Librarian And Literacy Support Coordinator

The Harris Academy Battersea library is a fantastic space for learning. Situated between our English corridor and our playground, it is a hub of student activity. With a split-level balcony area for Sixth Form study and bespoke events, and a bank of computers that the Academy are refurbishing, the Library provides a bright and engaging environment for engaging with all that literature has to offer.

Our committed team of student librarians help administer the space at break and lunch, and the Library hosts a range of activities including chess, debate club and independent study groups.

All students in Key Stage 3 access the Library as part of their English curriculum, and we are excited for our new Librarian to play an active role in helping to shape what these lessons look like and how all students experience the space as a space for them.

Our new Librarian and Literacy Coordinator will have the opportunity to work closely with the English team and other school leaders to develop our catalogue of books, our library systems, and the space itself and will have the chance to really make the library their own. The Librarian will be based in the Library throughout the day, facilitating the space as a silent independent study area for Sixth Form students during lesson time while it's available, but will also work as part of the English department and will therefore work closely with a vibrant and passionate team of professionals who are in and out of the Library all the time!

Our Library benefits from our location in the heart of London and regularly welcomes authors and speakers from across the city and beyond. Likewise, sponsorship opportunities from various charitable foundations help us to maintain a fantastic and constantly growing stock of great texts and resources.

We hope you can see yourself as making this your Library.

About Us

Harris Academy Battersea is a mixed state secondary school serving a truly comprehensive community in the heart of London. We are an Ofsted ‘Outstanding' school with a track record of delivering fantastic outcomes year on year for our students. In 2023, Ofsted visited the academy and judged us as remaining ‘outstanding', commenting on our “highly ambitious curriculum”, the “exceptionally high quality of education” provided and noted that “behaviour in the school is very strong”. Nevertheless, we are extremely ambitious for our school and as we seek to continue to grow and develop, we are looking for more brilliant people to join us.

Our Academy is centred on the values of Knowledge, Integrity and Resilience and these underpin the way we work for both students and staff. Our staff are inclusive, diverse and committed to our mission: we develop aspirational young people to thrive in a changing world.

HABS offers a broad, academic and challenging curriculum founded on six key curriculum aims:

• To develop deep, long-lasting knowledge
• To develop students into accomplished readers, writers and orators
• To provide experiences within and beyond the classroom that enrich learning and ensure students can make informed choices about their futures
• To equip students to challenge injustice in all its forms
• To enable students to understand how they learn
• To support students to reflect on their choices and values to improve themselves and their community

These aims underpin all elements of our curriculum, and we see our core academic curriculum and wider personal development curriculum as intrinsically linked. All staff at the Academy contribute to the personal development of our students through their roles as tutors and through their contributions to the wider life of the academy.

A thriving school can only function with fantastic staff, and our vision is to make teaching at HABS both enjoyable and sustainable. The wellbeing of staff underpins every decision we make, and we seek to ensure that every member of staff can enjoy a work-life-balance enabling them to bring their best to work each day.

At HABS, professional growth and development is central to our mission. Our professional development motto is ‘improve, not prove' and leaders are relentlessly focussed on supporting staff in getting even better through a wide range of internal and external training opportunities.

As a part of the Harris Federation, all staff in the Academy benefit from being part of our network of more than fifty primary and secondary academies across London. Vibrant networks of subject experts meet regularly and teachers can access bespoke support from our central teams of consultants.

For more information about what we do and who we are, we encourage you to visit our website here as well as our careers page here and explore!

Main Areas of Responsibility

Your responsibilities will include:

• Leading on the strategic management, organisation and supervision of the Library
• Maintaining a professional, stimulating and tidy learning environment at all times, foregrounding student achievements
• Managing the Library's electronic management system, including reviewing its effectiveness
• Contributing to presentation and consultation evenings and meeting with parents to encourage reading beyond curriculum time
• Contributing to and maintaining library displays and the organisation of books
• Providing advice to staff, students and the community
• Offering training activities for staff in relation to effective use of learning resources
• Supporting with the time-tabling and booking of the Library's spaces
• Collaborating with the English team to coordinate and deliver regular Library lessons
• Liaising with the English team to publicise and organise regular LRC book events, including visits from writers
• Supporting students with book choice and borrowing
• Ensuring that all learning resources and equipment are well maintained
• Encouraging the effective use of the Library across the curriculum
• Providing guidance to groups and individuals using the Library
• Liaison with other information agencies including other resource areas and across the Federation
• Development and implementation of study and information skills linked into the curriculum
• Participating in community links, including opening out of academy hours (a flexible approach to working hours is required)
• Management of the Library's delegated budgets, reporting to the Director fo Resources
• Keeping appropriate and effective records using academy ICT systems
• Disseminating information on resources and access to staff and students
• Monitoring, evaluating and reviewing the use and development of the area,
• Organising and supervising after hours, lunch time and break time use of resources
• Liaising with parents regarding student usage, borrowing and overdue or unreturned resources as appropriate
• Coordinating, training and managing the Student Librarian team

Qualifications & Experience

We would like to hear from you if you have:

• Qualifications to degree level or equivalent.
• Excellent knowledge of literature including contemporary children's and YA literature
• Knowledge of library systems
• Knowledge of National curriculum particularly for English
• Knowledge of how children learn to read and how reading skill relates to learning outcomes
• Experience of working with others to deliver projects or outcomes
• Excellent organisation skills
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to liaise professionally with external stakeholders
• Excellent IT literacy

For a full job description and person specification, please download the Job Pack.

Next Steps

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please send us an email, or call to arrange a conversation.

Before applying, please download the Job Pack for full details on the job responsibilities and person specification. This will be helpful for you when completing your application, and throughout the recruitment process.

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible as we may interview and offer to a candidate before the closing date. Please note that we only accept applications submitted before the closing date via our careers website.

Professional Development & Benefits

Our people are at the heart of our success. We have developed a strong culture of collaboration and best practice, with professional development and career planning at its centre. We invest in our staff with support, coaching, mentoring, and a wide range of top-quality training programmes delivered at every level.

In addition to the opportunities for career development and progression, we also offer a competitive rewards and benefits package which includes a Performance and Loyalty Bonus, Pension Scheme with generous employer contributions, a Wellbeing Cash Plan, electric car scheme, 26 days' annual leave (plus bank holidays) for staff who work across the full year, and many other benefits. Learn more about our benefits on our website.

Safeguarding Notice

The Harris Federation and all our academies are committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and we expect all our staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, references, an online search, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed.

Equal Opportunities

The Harris Federation is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

We value the diversity of our staff and students, and everyone at the Harris Federation is equally valued and respected. We aim to be an inclusive employer that reflects the communities we serve. We are committed to providing a fair, equitable and mutually supportive learning and working environment.