Lead Practitioner Science

About Us

The vision of Harris Academy Clapham is a simple one. From our opening in September 2020, our academy is a place where 'everything is possible'.

The Clapham curriculum is designed to meet the needs, aspirations and abilities of every one of our students. Our aim is to improve their life chances and enable them to make a positive contribution to the city and world in which they live.

At Harris Clapham, the curriculum is delivered through high-quality teaching. This is codified in our research-informed approach to pedagogy, which we call the Clapham Way. The following principles apply in our curriculum:

• Subject specific knowledge and skills come first
• Embedding and building on the basics - ensuring that every student acquires the vocabulary, literacy and numeracy skills to enable them to fully participate in society
• The curriculum must be rigorous and relevant by engaging with the best of what has been thought and said and acknowledging that knowledge is fluid and can be contested
• The curriculum must prepare for life in modern Britain and beyond, and enable Clapham students to understand their rights and fulfil their responsibilities under the Equality Act.

Through the Clapham academic, enrichment and pastoral curriculum we expect our students to develop powerful knowledge and the following values and character attributes that will enable them to achieve our vision that 'Everything is Possible'.

Endeavour for excellence

• Learning to work hard and relish challenge.
• Learning to never give up.
• Learning to take sensible risks.
• Learning to always strive for the best for themselves and each other.

Integrity and honesty

• Always acting with kindness.
• Treating others the way they would like to be treated.

Self-belief with a global view

• Growing to have the agency to achieve their ambitions for themselves and the wider world.

Our staff are supported in their work and in developing their future careers via:

• A centralised behaviour system, with each year group supported by non-teaching pastoral leaders
• A programme of instructional coaching, supported by the Step Lab platform
• Access to a wide range of National Professional Qualifications delivered by the Institute of Teaching
• Federation subject consultant support
• Harris Federation professional development training days and networking support.

Main Areas of Responsibility

You will play a leading and highly visible role in the improvement of teaching and learning of the Faculty and academic success of all students, ensuring the highest standards of teaching, learning and achievement and leading in the monitoring, evaluation and review of standards and provision in the subject area.

The general expectations of this role are:

• To collaborate as a member of the Lead Practitioner Team in order to build and realise the shared vision of excellence and high standards for all students.
• To account for students' performance in line with Academy procedures.
• To provide the Governing Body with relevant and accurate information relating to the Faculty's performance and development.
• To support and participate in the work of the Harris Federation, including strand or subject groups as appropriate.
• To contribute actively towards the formulation of all Academy policies and procedures, ensuring their consistent implementation.
• To ensure high quality teaching and learning in the Faculty or across the Academy.
• To participate in duties at lunch, break, before, during and after school the Academy day.
• To ensure that the subject knowledge of staff in the Faculty is exemplary.
• To ensure that behaviour in the Faculty is exemplary.
• To ensure that Schemes of Learning and Independent Work books are of a high quality.

Qualifications & Experience

The successful candidate will:

• Hold QTS (or equivalent) and a relevant undergraduate degree, and, ideally, be able to show evidence of ongoing professional development
• Demonstrate outstanding teaching practice and excellent behaviour management
• Have experience of lesson observations and giving robust feedback
• Have experience of improvement planning and of implementing a range of strategies to raise student achievement, with evidence of success
• Be able to contribute to improving on the quality of learning and teaching and curriculum
• Have a proven track record of excellent results at KS3 and 4, and, ideally, experience of teaching to KS5
• Have experience of high quality pupil tracking and feedback practices
• Ideally, have experience of working with governors and of working in more than one school

Professional Development & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes our Harris Allowance for teachers on MPS/UPS, a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan and many other benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our website.