Vacancies

Director of Music

Job Introduction

Appointment

Director of Music

Salary Scale: MPS/UPS plus TLR 2c

Required: January 2027

ADVERT

We are looking to appoint a Director of Music. This post could be full time or part time (0.8). The post involves leading and managing a highly successful department which secures outstanding attainment and progress (both well above national averages). It also involves working with our cluster of primary schools and our community groups to promote Music beyond the College.

The successful candidate will have a clear vision for the subject and be able to build upon current successes to lead the department into a new phase of development. They will therefore be a passionate, student-centred, reflective and creative professional with excellent inter-personal skills. They will have a deep understanding of teaching, learning and assessment, with particular expertise in planning and implementing an exciting curriculum. They will be committed to the provision of high quality extra-curricular activities and work across educational key stages.

Wyvern College is a popular and happy school, where staff and students feel valued and appreciated. Students are polite, hard-working and well behaved. They are keen to learn and they achieve above national expectations. Staff morale is high; turnover is low and there is a strong sense of team work and community. Staff are proud of their college and genuinely excited about the next stage of its development. Leaders and Governors are held in high esteem. We have on-site nursery and gym facilities with staff discounts. People rarely leave Wyvern and those who do, often return!

Wyvern is a 11-16 mixed comprehensive school, serving the communities of Fair Oak, Horton Heath, Bishopstoke, Durley and Upham and the surrounding area. Increasingly, families from outside the catchment area are seeking Wyvern places for their children.

Closing date for applications: Wednesday 30th September.

Dear Prospective Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in applying for the position of Director of Music 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 32:1
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.

College Vision

We aim to inspire our students towards personal accomplishment and fulfilment; to become the finest versions of themselves. We therefore seek to draw out of them their interests, talents, personal qualities and aspirations. We also seek to draw out of them a strong sense of social justice and responsibility: to use all that is good within them to make a difference to the lives of others and to improve the world around them.

Our ambition is that a Wyvern education leads students to:

Academic accomplishment and fulfilment, provoking thought, curiosity and scholarship.
Personal accomplishment and fulfilment so they become happy individuals with social maturity and moral purpose.
Appreciation of their place in the modern world, revealing the opportunities it offers them and the responsibilities they owe to it.
Self-discipline based upon the Wyvern PRIDe values: Prepared, Respectful, Involved and Dedicated.

We are guided by the principles of Tough Care: the idea that if we want the very best for our students we have to demand the very from them: the best attendance, the best behaviour the best work and the best attitude. We cannot think very 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.

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.

Situated at the front of the college, the Music department is accommodated in its own suite of 3 classrooms and 3 peripatetic performance rooms, all adjacent to the college hall and near to the Drama department. One of the classrooms is fitted with a class set of iMacs.. The other two rooms, which were refurbished over this summer, are fitted with a full class set of keyboards, electric pianos, drum kits, bass and guitar amps as well as smart boards, sound systems & projectors.

The department is fully staffed with subject specialists. There are 2 teachers in total.

Teachers typically have their own classroom to teach in, with little movement across rooms. All classrooms have a visualiser and projector equipment. The department is very well equipped, including orchestral percussion, full set of steel pans, 5 drum kits (including 1 electronic kit), Roland electric pianos, iMacs running Sibelius & Logic & a full set of orchestral RAT stands. Additionally, we hire in whole class sets of instruments such as African djembes and ukuleles every year.

The college timetable operates a two-week cycle of 50 one-hour lessons. In years 7 and 8 (Key Stage 3), students have 2 hours of Music per fortnight. At key stage three, the curriculum emphasises hands-on practical work. Our KS3 music curriculum is built on five progressive mastery levels.

At Key Stage 4, the department offers Music GCSE (AQA). Students have 5 lessons per fortnight across years 9-11 to study this course. This three-year key stage 4 enables the department to teach beyond the exam specifications and to enrich the curriculum. Students choose electives for year 9, not just options for years 9-11. These are enrichment and extra-curricular activities which take place during the timetable week. These enable students to continue to study subjects they have not chosen an option in; they allow students to specialise in a subject they care about. The Music department is able to run electives in any Music or Music Technology based activities.

At Wyvern we have a culture of high-quality extracurricular music making. Each year, the music department puts on several large concerts and partners the drama department in a biennial musical theatre production.

Although highly successful, the department is not complacent; teachers are reflective practitioners and committed to continuous improvement. The department is modest about its achievements and open minded about how further successes can be achieved. The department is therefore well placed to secure further improvements and to welcome a new Curriculum Leader and Director of Music

