MPS/UPS with TLR2C

Full Time, Permanent

January 2025

29 October 2024

Deputy SENDCo with Level 7 PAPAA qualification (or willingness to undertake training)
Salary: MPS/UPS with TLR2C
Required from January 2025
Due to an expanding roll and increasing number of students who have additional needs, the Governing Board is seeking to appoint an enthusiastic Deputy SENDCo from January 2025.
The successful candidate will be a qualified teacher (either Primary or Secondary trained), with a Level 7 Postgraduate Award of Proficiency in Assessment for Access Arrangements (PAPAA) or the willingness to complete the training and previous experience with SEND or an interest in Special Educational needs.
We are a growing department and have an outstanding team of support staff, a dedicated SEND Administrator and SENDCo. We have a dedicated department space, which includes intervention rooms, sensory room, St Teresa Room provision for differentiated learning and specialised bathroom facilities.
Robust interventions are run daily to support our students to become independent learners, so they can achieve qualifications for future careers. We have a team of outside specialists we use to identify further additional support needed, and also for Education, Health and Care Plan applications.
The successful candidate will have a bespoke CPD programme which will be tailored to meeting their needs.
St. John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School is a non-selective coeducational secondary school for students age 11-18. It is a single site school with plenty of free parking and very close to local rail networks (a 10-minute walk). Our mission statement is that ‘ St. John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School inspires students, spiritually and educationally forming them through Faith so that they can achieve their aspirations and contribute to their community’. As a Catholic school, we are passionate about the formation of the whole student, making sure that we develop students into good people as well as ensure they get good results.
The school is in Rochester, Medway, a 30-minute distance from London by road or high-speed rail link. Medway benefits from a multimillion-pound regeneration programme bringing new housing developments and facilities for its inhabitants; it also has the lowest council tax rates in Kent.
Closing date for applications: Wednesday 29th October 2024 by 9am
Interviews: Thursday 30th October 2024
Shortlisted candidates only will be contacted for interview which will take place shortly after the deadline. St. John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School is an Equal Opportunities Employer, committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all students. Any offer of appointment will be subject to satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS check will be required for all successful applicants.

St. John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School has a proud history of educating our local Medway community. Established in 1964, we are the only Catholic secondary school in the local authority. One of seven secondary modern schools in the area, we are a diverse community, proud to educate Catholic students as well as those of other faiths and none.
Our students often refer to us as their second family, and it is a great place to work as a teacher. Our community of staff is incredibly supportive of each other, and our personalised CPD programme means that everyone’s career development is supported in a way that is specific to them. We are passionate about work-life balance, finishing lessons early on a Wednesday afternoon so that CPD and meetings can largely take place during normal school hours, and we provide counselling services free of charge to those who need them. In addition, our feedback policy asks that staff read student books and then get the class to respond collectively in the next lesson in purple pen, rather than requiring that every set of books be deep marked on a frequent basis.
The school has been on a trajectory of improvement since the appointment of the Headteacher, Dympna Lennon, in September 2016. This was recognised in our ‘Good’ Ofsted in May 2019, with inspectors commenting that ‘standards across the school have improved since the last inspection’ and ‘Teaching, learning and assessment are strong across subjects.’ We were proud to be recognised as an ‘Outstanding’ Catholic school in our 2021 Diocesan Inspection. SJF’s sixth form offers a wide range of academic and vocational qualifications. It has a comprehensive intake, ranging from students who are re-taking Level 2 qualifications all the way to those who are enrolled in our Oxbridge programme which helps students to reach the top universities.
Having been the recipient of a multimillion-pound grant from the Department for Education’s Priority Schools Building Programme, we moved into world-class, purpose-built facilities in Spring 2023. Situated at the top of City Way looking down across Rochester and the River Medway, the school is equipped with enviable sporting and academic facilities.
SJF undoubtedly has a proud history, but we are even more excited about the future. We hope that you’ll want to be part of it.