AddressThe School
Brisbane Grammar School is a non-denominational boys’ school of about 1900 students (Years 5 to12) overlooking the Brisbane CBD. The School maintains a 150-year strong tradition of academic excellence, extensive cocurricular activities and student wellbeing programs. We are fortunate to have a team of dedicated and professional staff who provide an exceptional learning environment responsive to the needs of our students.
Our professional community
Brisbane Grammar School values the professionalism of our teaching staff and seeks to nurture a dynamic learning culture at the School for both students and staff. The School provides freedom for teachers to be creative and innovative, and to develop and grow our research capacity in pedagogical practice and blended learning. The School’s academic structures support collaboration, with staff working in teams within and across disciplines and between the Middle and Senior Schools. Our teachers model collaborative, lifelong learning, and are supported through generous professional development opportunities and high-quality resources.
Our learning environment
In recent years, Brisbane Grammar School carefully audited and reviewed its curriculum frameworks and practices. Our curriculum design processes are led by teachers who continually grow and refine their teaching skills. As a result, we are committed to systematically developing effective thinking cultures within all classrooms and staffrooms. We plan learning experiences in the language of student thinking and cognition and give feedback and guide learner improvement through distinct values of inquiry. The School has a well-supported and pedagogically advanced Tablet PC program, with all students in Years 7 to 12 enabled for one-to-one learning. Teachers are encouraged to work together to use technology and space in innovative ways, ensuring adaptive and transformative curriculum delivery. We are growing our capacity to identify and analyse relevant data that helps our teachers to respond to their students’ learning needs. In addition, the explicit teaching of literacy and numeracy informs curriculum design and classroom practice.
Applicants for all teaching positions must be eligible for registration with the Queensland College of Teachers and should be sympathetic to the aims and ethos of independent schools.
Application process
Brisbane Grammar School recognises the value of diverse thinking and we encourage qualified candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply. To better understand what it means to join BGS, please review the information on our website and social media accounts before submitting your application. You should also familiarise yourself with our key policies and procedures available on the School website, which may assist you during the recruitment process.
Our organisation is committed to protecting children and young people from harm. We require all applicants to undergo a screening process prior to appointment.
Candidates must disclose any information relevant to their eligibility to engage in activities involving children.
Purpose of role
The Head of the Mathematical Methods Department will lead their team in developing, articulating and committing to a shared educational vision focussed on providing quality learning experiences and outcomes for all students. Leading the Department involves the leadership of curriculum, teaching practice, pedagogical improvement and student progress, and the active nurturing of a community of learners; staff and students.
Key Responsibilities
The Head of Mathematical Methods is specifically responsible for:
• The overall leadership and development of the team of teachers implementing Maths programs from Years 5 -12 at BGS, including supporting the Heads of General, Mathematics, and Specialist Mathematics in their specific duties and the enactment of QCE syllabi.
• Identifying, modelling and evaluating the effectiveness of signature pedagogies in the teaching of Mathematical Methods across all year levels, aligned with the BGS Framework for Teaching.
• Ensuring BGS Effective Thinking frameworks are embedded in the design of learning experiences across the department.
• Ensuring the alignment of programs and learning experiences across all year levels, with a particular focus on the transition years from late Middle School (Years 7 and 8) and entry to the Senior School (Years 9 and 10).
• Leading the implementation of the Australian Curriculum and ensuring the alignment of ACARA achievement standards with BGS assessment and reporting.
• Develop an annual Departmental Improvement Plan for Mathematical Methods and use this to inform staff professional learning, drive targeted improvement and operationalize the School’s strategic priorities.
• Planning for and overseeing the meaningful engagement of staff and students in STEAM learning experiences and optimising the affordances of the precinct.
The leadership responsibilities of a Head of Department are grouped as Teaching and Learning, Supervisory, Operational and Administrative. They are accountable for the management of the human, financial, facilities and curriculum resources of their department and will work in cooperation with middle and senior leaders.
TEACHING AND LEARNING LEADERSHIP
• Ensure quality implementation within the department of the School’s wider strategic priorities, including Effective Thinking Cultures and STEAM, as articulated in the annual Department Improvement Plan.
