Head of Business & Economics (Secondary A-Levels - for August 2025)

Star International School Mirdif, is a rapidly growing British curriculum school in Dubai. We are an ambitious school that aspires to be the very best version of ourselves, and for those who join us, we would help them do the same. We seek individuals who want to make a difference in the world, seeing themselves as lifelong learners, committed to putting children at the heart of everything they do. We want educators who align closely with our vision, mission and values. If you feel you can champion these, then please apply to join the Star Mirdif family for August 2025.

• Vision: To grow the future leaders and global citizens of tomorrow, who will Go Beyond and change our world for the better.
• Mission: Through amazing learning opportunities and personalised pathways, our educators and students Go Beyond to ensure every member of our Star Family achieves their personal best both inside and beyond the classroom
• Values: Self-belief, teamwork, adventure, respect

Star International School Mirdif is a community school that is rooted in kindness and amazing learning. We offer our pupils:

• Centre of research informed T&L
• EdTech best practice with AI powered T&L
• Awe & Wonder offering beyond the National curriculum
• STEAM+ curriculum focusing on global and cosmic problems
• Safe with incredible learning behaviours
• EYFS-Post-16 (GCSE/A-Level/BTEC) British curriculum school in the heart of Mirdif Dubai

ISP Principles

• Begin with our children and students. Our children and students are at the heart of what we do. Simply, their success is our success. Wellbeing and safety are both essential for learners and learning. Therefore, we are consistent in identifying potential safeguarding issues and acting and following up on all concerns appropriately.
• Treat everyone with care and respect. We look after one another, embrace similarities and differences and promote the well-being of self and others.
• Operate effectively. We focus relentlessly on the things that are most important and will make the most difference. We apply school policies and procedures and embody the shared ideas of our community.
• Learn continuously. Getting better is what drives us. We positively engage with personal and professional development and school improvement.

ISP Teacher Role Profile 

• Atmosphere. You enable students to learn in a safe, open, caring, collaborative and inclusive atmosphere.  Your students feel confident to have open and honest conversations about their learning and how they can get better. You create a positive atmosphere by building relationships, behaviours, and inclusive learning experiences that support a good struggle for all your learners. You engage in professional and respectful dialogue with colleagues and the wider school and ISP communities about learning and teaching, with a shared commitment to getting better. 
• Shared Ideas. You know and model your school’s values and contribute to its mission and vision through your daily actions. Through all aspects of learning and teaching, you create a strong sense of shared behaviours and purpose for learners and their learning. 
• A Focus on Learners and Learning. You put learners and their learning first. Your understanding of the difference between learning and the factors that affect learning enables you to plan and support a good struggle for all your students to get better. You are committed to your personal and professional learning and development, engaging in a series of learning visits and inquiries with colleagues and leaders to support your ongoing self-evaluation. You are an active and valued member of dynamic learning communities, 
• Learning and Teaching. You put learners and their learning first in your design and facilitation of learning outcomes, content and experiences, which are underpinned by positive and supportive relationships. You understand the types and phases of learning and apply your knowledge, skills and understanding of these to effectively facilitate learning, teaching, and assessing to meet the personalised needs of each student. You empower students to lead their own learning, supporting them to monitor, assess and adjust their learning in response to feedback. You continuously inquire into the process of learning, making evidence-informed decisions and taking action to further improve learning and teaching. 
• Evidence of Learning. You gather, document and analyse evidence of learning from various sources and use this to identify targets and action steps for improving learning. You support students in knowing the different ways their learning can be evidenced and how to use feedback and learning advice to get better.  Evidence enables you to make secure judgments about your students’ learning in line with their personal learning goals, age and stage appropriate expectations, and local, national and international benchmarking.  You document and share evidence of learning to answer the questions: “What are my students learning?” and “How do I know?”.
• Leadership for Learning. You see yourself as a leader for learning and demonstrate the same vision, values and commitment as school leaders to support students to continuously learn and get better. You take responsibility for where students are now with their learning and the targets and action steps needed to improve. You support students to become leaders of their own learning by helping them develop their voice, choice and ownership of their learning process. 
• Learning Spaces. You create and use spaces to support and demonstrate the school’s shared ideas about learners and learning and the ways in which students are getting better. You ensure learning spaces (physical and digital) are safe, collaborative, accessible and inclusive, and enable students to play an active role in their development. 
• In Partnership with Parents and Carers. You work in partnership with parents and carers, communicating with them regularly about their child’s learning, inviting their feedback and using this feedback to improve learning. You help parents and carers understand the school’s shared ideas about learners and learning in ways that help them to engage confidently when talking about what their child is getting better at, what their next steps are, and how they will be supported at home. You ensure that the individual needs of parents and carers are understood and that they feel informed and involved as valued members of the school’s learning community. 
• Improvement Planning. You are committed to learning and getting better and ensure this improvement happens strategically and effectively. You are active and accountable for your contribution in setting your own professional goals, targets and action steps that focus on improving learning and gathering evidence to demonstrate these. You contribute to department and school learning improvement planning where possible and view the school’s learning improvement plan as the central focus for getting better together.

