Head Teacher Special Education - Mitchell High School

Position Information

Mitchell High School is a comprehensive high school serving the southern area of the Blacktown and Prospect districts. We are committed to creating quality learning opportunities for all students by proactively supporting and enhancing cognitive, physical, social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. We aim to foster connectedness, improve motivation, enhance school attainment, increase confidence and build resilience in all students through the provision of opportunities to connect, succeed and thrive. Our student population is highly multicultural with enrolments consistently around 900 students. 52% of the students are from EAL/D backgrounds with approximately 10% from a refugee background. We also have 51 students who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. There are 100 staff including 70 teachers, 12 SASS and 8 SLSOs. The school has an excellent reputation in the community and achieves sound results in the RoSA and HSC. Mitchell High is noted for its excellence and traditions. There is an expectation that students have high personal standards in academia, presentation and behaviour. Leadership is developed through numerous programs with students given community-wide responsibilities. We are a Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) school which enhances learning, behaviour, self-esteem and confidence. We are embarking on a new initiative, Resilience In Out Teens (RIOT), a program that provides a wrap around approach to help teenagers learn skills to manage anxiety and build resilience. In line with the High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) policy, MHS works on delivering opportunities for all students promoting and challenging individuals across all domains of potential. Mitchell High places an emphasis on continually enhancing the quality of teaching by high-impact staff professional learning and development.

Selection Criteria

Applicants must satisfy the teacher training and academic qualification requirements for this position. In addition to the general selection criteria,

1. Demonstrated ability and expertise in leading staff to develop and implement flexible and innovative learning and wellbeing programs designed to enhance student engagement and support the needs of students with additional learning requirements.
2. Highly developed organisational, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the capacity to foster positive relationships with students, their families and outside agencies to collaborate, develop and implement strategies for individualised support, transition, behaviour and wellbeing of students.
3. Demonstrated leadership skills in managing teaching and non-teaching staff, that strengthens collaboration, builds capacity, that foster a high expectation learning culture that improves student learning.

General Selection Criteria

1. Successful teaching experience with capacity to initiate improvement in teaching, learning and classroom practice
2. Knowledge of curriculum, assessment and student welfare with the ability to lead and design quality, inclusive teaching and learning programs
3. Educational leadership skills to build the capacity and manage the performance of individuals and teams
4. Well-developed communication and interpersonal skills with the capacity to build relationships and engage students, staff and parents
5. Ability to plan and manage resources effectively and equitably to support teaching and learning
6. Knowledge of and commitment to the Department's Aboriginal education policy

Conditions

An unconditional full approval to teach is a requirement. If you do not hold a full approval to teach with the NSW Department of Education, you are required to commence the application process at the same time as you apply for this teaching opportunity.

All Department of Education employees working in an SSP are required to be vaccinated as outlined at Vaccination requirements for school sites (nsw.gov.au). The successful candidate for this position will be required to confirm vaccination status prior to the department finalising their appointment and entry on duty. Find the department’s latest advice on COVID-19 (coronavirus) at https://education.nsw.gov.au/covid-19.

Special Notes

The Eligibility Requirements for Head Teacher Positions in NSW Government Schools are located here.

Applicants are to include details of their WWCC clearance number as part of this application.

About the NSW Department of Education

The Department of Education is the largest provider of public education in Australia with responsibility for delivering high-quality public education to two-thirds of the NSW student population. We welcome applications from all ages and genders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, culturally and linguistically diverse groups, the LGBTQIA+ community, veterans, refugees and people with disability. If we can make some adjustments to our recruitment/interview process to better enable you to shine, please contact the Diversity and Inclusion Team (dandi@det.nsw.edu.au) or visit NSW Department of Education Diversity and Inclusion

New merit selection application guidelines for classroom teachers, executives and principals have been introduced to provide greater clarity to applicants and selection panels. The guidelines are located here.

To ensure that your application complies with the guideline page limits, your attachments must be in PDF format.