interactions, physical processes, climate change and development. We believe that this will prepare students well for their GCSE courses and life beyond the academy. At Outwood Academy Shafton we follow AQA. The units we cover are Paper 1: Natural Hazards, Living World (Hot Deserts), Coasts and Rivers; Paper 2: Urban, Economic Change; Resource Management and Water; Paper 3: Pre-Release and Fieldwork. We recognise the importance of students being able to connect their geography learning to the real world and as such we actively promote students being able to conduct fieldwork in every year group. 

Outwood Academy Shafton is looking for an energetic, enthusiastic and inspiring classroom practitioner with a real passion for Geography. We offer an exciting opportunity to join a supportive and motivated team. An excellent knowledge and understanding of the subject is essential. You must possess the skills and determination to make a significant difference to the lives of our students and share our single goal of ‘students first’. Applications are invited from both newly qualified and experienced professionals.

We know that to really do the best for our students and to have a curriculum which continues to inspire, we need to constantly review and develop our curriculum. We are looking for a candidate who will work alongside us to build a curiosity and fascination about the world in our students.

Outwood Grange Academies Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. All appointments are made in accordance with safer recruitment practices and the statutory guidance in Keeping Children Safe in Education. Online checks will be carried out on all shortlisted candidates, and all appointments are subject to an enhanced DBS check, satisfactory references and checks regarding suitability to work with children.

Closing date for applications - Sunday 5 May 2024 at 12:00 noon.