Job Description – Director of Music
Reporting to:	The designated SLT Line manager: (Assistant Head Teacher)
Responsible for:	Leadership and management of the Music department, including staff wellbeing. Implementation of the Music curriculum in line with the college Curriculum Statement. Achievement of consistently strong teaching, learning and assessment in Music. Achievement of strong student progress and attainment in Music.
Liaising with:	Working closely with teachers in Music; working with CLs in subjects where meaningful links can be created, especially in Drama. Liaising with the Director of Studies on curriculum design.
Working time:	Full time or part time (could be 0.6 or more)
Salary/grade:	TLR 2c
Main responsibilities:	Leadership and Management Create and communicate a vision for Music education that inspires both staff and students Participate in the staff recruitment process for vacancies in Music Undertake the performance management of the two other Music teachers. Manage the department budget to ensure value for money and implementation of the ambitions set out in the college Curriculum Intent statement. Maintain regular and effective communication with staff, parents and students. Create an environment where staff wellbeing is protected and morale is kept high. Implement college-wide policies in Music: curriculum, assessment, teaching & learning, behaviour, exams. Implement consistent Health & Safety procedures in line with current regulations and write/review risk assessments for the department. Plan the use of department meeting time to advance identified improvement priorities. Work with the SLT line manager in designated meeting time to produce an up to date Subject Improvement Record to serve as an ongoing self-evaluation and department improvement document. Curriculum Intent and Implementation Maintain the department’s Quality of Education statement, setting out: the department’s vision for education, the curriculum end points for KS3 and KS4, and ensuring that the design of the Music curriculum and its assessment conform to the college principles for effective design (specified below). Work with departmental colleagues to ensure there is an ambitious and inclusive programme of extra-curricular activities. Exemplify effective teaching and curriculum implementation in your own classroom.
	Securing high consistently high standards Analyse progress data and act accordingly to refine learning plans in order to close any gaps and address misconceptions. Participate with the Senior Deputy Head teacher in Progress Meetings and Exam Review Meetings. With the TLR post holders and UPR teachers, implement a QA/monitoring schedule. Monitor the progress of students and sub-groups of students with staff and plan appropriate support / interventions to remedy slow progress. Ensure that standardisation and moderation of student work takes place in department time to ensure that accurate assessment data is generated consistently across the department.
Line Management	Line management of the Music teachers and peripatetic teachers.
Meetings	Attendance at Curriculum Leaders’ Meetings

CATEGORY	ESSENTIAL	DESIRABLE
Qualifications and training	Degree Qualified Teacher Status. Evidence of a commitment to own professional development.	Further professional qualifications.
Experience	An experienced teacher with a track record of excellent outcomes. Someone who can clearly demonstrate how their work has led to excellent student outcomes beyond their own classroom.	Experience of providing support and guidance to others.
Skills, knowledge and abilities	Excellent understanding of the components which comprise outstanding teaching, learning, curriculum and assessment. A sound understanding of the latest developments in education. Use of assessment information to improve practice and raise standards. Evidence of ability to lead and manage change effectively.	A sound understanding of Ofsted’s new education framework. Delivery of CPD.
Personal qualities	Able to take a whole-college perspective on issues and problems. Motivated to make a difference to the quality of education students receive. Fully committed to the principles of Tough Care, including PRIDe. Discrete and professional in approach; trustworthy with sensitive and confidential information. Emotionally and socially intelligent: can read people and situations well, responding accordingly in appropriate ways. Generates a positive ethos and working environment around them through their words and actions to others. Able to think both strategically and operationally: articulating what needs to change, the reasons why and the best way how.
Wyvern Leaders’ Code of Conduct
The frontline comes first. We serve staff, ensuring they have everything they need in their classrooms and offices to do the very best they can. Our job as leaders is to make the frontline jobs as easy and impactful as possible and to prioritise staff wellbeing. Supporting the frontline involves being a visible, proactive presence in and around the department. Creative tension: we welcome respectful disagreement with each other, knowing that it will lead to decisions that have been stress tested. We need to have an informed opinion on important issues and to contribute these honestly in the spirit of creative tension. To feel comfortable in expressing ideas and opinions freely, we all have a responsibility to create a climate of mutual respect. Collective responsibility: all CLs have the right to be involved in decision making. With the right comes the responsibility to accept the decisions made. Once we’ve settled on decisions, all of us subscribe to it and support it to colleagues, students and parents, even if we disagreed with it behind closed doors. We commit ourselves to making a success of it. With the right to be involved in decision making also comes the responsibility to avoid working in ways which create factions and division. Management by exception: we don’t create onerous processes and accountabilities for everyone because of the needs or performance of a few. We recognise we have high calibre staff and treat those whose performance needs improving as the exception. Communication to staff, CPD, support and accountabilities should be based on the idea of management by exception. The effort-impact ratio: we compare the effort needed to secure desired improvements with their likely impact. We seek to reduce the effort such improvements require by cutting down on bureaucracy, paperwork and by streamlining processes. We seek out low effort- high impact strategies and where there are high effort- high impact strategies, we provide time for colleagues to do them as part of the directed time calendar of events.

Curriculum Vision

To become the finest version of yourself…

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 the personal challenges of STRIVE.

Curriculum Ambitions

The college curriculum aims to achieve the following ambitions:

Ambition 1: the curriculum leads students to academic accomplishment and fulfilment. It provokes thought, curiosity and scholarship, allowing students to delve into a rich variety of disciplines.

It provides high levels of challenge, including opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond what is taught in lessons.
It supports students in transferring essential knowledge to their long-term memory.
It sequences learning so that students make links and connections within and across subjects.
It removes the barriers, which prevent students from learning and achieving.

Ambition 2: the curriculum leads students to personal accomplishment and fulfilment, becoming happy individuals with social maturity and moral purpose.

It helps students feel positive about who they are, teaching them to enjoy healthy, safe and responsible lives.
It helps them recognise the difference between what is right and wrong; to expand their range of social skills; to appreciate the range of cultural influences and to apply all of these things to the different contexts they encounter in their lives.
It develops students’ self-discipline and work ethic through PRIDe (Prepared, Respectful, Involved, Dedicated).

Ambition 3: the curriculum leads students to appreciate their place in the modern world, revealing the opportunities it offers them & the responsibilities they owe to it.

It reminds students of their duty to others, through service, teamwork, kindness and leadership.
It secures high quality further education placements and prepares students for the world of work and a lifelong interest in learning.
It makes students ready for life in modern Britain as active, responsible citizens who have well considered opinions about issues and a respect for the diversity of opinions on those issues.

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.

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