• Facilitate the leadership of teams of teachers in the pedagogical inquiry process, based on a Spiral of Inquiry approach, including modelling critical reflection on practice.
• Lead the development and refinement of curriculum and assessment in ways that address the needs of BGS boys in the learning of Mathematical Methods.
• Ensuring the overall alignment between curriculum sequences, learning experiences and assessment techniques.
• Model and enable innovation and development within the Department, focused on improvements in the teaching of the discipline and in teaching practice generally.
• Facilitate and support:
o networking with external organisations and community members, where appropriate.
o student involvement in enrichment activities including competitions and excursions, and the provision of tutorials as required.
o data analytics and planning interventions for at risk students.
o the implementation of Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustments (AARA), in line with student needs and relevant regulations.
SUPERVISORY LEADERSHIP
• Modelling critical reflection and a growth mindset and seeking to promote these dispositions within the team.
• Seeking opportunities for feedback on self and team.
• Modelling positive connections built on relational trust within the school and with the wider community.
• Optimizing opportunities to develop self and team.
• Nurture a culture of collaborative professionalism within Department meetings which are purposeful and strategically aligned.
• Demonstrate care and concern for members of the Mathematical Methods Department and take an interest in the wellbeing of colleagues.
• Support and promote staff professional learning, including pedagogical improvement, evidence-informed reflection on practice.
• Support, contribute to and model engagement in the Professional Growth Program.
• Liaise with relevant leaders and teachers, where appropriate, to support the individual needs of specific students.
• Encourage staff membership of appropriate professional organisations and networks.
• Facilitate the introduction and induction of new teachers to the Department and its ways of working.
• Provide and encourage leadership development opportunities within the Department and the academic community (eg. relevant QCAA roles).
• Uphold the School’s Code of Conduct within the department and respond professionally, in line with BGS policies and procedures, when expectations of staff are not met or performance of duties is unsatisfactory.
OPERATIONAL LEADERSHIP
• Lead the effective implementation of curriculum and assessment by:
o Ensuring the preparation and distribution of appropriate overviews, units of work, resources, assessment instruments and marking guides.
o Ensuring fidelity with QCAA quality assurance processes.
o Overseeing calibration and moderation procedures across Years 5 to 10.
• Provide respectful and thoughtful representation of the Department at Heads of Department meetings.
• Cooperate in framing a school-wide schedule of tests, excursions and assessments.
• Assist the Heads of Senior Mathematical Methods subjects in their support of students and parents in Course/Subject selection.
ADMINISTRATIVE LEADERSHIP
• Oversee and organise the Department’s needs for: reporting; texts and resources; budgets; timetable requirements and class lists; storage and retention; excursions.
• Assist the Head of Curriculum Services and Director of Assessment and Reporting with their duties as they apply to the operations of the Mathematical Methods Department.
• Submit to the Director of Assessment and Reporting an Order of Merit list for all students studying the subject so that an Annual Prize list can be compiled.
OTHER
All Heads of Department are expected to teach classes at various levels within the department, to operate as a Form Tutor and to contribute to the Cocurricular program.
Criteria for Head of Mathematical Methods
- Strong academic background in Mathematical Methods leadership and education.
- Strong record of performance as an exemplary leaders in the subject area.
- Capacity to exercise and demonstrate leadership and supervision of staff, monitor their wellbeing and oversee their professional development.
- Demonstrated interest and capacity in curriculum design, innovation and implementation, particularly in the areas of pedagogy, assessment and blended learning.
- Capacity to efficiently manage the administrative duties related to the Department.
- Ability to work as a constructive team member both within the Department and among the Heads of Department group and, when appropriate, other School planning and leadership groups.
- Strong written communication skills and the capacity to present confidently to large groups of staff, students and parents.
- Well-developed conflict resolution and interpersonal skills.
- Willingness and capacity to promote and advocate for the subject area in the wider educational community and to be actively involved in external curriculum bodies.
- Evidence of a vigorous commitment to ongoing professional development related to one’s duties.
- Capacity and willingness to contribute to the wellbeing of students.
- Capacity and willingness to contribute to the extracurricular program.
- Understanding of and commitment to the ethos of independent schooling.
