Design & Technology Teacher

Job Introduction

Appointment 

Teacher of Design & Technology  

Salary Scale: MPS/UPS 

Required: January 2027

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in applying for the position of D&T teacher at Wyvern College.  We had an Ofsted inspection in December 2023. The school was judged to be a strongly “Good” school.  The report validated our own assessment of the college – there were no surprises! It described Wyvern well: 

“Wyvern College is inclusive with a strong community feel. Pupils respect diversity and feel confident to be different. Relationships are very positive. As one parent said, ‘My daughter has flourished due to the positive role models and encouraging culture at this school.’ Pupils feel safe and enjoy attending. The school’s values of ‘think, grow, care’ underpin all aspects of school life. There are high expectations for what all pupils can achieve. The school strives to provide the same high-quality education to all pupils, regardless of their starting points or the challenges they face. Pupils consequently achieve well.”

Strong exam results are crucial for setting students up for high quality careers which give their lives meaning, purpose and fulfilment, but I want them to have fun and enjoy their school days too, and to live lives enriched by the arts, sport, charity, community and a deep sense of public service. A Wyvern education is not, then, just about great exam results but is defined by our vision of Think, Grow, Care:

Think deeply, read widely, discuss openly and listen intently. Study with PRIDe, forever Prepared, Respectful, Involved and Dedicated. 

Grow personally, in confidence, wellbeing and individuality. Expand your interests and friendships. Develop a conscience and the moral courage to act on it.  Embrace personal challenges. 

Care passionately about people and causes. Appreciate the help of others; help them through service, teamwork, kindness and leadership. Make this world a better place as an informed and influential citizen, respecting British and universal values. 

The college is characterised by high quality relationships between staff and students. Students are polite, friendly and well behaved; they are loyal to their college and enjoy warm, mutually respectful relationships with staff. A high level of trust exists between the leadership group and staff – this is something I am very proud of. The Ofsted inspector said, “School leaders have a strong sense of moral purpose. Staff are proud to work at the school. They believe that leaders consider their well-being and workload. Teaching and support staff, including those in the early stages of their careers, feel supported and valued as they develop their expertise in helping pupils to learn and achieve”.  At Wyvern leadership is about service not being served. Our job as leaders to make sure that those working in the front line with students – our staff – have everything they need to do the best job they can and that includes us being there on the front line with them too. 

We are guided by the principles of Tough Care and the successful applicant will be committed to these: the idea that if we want the very best for our students we have to demand the very from them. We cannot think   highly of our students if we do not challenge poor effort, behaviour, attendance and work. It is because we do care that we sometimes have to say to students “that is not good enough.” By challenging them in this way, we know they will have choices and chances in their lives that they wouldn’t have if we just let students set their own standards.

I hope the information in this brochure helps you decide whether Wyvern is a good match for you. 

With best wishes,

Ben Rule, Head teacher

College Context 

• With 1315 students on roll, Wyvern College is bigger than the average secondary school with a PAN of 270 for each year group. There has been an increase in the proportion of students coming to Wyvern as their first-choice school. These trends reflect the local community’s increased confidence in the college and Wyvern’s strong local reputation. 
• Wyvern is an academy converter, mixed comprehensive school. The proportion of disadvantaged students is 19% which is well below the national average. Overall, 10% of students have low prior attainment, 40% middle and 47% high. 
• Most students are white British: the proportion of students who speak English as an additional language is low at 6%
• The proportion of students receiving help for SEN is 19%; 53 students have an EHCP; 202 other students are on the SEND register. 
• The college makes occasional use of alternative provision: 21 students are currently in some form alternative provision due to their SEND needs or emotional needs. 

