School Leader (Midrand Primary) at Nova Pioneer

ABOUT THE ROLE

Nova Pioneer already has 16 schools on the continent - Ten in Johannesburg and six in Nairobi. Prior to assuming the School Leader position, you will go through core training to get you ready to lead in the Nova Pioneer way with support, participation, and leadership in the Emerging Leaders Program. The series of experiences will be customised based on your prior experience. These experiences include shadowing a current School Leader and gaining experience with coaching teachers using the Nova Pioneer system.

Key responsibilities for the role include:

Living the Nova Culture

• Fully embrace Nova Pioneer’s values and promote them to students, staff, other faculty, parents and members of the outside community  
• Live the culture principles inside and outside of the classroom
• Maintain positive, constructive and professional relationships with teachers, students, their families, and colleagues
• Attend daily team, weekly staff and other meetings that arise throughout the school year
• Contribute as part of the regional leadership team to support the growth and health of the collective Nova Pioneer brand

The Head of School, with the support of the Director of Schools and the Chief Schools Officer, shall have responsibility for the following key areas:

Vision and Leadership

• Managing the execution of the daily operation of the school, and support all members of the community in meeting the mission, vision and instructional model of Nova PIoneer
• Articulate a compelling short- and long-term vision for the development of the school’s culture and program
• Establish and maintain an extremely strong and vibrant school culture consistent with Nova’s core cultural principles.
• Manage teaching and learning, and the  academic outcomes of all learners
• Manage the school leadership team, and all teachers using the Managing the Nova Pioneer Way (MNPW) framework
• Plan and support the implementation of Open Days, Academic events, community events, and parent-centered events. 
• Create and support Marketing opportunities to grow enrollment and lessen attrition
• Liaise and work collaboratively with other functions that support the school (Talent, Operations, Admissions and Marketing, etc)
• Manage and support central teams in meeting regional or school-specific outcomes

Organisation and Administration skills

• Provide overall management of the school, including the planning and overseeing of the daily timetabling of classes.
• Manage the execution of the teacher duty schedules as well as morning, break time, and lunch supervision. 
• Support and maintain effective data management systems such as student records, teacher records, attendance, etc.  
• Collect, analyze, share, and interpret internal and external school assessment data and ensure that data is used strategically to improve student academic performance.
• Oversee planning, execution, and analysis of intervention programs targeted at the needs of diverse academic subgroups, whether remedial or enrichment. 
• Develop and implement systems for report cards, MAP results, and reporting other grades to parents
• With the support of the Finance team, build and manage the school budget - ensuring school-based procurement is managed within the budget and at a high standard
• With the support of the property and operations team, oversee the school facilities management - ensure security, campus facilities and cleaning are up to the required standard;
• With the support of the Talent team, ensure that campus-required hiring, people development and HR-related matters are closely managed
• Manage the selected aftercare program on the campus and/ or set up and coordinate Novacare
• With the support of the Marketing team, take active leadership and ownership in the school's admissions process and enrollment efforts as well as student retention.
• Ensure that campus-required hiring, people development and HR-related matters are closely managed and communicated to relevant teams
• With the support of the Marketing team, take active leadership and ownership in the school's admissions process and enrollment efforts as well as student retention

Teacher Development 

• Lead the coaching and development of other leaders in the school, including Deans and Grade Level leads to be exemplars in all aspects of the Nova Pioneer Model. 
• Oversee the attendance roster and roster of absent teachers and ensure effective teacher substitute plans as necessary
• Develop a school environment which is supportive of learning and high achievement among the students.  
• Lead and support the monitoring and evaluation of teaching and learning across the school and contribute to school self-evaluation and the development of improvement plans.
• Facilitate collaboration among teachers within/across grade levels and subject areas
• Create and manage appropriate and high impact  staff professional development
• Support the Apprentice Teacher programme

Communication  

• Develop effective communication systems with students, team, parents and the wider community.  
• Communicate with students, staff and parents in a positive, friendly and professional manner
• Responsible for managing communication systems - D6, Newsletters, EdAdmin, etc.

ABOUT YOU

• You have 5+ years of experience in a rigorous, high-expectations school setting including instructional leadership roles (e.g., Dean of Instruction, Dean of Students, Deputy Head, teacher coach, etc.). More years of experience or experience as a Head of School is highly valued but not a prerequisite, having 5+ years of Primary School professional experience is a prerequisite.
• You are widely recognised as a highly effective teacher and can model what great, inquiry-based teaching looks like.
• You consistently seeking out opportunities to grow, whether by asking others for feedback, forming communities of learning with other school leaders or seeking out training
• You have a track record of improving other people’s performance through coaching, building uncommonly strong relationships, developing creative training sessions, and sharing feedback
• A strong community leader, with the ‘head and heart’ to foster a caring community
• You have an exceptional ability to think strategically—and are  unusually detail-oriented and conscientious
• You are excited about our organisational culture—and in particular, you are fired up to challenge yourself by embracing mutual vulnerability and a firehose of feedback
• You have a desire to further develop your leadership skills and apply them to transform the lives of African youth