British Columbia Program Head (Lower Elementary)

Context

Hayat Universal School (HUBS) Qatar is a PreK – 12 British Columbia Certified Offshore School operating in Doha, Qatar. HUBS Qatar offers the BC Program along with a national program of Arabic Language, Islamic Education, and Qatar History. The school bilingual programs attract Qatari families and the vast majority of students are English Language Learners (ELL). Most students join the school at the preschool program level. Being an offshore school, HUBS depends heavily on its educational leadership team, comprised of the Principal and BC Program Heads, for implementing the BC curriculum and operating the school to achieve the school mission and learning goals of developing Effective Communicators, Reflective Thinkers, Responsible Individuals and Global Muslims.

Purpose

The BC Program Head position is of an academic vice-principal level. The BC Program Head supports the school Principal primarily in the Principal’s instructional leadership role. The Principal strives to deliver a rigorous educational program for HUBS’ predominantly ELL population. The aim is to create a professional and positive school climate, where adults are collaborating to engage students in meaningful and strategically focused learning in a nurturing and safe environment. Student achievement must be measured based on the BC Ministry of Education standards and the school's learning goals.

Detailed Duties

The BC Program Head leading specific grade levels assumes the following responsibilities:

1. Planning for Instruction and Assessment
   • Leading/contributed to the discussions within teacher and admin teams to develop policies for instruction, assessment, reporting, homework, student co-curricular and extracurricular activities and student support with consideration for the needs of the student body who is predominantly Qatari and is ELL;
   • Selecting instructional programs and frameworks to bring the structure and consistency required for effective delivery of the BC curriculum while considering the fluid nature of staffing in International schools. The BC Program Head is to support planning instruction using those programs developed over the nine years of HUBS School;
   • Identifying instructional strategies that will support teacher instruction, in addition to the mandated strategies;
   • Selecting learning resources required for the BC curriculum, including books for sale to students, classroom and library resources, manipulatives, and IT resources;
   • Preparing or leading the preparation of materials such as professional teacher resources (planning templates, sample plans, and self-contained activities) and student resources (reference materials, map of curriculum to textbooks and homework);
   • Led the development of class lists with student grouping that minimizes the heterogeneity of reading levels within one class;
   • Leading and supported teachers as they develop the following:
     • year plans/course overviews, unit plans, weekly newsletters, and daily lesson plans using the school-mandated templates and ensuring differentiation, technology integration, ESL emphasis, and implementation of hands-on and inquiry-based approaches required for the redesigned BC curriculum
     • homework assignments
     • formative and summative assessment
     • Plans for student co-curricular and extracurricular activities that support learning and diversify opportunities to maximize student achievement.
2. Monitoring Instruction, Assessment and Student Achievement
   • Making regular classroom visits as per the school policy to monitor the consistent use of required daily plans; adherence to the yearly plans/course overview; use of instructional strategies, resources, and assessment as per policies and plans; student-engagement and positive classroom environment;
   • Reviewing exam papers before administration;
   • Collecting and reviewing samples of items such as instructional plans, student classwork, homework, and completed assessment and, wherever applicable, assess students to spot-check teacher assessment;
   • Supervising exam invigilation;
   • Monitoring the use of formative and summative assessment and adherence to the assessment policy through periodical checking of the Gradebook;
   • Reviewing and signing student progress reports (Report Cards);
   • Monitoring materials published on the Student Information System (Plus Portal) to communicate with students and their families;
   • Reviewing and analyzing student assessment data to identify trends and anomalies and prepare for a discussion with the school Principal, school Head Office and teachers to identify actions to improve student achievement.
3. Managing Behavior and Discipline
   • Contributing to developing schoolwide policies and procedures for behavior management and student discipline;
   • Contributing to developing classroom routines and expectations common/calibrated across grades to bring consistency in managing behavior and support to new teachers as they address this challenging aspect of teaching at HUBS;
   • Monitoring the implementation of school policies, procedures, programs, and classroom routines during classroom visitations and while on duty during recess. Coordinate with the school counselors and reflection area assistants to make sure teachers follow the discipline process as they refer students to the counselors/reflection rooms. Supporting teachers in communicating with parents, arranging meetings related to negative behavior and following up on behavior plans set for students who are not meeting school behavior expectations.
4. Identifying and Supporting At-Risk Students
   • Contributing to the development of a process to identify students who are at risk of failing and possibly leaving HUBS due to academic performance or poor behavior;
   • Working with teachers and counselors to see that the process is implemented promptly to ensure at-risk students are identified as early as possible, parents are engaged in the process, support and behavior plans are developed, the performance of students is monitored and, cases of possible retention or denial of re-registration, are identified.
5. Coaching Teachers
   • Led weekly meetings for grade-level team collaboration that are meant to create opportunities for teachers and the BC Head to share ideas and experiences to develop common/consistent instructional plans and assessment practices; to help solve problems related to teaching and managing behavior and to have issue and ideas discussed and implemented as needed;
   • Working with teachers either during class visitations or through one-to-one meetings to support them with their planning, assessment and managing behavior;
   • Modeling best teaching practices and the use of school-mandated resources, instructional programs, frameworks, strategies and assessments;
   • Contributing to healthy teacher morale by helping teachers positively view the profession’s challenges while working in an international setting with a different culture by providing them with guidance and support and constructively and proactively communicating teacher concerns to the school Principal and the school Administration Council to help address these concerns.
6. Engaging Parents
   • Coach and monitor teachers to ensure that they are following the best practice of engaging parents and in supporting any policies/procedures/systems the school is implementing in this regard;
   • Meet with parents to discuss their concerns, educate them about the school programs and policies and constructively address their issues or ideas;
   • Plan and deliver/ensure the delivery of meaningful activities that will integrate parents into the school life, such as:
     • Student performances that will showcase student learning
     • Subject projects such as Science, Social Studies, and Arts
     • Presentations on the BC programs
     • Workshops on teaching methods used at HUBS in areas such as literacy, numeracy and character development so that parents may support the school’s work at home.
7. Entry Assessment
   • Review and, if needed, update entry assessment for grades the BC Head is assigned to lead;
   • Review entry assessments administered by teachers and make the final recommendation to the school Principal.
8. Professional Development
   • Contributing to the annual plans for professional development and in-service, including the two-week orientation before the start of the school year;
   • Identifying sources and receiving suggestions from teachers for professional development and working with the school admin team to screen these opportunities and arrive at decisions;
   • Planning and offering professional development in areas of expertise.
9. General School Leadership Duties
   • Working with members of the school administration team and teachers to plan and offer student activities such as showcases, intra and inter-school competitions, science and art fairs, and projects to expand learning opportunities for students beyond the classroom to develop school pride, enhance the positive climate, and meaningfully engage parents;
   • Participating in the supervision of recess to monitor and support teaching staff and assistants;
   • Contributing to school improvement through policy/procedure development, the analysis of data from a variety of sources, the development of growth plans and participation in school accreditation;
   • Playing a key role in the implementation of staff discipline policy and procedure by alerting the school Principal to staff members who may be struggling to meet their professional responsibilities; working with staff under discipline to help them improve and alerting the Principal if support attempts are not resulting in the required change;
   • Contributing to effective school operation, positive school climate, and improving staff/student retention by engaging in a transparent and constructive dialogue with other members of the school administration team, the Principal, and school Head Office executives to identify problems both at the grades the BC Head is leading as well as across the whole school, and to consider and support an agreed-upon course of action.