Summary of the College’s Strengths

• The college is known and respected for its holistic education, with a strong emphasis on character, values-based education, personal development and social responsibility. This is what is attracting students from outside of catchment. 
• The range and number of extra-curricular activities is exceptional.   
• Student numbers are rising and the college is now oversubscribed, reflecting the high regard it is held in by the local community. 
• Students throughout the college attain higher grades than local, regional and national averages. 
• Outcomes in the subjects of Maths, Science, MFL and Humanities are especially strong, with attainment and progress rates significantly above the county and national averages. 
• Results in English have improved significantly, with attainment and progress rising significantly this year. 
• The gender gap between boys and girls has reduced significantly from being much greater than the national gap to much lower. 
• Attainment and progress scores for disadvantaged students, SEND students and low attaining students are especially strong, reflecting the inclusive nature of the college.
• A culture of high expectations and academic standards exist: high attainers on entry make good progress overall and across the range of subjects. 
• Behaviour expectations are raised each year and standards of behaviour improve each year. The majority of our students do not even get a single detention in their five years with us. We sweat the small stuff and sanction for it so that behaviour does not escalate to more significant issues. Colleagues joining us from other schools often wonder why we focus so much on behaviour when it is significantly better than what they have been used to. 
• Relationships between staff and students are positive and make a strong contribution to good behaviour. The vast majority demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, every lesson, every day. The ratio of positive achievement points to negative behaviour points if 18:1
• Parents and students recognise that pastoral care is a real strength of the college.
• There is a very wide range of subjects for students to study at KS4. The three-year key stage 4 means students get to spend more time on the subjects they care about earlier than on other schools and have the chance to drop subjects they do not intend to continue with. Teachers have three years, not just two, to deliver exam courses and this means that important foundational work can be put in place in year 9 and/or teachers can enhance or enrich key stage 4 beyond the exam specifications. The three-year Key Stage 4 also means that topics can be taught properly, without rushing. 
• CPD is strong and personalised. Having spent a lot of time focusing on curriculum intent and centralised resourcing, there is now a strong focus on developing pedagogy and the craft of being a teacher. 
• Staff workload and wellbeing is prioritised. Departments have been putting in place high quality centralised resources for staff to use: there is still room for teachers to develop and use their own resources (as long as these meet the learning objectives of the curriculum planning documents) but centralised resourcing means that teachers do not need to start from scratch with their planning. Each department has a clear marking policy which identified which pieces of work need to be marked. By helping staff with planning and marking in these ways, workload becomes more manageable. 
• Staff morale is high and staff are proud to work at Wyvern. Many are parents of students too. Others have worked here for over 20 years. 
• Governors (Trustees) are dedicated and involved; they provide strong strategic leadership and support for staff.

Department Context 

• The D&T department is accommodated in its own suite of 7 classrooms, including 2 Food rooms, 3 workshops, a textiles room and a computer suite.  

• The D&T team comprises of 6 teachers and 2 technicians. It is led by the Curriculum Leader, together with two TLR Posts holders. There is therefore a management team running the department which reflects the fact that this department is a in every sense of the word, a true team: a harmonious, unified and supportive of each other. 

• D&T staff are highly collaborative, working together to produce high quality resources to ensure strong and consistent implementation of curriculum plans. The staff shared area contains long term, medium term and short-term curriculum plans and schemes of work, together with lesson-by-lesson resources to support effective implementation. However, staff are free to create their own resources too, in order to achieve the learning objectives set for each week and to adapt and personalise for specific learning needs in the classroom. The high-quality centralised resources are there to help reduce planning time but creativity and innovation are also encouraged. 

• The college timetable operates a two-week cycle of 50 one-hour lessons. For years 7-8, students have 4 hours of D&T per fortnight. This curriculum is divided into two strands: one strand (one hour a week) involves them having alternating units of food and textiles with one teacher and the other strand (one hour per week) involves them having workshop-based D&T with a second teacher. In this model, teacher keep their classes for the whole year and students do not rotate around different specialisms but can build their learning more consistently across the year. At key stage 3, there are 14 classes per year group of 270 students. 

• At Key Stage 4 (years 9-11), students who have chosen D&T as an options have 5 hours of lessons per fortnight. The college currently offers Food & Nutrition GCSE, GCSE Textiles and GCSE Timbers. 

• The D&T curriculum is published, along with the other subjects’ curricular in these booklets, available on our website Curriculum Overview - Wyvern College - Think Grow Care

Disclaimer: We reserve the right to close a vacancy earlier than the advertised date if we receive applications that meet the criteria. Once a vacancy has closed, we are unable to consider further applications, so please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Safer Recruitment

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure and Barring Service checks along with other relevant employment checks.