Vacancies

Current Vacancies:

Vacancy for the position of Authority Governor at The Purbeck School
Should you be interested in contributing to the school through this interesting role please contact Clerk to the Governors Mrs Kate Goodwin or Chair of Governors, Mr Peter Scupholme, c/o the school office.  The deadline is 3rd June.

 

GENERAL INFORMATION FOR APPLICANTS

Location

The Purbeck School is located in a highly desirable area to live and work.  The school itself is situated in Wareham, a Saxon-walled market town in the central southern area of Dorset known as the Isle of Purbeck.  It is a gateway town to the World Heritage designated Jurassic Coast that stretches south west from Swanage to East Devon.  We are on the edge of Dorset’s wonderful Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and adjacent to Poole Harbour, the world’s second largest natural harbour.

Our 900 students mostly come from the towns of Wareham and Swanage, both tourist and commercial centres, and the neighbouring villages of East and West Lulworth, Corfe Castle, Wool, Bovington and Studland.  It is a predominantly rural area of some 200 square miles.  The Winfrith Technology Centre, extensive army garrisons at Bovington and Lulworth and BP’s Wytch Farm oilfield are all nearby.  Throughout this valuable ecological area are many tourist attractions, and the towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Dorchester are within easy reach by car, train or bus and offer good cultural, shopping and sporting facilities.  .

The school is situated on a fine site sloping down to the River Frome, commanding unspoilt views of the Purbeck Hills.   It lies adjacent to the Wareham bypass, about half a mile from the town centre, and has its own extensive playing fields and excellent sporting facilities.

The School

The school is currently undergoing a significant £8.5 million building development as we prepare to be an 11-18 school.  A new Design Technology block opened last year and during this year Science, the Learning Resource Centre, the Cafe and the Sixth Form will undergo a major development.  All school accommodation will be new or refurbished by Summer 2014 and due to careful planning we have been able to achieve this without the need for temporary accommodation.

Our ICT network currently comprises over 350 networked computers located around the school and in our excellent Learning Resources Centre.   All staff have their own laptop computers and a wireless network covers the whole site, allowing students to access the school network with their own devices.

An outstanding on-site Sports Centre with sports hall, bar, floodlit all-weather tennis courts and Astro pitches, gym, dance facilities, squash courts and a six-lane, heated indoor swimming pool is shared with the local community.   The sports complex also houses the Wareham Youth Centre with whom we enjoy an excellent working relationship.  Full time child care facilities for children up to 4 years are also available on site.

The school has a largely comprehensive rural intake.  Our roll of some 900 students includes around 170 in the Sixth Form.  We have 74 teachers (71 FTE) and 48 support staff (32 FTE).   Staff turnover is low.  Currently students arrive in Year 9.  However, from September 2013 we will be an 11-18 school.

The school is the base for Dorset County Council’s Purbeck-based Early Intervention Services (the Locality Team), a multi-agency team that supports families.  We have an excellent working relationship with the team and look forward with confidence to further development in this area.

Leadership and Management

The school’s Senior Leadership Team comprises the Headteacher (who joined us in September 2012), two Deputy Heads, four Assistant Heads and the School Business Manager.

The school is organised into 8 curriculum areas and we offer wide choice and diversity.  Our curriculum is rich and we offer a wide range of learning opportunities in a variety of contexts through both the formal curriculum and the extra-curricular programme.

The Governing Body comprises 21 governors, including staff governors, who meet termly, as do their sub-committees for Finance, Curriculum. Pay & HR, Student Development and Chairs’.

Purbeck Pyramid – Reorganisation

The school is about to undergo rapid and far reaching change.  After a passionate local debate stretching over a number of years the Schools’ Adjudicator approved a reorganisation plan for the Purbeck area in December 2010; consequently you will be joining the school at a time of real excitement and change which will take education in the Purbeck area from three-tier (first, middle and upper schools) to two-tier primary and secondary schools. The four local Middle schools (Bovington, Sandford, Swanage and Wareham) will be closing at the end of the school year in 2013, our 14 First Schools each become Primary Schools and, from September 2013, this school becomes 11-18 with an anticipated roll of approximately 1400 rising to 1600 students.  Curriculum and organisational planning is well advanced in preparation for receiving Years 7 and 8 students in 2013.

The re-organisation is a great opportunity for rebranding and generating fresh impetus in the system and many changes are primed and ready for introduction in September 2013.  So far we have changed our website, and from September we will have a new uniform and a new house system, as well as new buildings.

Pastoral Care and SEN

We are committed to providing an inclusive education for all of our students and work closely with the range of education support services.   In addition to excellent SEN provision we provide outstanding on-site provision for students at risk of disengagement and share a full time youth worker with the youth centre.

The school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  We enjoy accredited Healthy Schools’ Status and are a completely non-smoking site.

A well-established pastoral care system pervades the school.   It is based on a horizontal Year system with each Head of Year leading a team of tutors.  During this academic year we will be introducing a House System alongside the Year System to foster inter-yeargroup work and to drive sporting and many other competitions within the school.

Achievement

As you will see from our examination results we are working hard to improve progress and achievement at Purbeck School.  We aim to achieve this by focussing on high quality teaching and learning.  We invest heavily in professional development to continually improve practice and are looking to appoint teachers who share this same aspiration and potential.

January 2013