Deputy Head Secondary NAS Abu Dhabi School

Nord Anglia International School, Abu Dhabi is seeking to appoint a passionate, inspirational, and forward thinking Founding Deputy Head Secondary to join at a pivotal stage in the school’s growth and development, commencing July 2024.  The role is perfect for a Deputy whose next stage in growth is to lead their Secondary. The Founding Deputy Head of Secondary will be part of the Core Leadership Team consisting of the Head of HR for Abu Dhabi, Head of Operations, Director of Admissions & Marketing, Head of Finance UAE and Head of IT UAE. The role will require the Deputy to ensure the highest standards of learning and achievement. Lead, inspire and guide the teaching staff, support staff and young people. The Founding Deputy works alongside the Principal for all aspects of the day to day operation of the Secondary School and for planning for its development.

Duties of Deputy Head Secondary

• Drive NAS Abu Dhabi to be a global leader in education, growing the school to be a leading International school locally and globally.
• Embody the school’s values in word and action.
• Gain and maintain the trust and confidence of students, colleagues and parents.
• Be accountable for the of standards in the Secondary School.
• Motivate students and staff to aspire to excellence in all that they do;
• Build strong, high performing teams.
• Create the conditions for staff to continue to learn.
• Be responsible for safeguarding students and leading pastoral care with oversight of the behavior and welfare of all students.
• Deploy resources with due diligence, with efficiency and effectiveness.
• Plan strategically for the continual improvement and growth of the Secondary School.
• Take on any other duties required by the Principal.
• Create a culture where excellence is celebrated.
• Developing a culture of high attendance and high achievement.

Teaching, Learning and Curriculum

• Holding responsibility for educational standards across the Secondary School.
• Providing a curriculum which provides exemplary earning opportunities within and beyond the classroom.
• Maintaining exemplary student behavior that encourages learning within a purposeful and safe environment.
• Developing and maintaining effective systems for the care and guidance of students, from transition from primary through to university.
• Demonstrating wide ranging knowledge of effective pedagogy and curriculum.
• Ensuring that their curriculum reflects their place in the UAE.
• Ensuring the powerful use of technology to enhance learning and developing STEAM and design thinking.
• Developing and maintaining a rigorous system of school self evaluation.
• Monitoring, evaluating and improving standards of teaching through the use of lesson observation, work scrutiny and assessment data.
• Recognizing and celebrating teaching excellence and challenging poor practice.
• Personally supporting the life of the school beyond the classroom.
• Ensuring that students participate in a rich and varied programme of enrichment activities, trips and residential experiences.
• Having responsibility for the policies and procedures for the Secondary School; (when related to teaching and learning).
• Ensuring that learning and teaching provided by the different teaching teams forms a coordinated, coherent curriculum entitlement for every student.

Staff

• Fostering a culture of respect, equity, ambition, leadership, responsibility and integrity.
• Developing and maintaining a community of professional learners.
• Developing everyone’s ability to use the performance management system to raise standards and contribute to professional growth.
• Leading, mentoring and managing the performance and professional development of the Secondary School.
• Working with the Principal to recruit and retain the highest quality teachers, including participation in interviews and selection.
• Organizing initial and ongoing induction for new teachers.
• Contributing to the professional development of teachers.
• Ensure positive, collaborative relationships between staff, unifying the team, ensuring a low turn over of staff with all members of the team feeling valued, respected and heard.
• Leading, motivating and managing coordinators, teachers, teaching assistants and support staff.
• Working collaboratively with the Head of Primary to define the right targets at the end of the Primary Years to offer a successful transition to Secondary School for all students.
• Ensuring the highest standards of planning, differentiation, target setting, and assessment are practiced by close monitoring and offering guidance and support to staff.

Community

• Overseeing Secondary School communications with the school community (parents, students and Nord Anglia).
• Ensuring that parents are regularly informed about their child’s progress, attainment and achievement and ensuring that they know how to support their child’s learning.
• Informing parents of key events, trips and residential activities with sufficient notice for families to plan, logistically and financially.
• Keeping parents informed of events and priorities.
• Ensuring that the achievements of students and staff are recognised and celebrated.
• Maintaining a high standard of presentation in all printed and on line materials relating to the Secondary School.
• Working with parent representatives.
• Organizing and presenting at parent workshops.
• Developing wider community links.
• Directing the strategic planning of cohesive seamless transition across all key stages;.
• Promoting a culture of safety and happiness within the school and valuing all individuals within the school.
• Ensuring that there is a safe and supportive culture across the school, adhering to robust safeguarding practices, student behavior processes and attendance monitoring.
• Ensure a consistent response to misbehavior of students across the school, including defining and implementing relevant consequences in case of behavior issues.
• Respecting the local culture and ensuring compliance with local standards.
• Demonstrating an understanding of leading a school in a diverse culture setting.

The Wider Organization of Deputy Head Secondary

• Acting at all times in accordance with their NAE vision, policies, procedures and protocols.
• Participating in and contributing to the NAE annual Regional Conferences.
• Developing productive collegial relations with other NAE Heads of Secondary in SEA&ME and beyond.
• Preparing reports to NAE on student attainment and carrying out staff annual performance reviews.
• Ensuring high levels of staff participation in Nord Anglia University and the leadership programmers.
• Ensuring high levels of student participation in Global Campus, Expeditions and Challenges.
• Ensuring continuity of strong participation in the NAE collaborations; especially the Julliard Programme, MIT STEAM Commitments and UN related work that upholds the seventeen sustainable development goals.

Operational Matters of Deputy Head Secondary

• Creating and maintaining an annual calendar of Secondary School events, taking into account the operation of the whole school.
• Managing the Secondary School budgets for annual orders, classroom supplies, PD, trips, supply teaching and examinations.
• Holding regular, productive meetings with the Secondary Team, keeping a clear record of outcomes.
• Working with the Marketing, Admissions and Communications Team to attract and recruit students and ensuring effective induction for new students and families.
• Assisting in whole school marketing initiatives and contributing to the growth of the school.
• Thinking and planning strategically for continual growth and improvement.
• Communicating a clear, concise, coherent vision and enabling others to contribute to achieving that vision.
• Contributing to whole school strategic planning and ADEK inspections.
• Engaging supply and cover staff as required to ensure minimal disruption to students learning.
• An awareness of financial planning and budget management, good ICT knowledge and skills to support pupil learning, assessment, and school management.
• Support the local compliance inspections.

Job Requirements of Deputy Head Secondary

• Qualified to degree level or above.
• Qualified Teacher Status.
• Post graduate qualification at Master’s level or above.
• School leadership Programme attendance or qualification.
• Proven track record with at least 7 years’ teaching experience.
• Experience of being part of a highly successful senior team at Deputy level or above.
• Experience of the English National Curriculum, (I)GCSE, A Level and IB Diploma Programme level or equivalent.
• Experience of working with groups of students with diverse additional educational needs and for whom English is an additional language.
• Experience of school accreditation or inspection.

Skills & Knowledge Desired

• Direct involvement in raising standards and driving improvement at school level.
• Evidence of working with parents.
• Track record of leading or contributing to professional development of teachers.
• Outstanding oral and written communication.
• Ability to engage and motivate people to enable them to perform highly.
• Strong organizational skills and personal time management.
• Ability to work in a team.
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Good working knowledge of school self evaluation.
• Facility with baseline assessment, tracking, target setting, and value added systems.
• Working knowledge of management information systems (e.g. SIMS, iSAMS).
• High level of IT competency.