Teacher of Religious Studies with Citizenship (two-term contract to cover maternity leave)

This is a great opportunity to join a highly successful school as part of a friendly and very hard working department. Established as a brand new school in 2002, we moved into our award-winning £30 million accommodation in 2005. The school is located within easy reach of central London via the District Line and yet just minutes by car from the Essex countryside.

In May 2013, Ofsted described the school as good with outstanding leadership and governance. They stated that JRCS offers “an exceptionally caring and challenging education to enable all its students to ‘ACHIEVE’.” The report also stated that the promotion of students’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development is outstanding and takes into account students’ equality of opportunity. OFSTED also said that “teaching in the sixth form is consistently good or better”. The school is highly over-subscribed with almost 1,000 expressions of preference for the 300 spaces available in Year 7 this year. Last Summer we achieved our highest ever KS5 results and over 55% of our Year 11 students achieved 5 A*-C grades including English and Maths. The results achieved by academic and vocational Sixth Form students remained significantly above national averages.

We pride ourselves in being a truly inclusive school that actively promotes ‘Success for All’. We hold the highest academic standards and offer our students a wide range of opportunities to pursue their studies both inside and outside the classroom. Our extensive range of extra-curricular activities and trips is second to none and ensures all students get the chance to extend their academic, social and culture experiences outside of the classroom.

The Religious Studies department is forward-looking with a highly committed and effective team based in a suite of dedicated rooms, all equipped with data projectors and visualisers. Whilst each year group has schemes of learning and is fully resourced, the department encourages teachers to teach their own individual lessons allowing creativity and independence which in turn allows the department to flourish. GCSE Religious Studies is an option subject at KS4 last year achieving 67% A*-C and 21% A-A*. In response to student demand a highly successful ‘A’ level Religious Studies course has been taught since September 2011 with units in Religion and Ethics and Philosophy of Religion with students in the summer achieving 100% pass rate at A2. The successful candidate would be asked to teach Citizenship at KS4.

Interested? Please log onto our website www.jorichardson.org.uk for further details about the school, this post, a link to our recent Ofsted report and the application process itself. All applications should be made online – just follow the link: https://www.hirewire.co.uk/JoRichardsonCommunitySchool/RM94UN/MS_Index.aspx . Please contact Jill Kilminster on recruitment@jorichardson.org.uk if you wish to arrange a visit to the school.

JRCS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful applicant will be required to apply for an enhanced DBS disclosure.

Closing date: Midnight, Sunday 6 December 2015
Interviews: Thursday 10 December 2015

Headteacher: Ges Smith
Patron: Rt Hon Baroness Betty Boothroyd
Castle Green, Gale St, Dagenham, Essex, RM9 4UN