Thamesmead School

Our History & Ethos

Thamesmead School is a secondary academy school for students aged 11- 16 and is located in Shepperton, Surrey. As a heavily over-subscribed school (over 700 applications for our 210 places in year 7 this year) most of our students come from our local community and we try to play our part in this. Our students arrive with prior attainment above the national average and leave us having made more progress than expected. If you look at our results over the last few years, you’ll see we are steadily pushing higher year on year and aim to keep going with this trend. We are proud our hard work has been recognised with an award for ‘Pupil Premium Excellence’ and we have also received a letter from Nick Gibb, Minister of State for Schools, commending us for our exam results.

Location

We are based in the vibrant community of Shepperton Village, a short walk from the rail station which offers direct links to Clapham Junction and Waterloo in under 55 minutes. We also have good road links to both the M3 and M25.

Our staff, students and PTA can be found enjoying themselves and performing at the Summer Fair and the not to be missed ‘Big Tree Night’, to name but two of the events that combine to make the village much more than the location of a famous film studio! Shepperton was also voted the politest town in the UK, something we are all exceptionally proud of when contributing to local events.

Facilities

We are able to offer a purpose built school which promotes the love of learning. Our school design features a range of unique learning spaces including an outdoor performing arts area, dedicated student support spaces as well as a number of computer suites.

We also have an onsite gym in association with Fresh Gym who are able to offer subsidised membership.

CPD

Our motto is ‘where learning comes first’ and this really does tell you about our starting point for all we do. For staff this means a comprehensive programme of continuing professional development that is ‘done with’ not ‘done to’.

Moreover, here at Thamesmead we recognise that, just like our students, we too are life-long learners and we know that the most effective learning for teachers happens when they are given opportunities to reflect on, share and improve their practice. There are many opportunities for teacher at Thamesmead to do this, for example:

· The school hosts termly ‘teachmeets’ for you to share with and gain from your pedagogical peers.

· Our INSETs, while obviously concerned with moving the school’s development plan forward, are targeted at the needs and requests of individual teachers. Indeed we ensure much of our INSET time if ‘self-set’ which ensures that teachers make active decisions in regards to how they develop themselves.

· Curriculum workshops, which are led by our curriculum leader’s and/or subject specialists, are held regularly throughout the year to focus on the developmental needs of each curriculum area.

· We believe in promoting leadership at all levels: As well as developing your pedagogical skills, we want to ensure that you are ready for leadership opportunities when they present themselves. Therefore the school is an advocate of building leadership capacity at all levels. This is done in a variety of ways including, but not exclusive of, the use of the leadership competencies through SLT, MLT, 2YT, NQT and line-management meetings as well as individual self-reflection. Moreover, every year all staff have the opportunity to apply for the National Professional Qualification for both Middle and Senior Leadership (NPQML/SL). Similarly, every year the school financially supports staff members to undertake their educational Masters degrees.

· Our NQT programme is extensive with regular opportunities built in for NQTs to get the support and developmental opportunities they require. As well as a lead NQT trainer, the school also provides every individual with not only a mentor but their own, in-school assessor. Moreover we work very closely with a number of external trainers and a dedicated SEND school to ensure that all elements of teaching can be covered in a supportive and effective way.

Benefits of joining Thamesmead School

· Onsite gym with subsidised membership

· Staff wellbeing group

· Career progression opportunities

What do our staff have to say about working at Thamesmead School?

“Thamesmead is an inclusive and supportive school and everyone is made to feel part of a team, staff and students. Everyone takes pride in the school.” Assistant Headteacher

“When you get it right with a class and you are responsible for that – it’s the best job in the world and during my NQT year, I’ve been shown just how to get it right.” NQT

Recruitment process

If you would like further information on our current vacancies, the school or any other questions, please contact Human Resources on hr@thamesmead.surrey.sch.uk Please note that we follow safer recruitment practices and appointments are subject to a satisfactory enhanced DBS.