Head of Secondary

Date: 8 Apr 2025

Location:

Green Valley, PA

Job ID: 5742

School: Metropolitan School of Panama

Company: Nord Anglia Education

About Our School

The Metropolitan School of Panama is an international school in Panama City that offers a world-class academic program to students in Early Childhood 3 through 12th grade. With around 800 students hailing from 45 different nationalities, and 120 faculty members that boast an impressive range of international teaching experiences, our school is enriched by the wealth of its diverse and multicultural community.

History

Opened in 2011, The MET has become one of Panama’s leading international schools. The school was founded with a vision of creating an international school of excellence, staffed with the best teachers, with small class sizes, and where each child would be happy, motivated, and inspired to learn.

Job Responsibilities

The Head of Secondary will demonstrate essential leadership characteristics, including:

• Core Requirements
  
  

The Head of Secondary is responsible for all aspects of the day-to-day operation of the Secondary School and for planning for its development.

Requirements

In fulfilling the requirements of the post, the Head of Secondary will demonstrate the highest standards of professionalism and will, in particular:

• Embody the school’s mission and vision in word and action.
• Gain and maintain the trust and confidence of students, colleagues, and parents.
• Be accountable for all aspects of standards in the Secondary School.
• Motivate students and staff to aspire to excellence in all that they do.
• Build strong, high-performing teams.
• Create the conditions for staff to continue to learn.
• Be responsible for safeguarding students.
• Deploy resources with due diligence, with efficiency and effectiveness.
• Plan strategically for the continual improvement of the Secondary School.
• Take on any other duties required by the Head of School
• Teaching, Learning and the Curriculum
  
  

Lead The Highest Standards Of Teaching And Learning By

• Providing a curriculum which provides exemplary learning opportunities within and beyond the classroom.
• Maintaining exemplary student behaviour that encourages learning within a purposeful and safe environment.
• Developing and maintaining effective systems for the care and guidance of students, from transition from primary through to university.
• Demonstrating wide-ranging knowledge of effective pedagogy and curriculum.
• Ensuring that our curriculum reflects our place in the Americas.
• Ensuring the powerful use of technology to enhance learning and developing STEAM.
• Developing and maintaining a rigorous system of school self-evaluation.
• Monitoring, evaluating, and improving standards of teaching using lesson observation, work scrutiny and assessment data.
• Recognising and celebrating teaching excellence and challenging poor practice.
• Personally, supporting the life of the school beyond the classroom.
• Ensuring that students participate in a rich and varied programs of co-curricular activities, trips, and residential experiences.
• Students’ Welfare
• To be responsible for the overall welfare of students
• Establish a purposeful and safe learning environment in line with child safeguarding policies and promote child safeguarding among staff.
• Maintain high levels of behavior and students’ discipline in line with school protocols
• Promote a culture of high achievement among students, and celebrate success appropriate
• Ensure an ethos of mutual respect and a positive approach to behavior management
• Ensure new students are provided with the corresponding induction and assure Admissions is informed of students’ initiatives
• Maintain an awareness of individual special needs
• Promote students’ involvement in school
• Staff Lead, inspire and guide the Secondary School staff by:
• Fostering a culture of respect, equity, ambition, leadership, responsibility, and integrity.
• Developing and maintaining a community of professional learners.
• Developing everyone’s ability to use the performance management system to raise standards and contribute to professional growth.
• Leading and mentoring and managing the performance and professional development of the Secondary Leadership Team.
• Ensuring that the middle leaders are effective in leading their teams.
• Working with the Principal to recruit and retain the highest quality teachers, including participation in interviews and selection.
• Organizing initial and ongoing induction for new teachers.
• Contributing to the professional development of teachers.
• Contributing to the provision of references for teachers moving to new schools or new positions.
• Community Ensure engagement and collaboration with our community by:
• Ensuring that parents are regularly informed about their child’s progress, attainment and achievement and ensuring that they know how to support their child’s learning;
• Informing parents of key events, trips and residential activities with sufficient notice for families to plan, logistically and financially;
• Keeping parents informed of events and priorities;
• Ensuring that the achievements of students and staff are recognized and celebrated.
• Maintaining a high standard of presentation in all printed and on-line materials relating to the Secondary School;
• Working with parent representatives;
• Organizing and presenting at parent workshops through the NAE Parent Academy;
• Developing wider community links through CAS and other projects.
• Directing the strategic planning of cohesive seamless transition across all key stages;
• Promoting a culture of safety and happiness within the school and valuing all individuals within the school
• Ensuring that there is a safe and supportive culture across the school, adhering to robust safeguarding practices, student behavior processes and attendance monitoring.
• The wider organization
  
  

Ensure participation in, and benefit from, our place in the global Nord Anglia Education (NAE) family by:

• Always Acting in accordance with our NAE goal, vision, and plan (NORD: Nurture ‘One Team’; Own ‘Be Ambitious’; Role model Nord Anglia values; Deliver Results)
• Developing productive collegial relations with other NAE Heads of Secondary
• Preparing reports to NAE on student attainment and staff annual performance reviews.
• Ensuring high levels of staff participation in Nord Anglia University and the leadership programs.
• Ensuring high levels of student participation in Global Campus, Expeditions and Challenges.
• Ensuring strong participation in the NAE collaborations.
• Operational matters
  
  

Ensure the smooth and efficient operation of the Secondary School by:

• Creating and maintaining an annual calendar of Secondary School events, taking into account the operation of the whole school;
• Managing the Secondary School budgets for annual orders, classroom supplies, PD, trips, supply teaching and examinations;
• Holding regular, productive meetings with the Secondary School Leadership Team, keeping a clear record of outcomes;
• Working with the Marketing, Admissions and Communications Team to attract and recruit students and ensuring effective induction for new students and families;
• Assisting in whole school marketing initiatives and contributing to the growth of the school;
• Thinking and planning strategically for continual growth and improvement;
• Communicating a clear, concise, coherent vision and enabling others to contribute to achieving that vision;
• Contributing to whole school strategic planning.
• Self-Demonstrate personal adherence to the values and principles of our mission by:
• Acting with integrity
• Maintaining a professional appearance and manner and expecting the same of staff
• Being personally ambitious, engaging in significant professional development
• Being culturally sensitive and agile.
• Being inclusive, approachable and recognizing of need.
• Demonstrating a deep understanding and tolerance relating to equality, diversity and inclusion.
  
  

Knowledge and Skills

• Outstanding oral and written communication.
• Ability to engage and motivate people to enable them to perform highly.
• Strong organisational skills and personal time management.
• Ability to work in a team.
• Ability to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Good working knowledge of school self-evaluation.
• Facility with baseline assessment, tracking, target setting and value-added systems.
• Working knowledge of management information systems (e.g. iSAMS).
• High level of IT competency.
  
  

Qualifications/Training

• Post-graduate qualification at Master’s level or above.
• School leadership programme attendance or qualification.
• Strong, recent track record of professional development.
• Proven track record with at least 7 years’ teaching experience.
• Experience of being part of a highly successful senior team at Deputy level or above.
• Direct involvement in raising standards and driving improvement at school level.
• Experience of the IB Diploma Programme level or equivalent.
• Evidence of working with parents.
• Experience of working with groups of students with diverse additional educational needs and for whom English is an additional language.
• Experience of school accreditation or inspection.
• Track record of leading or contributing to professional development of teachers.
  
  

Personal Attributes

• Passionate about international education and young people.
• Comfortable with complexity, change and uncertainty.
• Cultural agility and adaptability.
• Understand the complex environment of an international community.
• Resilience.
• Robust good health.
• Sense of humour.