Teacher of Art:

2d specialist in drawing, printmaking and/or painting (Part time, 3 or 4 days per week)

From 1 September 2017

The school

St Paul’s Girls’ School is one of the country’s leading independent secondary day schools for girls aged 11-18

and is a lively academic community with excellent facilities for all subjects. There are approximately 740 pupils

with a thriving sixth form. Entry to the school is by competitive exam held in January and there is heavy

demand for each place. Public exam results are consistently outstanding and about half of all students every

year move on to Oxford and Cambridge. Increasing numbers also go on to higher education at Ivy League

colleges in the United States. Aspirations and achievements in many areas go well beyond what one would

normally expect from a school, making St Paul’s a very exciting and stimulating place in which to work.

Full details of the school, including our curriculum and public exam results, are available on our website at

http://www.spgs.org

Information about the department

Since the foundation of St Paul’s art has been an integral and important part of the curriculum. The

department occupies the top floor of the central school building designed by Gerald Horsley, and forms a

series of inter-connected studios, each with a different focus and specialism. The large Main Studio is used

primarily for painting and drawing as well as for regular after school life class sessions. To one side is a

dedicated Ceramics Studio and beyond that the Printmaking Studio. Mirroring these spaces on the other side

of the Main Studio are the Digital Art Studio, a substantial darkroom, and beyond that a dedicated studio for

girls in the Senior School, whilst downstairs the large 3d-design workshop enables girls to work with a wide

range of sculptural processes. Girls study history of art from the first year onwards and the subject is taught

in a classroom connected to the art studios.

Of specific relevance to this post, the Main Studio’s large north-facing windows overlook Brook Green, and

the studio is set up to support painting in a wide range of media and scales. The printmaking studio is equipped

with five presses. Processes taught currently include: relief printmaking from vinyl, lino and woodblock;

drypoint and acid-etched intaglio printmaking; monoprinting, and collagraph work. The darkroom has a UV-

exposure unit enabling the preparation of photopolymer plates.

The department is run by a team of six specialist artist-teachers, three technicians and a history of art teacher.

Each teacher takes the lead for one studio space, however, most teach in more than one area and we work

closely together in order that girls can move fluidly between the spaces and develop their work in an

interdisciplinary and independent fashion. The girls at St Paul’s are incredibly bright and bring a wealth of ideas

and imagination to their art projects. Our goal is to support girls in exploring these ideas creatively and giving

them the contextual and technical understanding to realise their ideas in ambitious and personal ways.

The Curriculum

In the early years girls are taught in small groups and complete a series of projects that give a technical

introduction to each of our dedicated studio spaces and the related processes. In the Middle School art is a

popular subject, with around half of girls taking the school-directed Visual Arts Course, which we have offered

in place of GCSE for over twenty years. The course grants girls substantial freedom in their work and, moving

confidently between the studios, girls make a wonderfully diverse range of unique artworks culminating in a

large end-of-course exhibition, curated and set up by the girls themselves. In the Senior School we seek to

build on this as girls work with increasing confidence and technical sophistication, with all girls taking a multi-

disciplinary A-level in fine art. Again, an exhibition is the culmination of the course, held midway through the

summer term. History of art is taken as a separate qualification at A-level and at GCSE, but a love of art

history is encouraged in all girls. Around a dozen girls take art in each year of the Senior School and every

year a small number of girls go on to study fine art, architecture, art history or related courses in higher

education.

Work is exhibited throughout the year around the school, and we hold two large shows each year that take

over the largest and most prominent space in the school, The Great Hall. There is a wealth of extra-curricular

activity in the department, from weekly life drawing classes to student-run initiatives such as the architecture

and film societies. The Digital Studio acts as a creative hub for numerous student-led publications including

Studio, an arts journal, and M2, a fashion magazine. We seek to develop girls’ awareness of professional visual

arts practice through visiting speakers and exciting trips, both abroad, for example trips to New York and

Berlin, and in London by attending foundation shows and events such as Frieze Masters. There is also an

annual artist-in-residence programme through which a practising artist works intensively with girls in the Middle

School on a collaborative project, typically in a discipline or media that goes beyond the regular provision of

the department.

Paulinas in the art world

St Paul’s is proud of its artistic heritage and many professional artists and architects have begun their education

in the art department at St Paul’s. The first Head of Art, Constance Flood Jones (1904-18) was herself a well-

known landscape painter and portraitist. Jocelyn Herbert (1917-2003) was an eminent theatre and film

designer whose daughter, Jennifer West, was the Director of Art and Design at the school in the 1980’s.

Gillian Ayres, one of the most highly regarded abstract painters working today, attended St Paul’s in the 1940’s

and went on to study art at the Slade. One of her large abstract canvases currently hangs in the stairwell of

the Music Department. The innovative architect Amanda Levete now has her own company AL_A and while

with Future Systems was responsible for the Selfridges Building in Birmingham and the Lord’s Media Centre.

Her current projects include an ambitious extension to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Artist Catherine Yass was nominated for the Turner Prize in 2002: her recent major works include High Wire,

2008 and Lighthouse, 2011. The photographer Sandra Lousada, the sculptor Willow Winston and illustrators

Angharad Morgan and Tor Freedman are former students who have successfully forged careers in the arts.

Maria Vlotides, meanwhile, has recently completed her “pavement poetry” project, which saw her collaborate

with leading authors to create unique ornate manhole covers to adorn the streets of London.

The art teacher role presents the opportunity to engage with this wonderful tradition.

