Assistant Principal: Student Wellbeing and Engagement

Rare opportunity to join our leadership team at Suzanne Cory High School.

Suzanne Cory High School is the only selective entry high school in the western suburbs and one of only four selective school schools in the state of Victoria.  The current enrolment comprises 910 students from approximately eighty different schools, with three quarters having a western suburbs address and being equal numbers from government and non-government schools. Students are of above average ability and have high aspirations and a strong commitment to their studies.

Our students are encouraged to highlight their individuality. As a school we aim to foster individuality and inclusiveness via our SWPBS framework and through the development of relationships between staff and students and within the student body to create a whole learning community.

Our students graduate with strong connections to the school, their school house and the wider community. This is encouraged and developed through the range of extra-curricular activities our students participate in, including the house program, sport and music programs.

Suzanne Cory High School was nominated for Best Professional Learning Program based on our 2023 Pedagogy Best Practice Review Program.

The annual Australian Education Awards is the leading national independent awards event in the K-12 education sector. The awards showcase the top-performing schools for their outstanding achievements and transformative work that makes a profound difference to the lives of young people across Australia.

This year-long program was teacher-led professional learning on effective pedagogies for high ability learners where teachers, students and the school community contributed and co-created a whole school pedagogic model.

We have the following position on offer:

Assistant Principal - Range 2 
Student Wellbeing and Engagement Job ID 1437906

The Assistant Principal: Student Wellbeing and Engagement will be a member of the Executive Class, Senior Leadership Team and Wellbeing & Engagement Leadership Team.

They will be responsible for

• Developing a common philosophy and purpose that emphasises the need for explicit teaching of wellbeing strategies and the link between wellbeing and engagement.
• Leading the development of a school wide approach to wellbeing & engagement which supports the needs of highly able learners.
• Leading a team that collaborates with all stakeholders to ensure a responsive approach to wellbeing data school wide.
• Ensuring support is provided to staff to use effective classroom practices - establish systems to support staff to adopt evidence-based instructional practices associated with proactive wellbeing and appropriate behaviours.
• Leading an integrated approach to engagement that includes a full program of assemblies, camps and excursions.
• Lead the whole school transition for new students at all year levels including the allocation of classes and homegroups.
• Responsibility for general discipline matters beyond the management of Leading Teachers.

The Assistant Principal: Student Wellbeing and Engagement will

• Take responsibility for supporting and managing the performance of staff to improve the quality of teaching and learning, through mentoring, coaching, collegial interaction and critical reflection on practice, feedback and data.
• Lead the Director of Engagement: The Arts, Director of Proactive Wellbeing: Senior, Director of Proactive Wellbeing: Middle, Director of Engagement: Student Voice & Agency and Principal Class Officers to lead the integration of a consistent school wide approach to Wellbeing and Engagement.

Selection Criteria

SC1 Educational leadership

• Outstanding capacity for visionary and exemplary educational leadership of a school or college.
• Highly developed skills in leading and managing change including the leadership of others in the process of change.

SC2 Financial, managerial and administrative ability

• Outstanding financial, organisational and resource management skills.

SC3 Planning, policy and program development and review

• Exemplary values appropriate to the development of student learning with a demonstrated capacity to achieve high quality student outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to implement Department policies to a high level.
• An understanding of, and a commitment to, the use of learning technologies to improve teaching and learning.

SC4 Leadership of staff and students

• A highly developed capacity to motivate staff, develop their talents and build an effective team.
• A clear capacity to foster a learning environment that takes account of the individual needs of students and helps students to develop their special abilities and talents.

SC5 Interpersonal and communication skills

• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills in individual, small group and community contexts.
• Exemplary values pertaining to personal qualities of objectivity, sensitivity and integrity.
• An ability to work with parents and the community to develop a strong learning environment. 

SC6 School Specific Criteria

• High level understanding of the diverse needs of students in a selective entry high school and the capacity to lead programs that support the achievement of these students.  

Interested? Please apply via Recruitment Online (Job ID 1437906) and ensure to include:

A specific response to each of the key selection criteria, preferably no more than one page per criteria.

Please attach with your application:

1. A cover sheet providing contact information including home address, email and phone number as well as the phone number of the work address at which the applicant can be contacted.

2. A CV with a summary of experience and qualifications.

3. Specific Key Selection Criteria responses

4. The names, email addresses and contact details for three referees who can provide information regarding the applicant in relation to the key selection criteria.

For ease of handling by the school, all documents (cover letter, cv and key selection criteria responses) can be saved as one pdf.  Please also ensure that your name is included in the header of each document.

Applications close 14 October 2024.

For further information (including the selection criteria), please visit Recruitment Online.