The post and candidate profile

This is a Part-time post from 1 September 2017. The successful appointee will join a thriving, well-established

department to teach across the age range, from year 7 art to fine art A-level. As a part-time teacher there

will be ample opportunity for the new post-holder, subject to experience, to take on areas of responsibility

within the wider department. All teachers and technicians are involved in enrichment activities such as

lunchtime societies, open studios and the development and running of visits and trips.

The post is suitable either for an experienced or a recently qualified teacher-artist interested in working with

committed, intelligent pupils. The ideal candidate will have substantial expertise in either painting or

printmaking. The ability and willingness to teach 3d-design and sculpture to the lower years in a workshop

environment is advantageous, but not essential. We recognise that each candidate is likely to have their own

specific areas of expertise and interest, and indeed part of the role for the successful applicant will be to

develop their specialism within the department in new and exciting directions that reflect their own

experiences and expertise.

The school places great importance on the pastoral care of its pupils and each girl has a personal tutor with

whom she meets on a daily basis. The successful candidate will be expected to become a tutor and to keep an

interested, but unobtrusive, eye on the progress and well-being of his or her tutees and to work closely with

other tutors, the heads of year and the director of school to create a supportive and encouraging environment

in which our girls are able to flourish.

In addition, the successful candidate will be expected to play a full part in the varied co-curricular life of the

school and to share in the running and organisation of co-curricular activities, many of which take place

outside normal school hours and sometimes during the holidays.

Terms and conditions of the post

Salary is according to qualifications and relevant experience. St Paul’s Girls’ School has its own generous salary

scale (the current year’s is attached). Staff can also take advantage of substantial financial support towards

practice-orientated CPD. Successful candidates for posts here are required to complete a medical declaration

and undergo the normal DBS checks.

Application and interview procedures

Please submit applications using the forms provided. In addition to a covering letter addressed to the High

Mistress, we ask candidates to provide a full curriculum vitae with details of qualifications and experience and

the names, addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of two professional referees, one of whom

should be the head of the applicant’s present or most recent school or college. Candidates may, if they wish,

send a short digital portfolio of images containing examples of both their own practice and work created by

students they have taught.

Candidates are welcome to contact the Director of Art, Matthew Bunning, to discuss the department and the

role in advance of applying: matthew.bunning@spgs.org.

Applications are required prior to the closing date of Tuesday 6 June, noon. Interviews will be held on week

commencing Monday 12 June. We may also contact and interview candidates prior to these dates.

We will acknowledge all applications and if you do not receive an acknowledgement it is advised that you e-

mail or telephone to confirm that your application has been received. Candidates who have not heard further

from us within two weeks of the closing date should assume that the post has been filled.

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and overseas police checks

St Paul’s is a “registered body” under the Police Act 1997 because employment here involves access to

children under the age of 18. This post will require an enhanced DBS check from the Disclosure and Barring

Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) before we can confirm an offer of employment. Unless you are a

member of the DBS Update Service you will need to apply for a new disclosure, even if you already hold one.

Former members of staff who are not on the Update Service who re-join us also require fresh disclosures

unless less than three months have passed between their leaving and their re-employment date. If you have

lived or worked abroad you will also need to provide appropriate paperwork, such as a police certificate of

good conduct, from the countries you have lived in.

Safeguarding guidelines

The post-holder’s responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of children and young persons for

whom s/he is responsible, or with whom s/he comes into contact, will be to adhere to and ensure compliance

with our child protection policy statement at all times. If, in the course of carrying out the duties of the post,

the post-holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety or welfare of children at St Paul’s,

s/he must report any concerns to our safeguarding designated person or to the High Mistress.

Closing date: Tuesday 6 June, noon.

Interviews: W/C Monday 12 June.

Contact details:

Tobi Ojuri

Human Resources Department

St Paul’s Girls’ School

Brook Green

London W6 7BS

Tel: 020 7605 1117

jobs@spgs.org

www.spgs.org

Appendix A

Job description

Art Teacher at St Paul’s Girls’ School, specialising in painting and/or printmaking

Teaching at St Paul’s is a uniquely stimulating and rewarding experience because we are committed to creating

an exciting and dynamic environment for learning. All teachers are encouraged to participate fully both in the

life of their academic department and the wider life of the school, as well as to pursue their own professional

development.

Teaching and learning

Planning and preparing lessons in accordance with departmental and school policy

Teaching such students and groups/sets as are assigned

Fluent and regular collaboration and communication with colleagues over shared and team-taught groups

Setting, marking and moderating work as required

Promoting the progress and academic development of students, differentiating for ability where

appropriate

Recording and assessing progress

Writing subject reports and student references

Preparing students for public examinations according to the specifications

Contributing to the open studios provision of the department at lunch time and after school, including

two evening sessions a week

Developing and running elements of the extra-curricular programme for art including trips, societies and

speakers

Other responsibilities

Contributing to the broader development of the the teaching of life drawing at various points in the year

Supporting the planning and setting up of exhibitions

Acting as a form tutor

Upholding the school’s code of conduct

Maintaining good order and discipline amongst students and actively implementing the school’s policies on

rewards and sanctions

Supporting students as appropriate at major school events and in other activities, e.g. plays, concerts,

matches, etc.

Attending formal parents’ evenings and communicating with parents at other times as necessary

Attending morning assembly

Attending staff meetings, departmental meetings and briefings

Undertaking supervisory duties as required

Playing a full role in the wider life of the school, contributing actively to the co-curricular programme

Professional development

Participating in the school’s PDR process for teachers

Attending appropriate INSET and training, making such reports as necessary

All images are from the recent Visual Arts Course exhibition – our equivalent GCSE show.