The Role – Job description

Key Accountabilities:

• Represent areas of knowledge, understanding and skills to students
• Lead by example in the highest regard for truth, justice, equality of opportunity, human rights, benevolence and compassion
• Engage and motivate students to achieve at levels that are beyond their expectations and previous limits
• Use excellent subject knowledge, pedagogic and interpersonal skills to enthuse students and enable students to experience amazing learning
• Make full use of ICT and the new technologies to enhance the quality of teaching and learning for students of all ages and attainment levels
• Plan lessons taking full account of students’ individual learning needs, as well as their individual learning styles, preferences and capabilities
• Encourage and enable all students to become effective, confident and independent life-long learners
• Maintain excellent professional relationships with colleagues by making a wider professional contribution to the continuing improvement of the school
• Plan and deliver a programme of learning opportunities and activities to enrich and enhance the taught curriculum
• Cooperate with colleagues to establish and maintain fair and consistent disciplinary practices in the classroom, around the school and on school trips, and taking active measures to protect students from all forms of abuse, including racist or sexist abuse, bullying, and any kind of corporal punishment
• Communicate open and professionally with parents on a regular basis about the attainment and progress of their child
• Model good practice of academic practices
• Contribute actively to department discussions in academic meetings
• Contribute to and plan after-school activities as required
• Actively support the school partnership with the community e.g. attending school / community events which may occasionally occur at weekends or in the evening i.e. school concerts etc.
• Contribute to the development and provision of the highest quality of education at Star International School Mirdif
• Make sure that young people of all abilities and backgrounds fulfil their potential
• Promote a positive ethos across the school based on the school vision/values and a commitment to ensuring the wellbeing of students, staff, and the wider school community
• Other responsibilities as reasonably requested

Teaching

• Plan and prepare schemes of work and complete planning documentation
• Teach with consistent effectiveness the students in her/his classes, taking full account of all students’ individual educational needs
• Set and mark work to be carried out by the students in school, online, at home and elsewhere as appropriate
• Promote the intellectual, moral, spiritual, cultural, physical and personal abilities and aptitudes of the students in her/his classes and provide guidance and advice to students on educational and relevant social and other matters
• Make records of and reports on the personal and social needs of students
• Take part as appropriate in whole school development and share and promote best practice
• At Star Mirdif we are Research informed and Well Being Aware
• We believe in strategies which have the most impact being utilised in the classroom
• We actively seek resources, methods and systems which can support workload and have equal if not more impact on student outcomes
• Assessment, recording and reporting
• Assess, record and report on the development, progress and attainment of the students in her/his classes
• Provide or contribute to oral and written assessments, reports and references relating to individual students or groups of students
• Guide students to set targets to improve on their previous ‘best’ and give regular feedback to students to support next steps in learning

Continuing Professional Development

• Keep under review her/his methods of teaching and programmes of work
• Be proactive and take accountability for own development
• Participate in arrangements for her/his further training and professional development as a teacher

Curriculum Development

• Advise and cooperate with the principal and other colleagues on the preparation and development of courses of study, teaching materials, teaching schemes, methods of teaching and assessment and pastoral arrangements
• Take responsibility for specific subjects
• To embed UAE heritage and culture within the curriculum

Additional duties as Head of department:

• Ensure teaching and learning is of the highest standard and meets the school’s targets for progress and attainment
• Manage the curriculum ensuring it is imaginative, innovative and in line with the ethos of the school, focusing on engagement, relevance, inclusion and choice
• Lead CPD using current educational thinking with opportunities to share and disseminate best practice
• Ensure children in the secondary school make as much progress as possible including internal and external assessment
• Ensure the school maintains a positive and respectful ethos 
• Ensure the curriculum is inclusive and learner led, taking into account the cultural heritage of the school community and the local region 
• Communicate with families about learning and other issues related to school 

Skills, Qualifications and Experience

Education: Relevant UK teaching qualification: minimum of a Bed. or BA/BSc + PGCE/QTS in Business and/or Economics

Experience: Min of 5 years of secondary teaching experience and at least 2 years in a leadership role, in a British school either internationally or in the UK. 

Competencies:

• Excellent working knowledge of the UK Curriculum and the latest UK practice
• Excellent IT skills, communication skills, and command of the English language, in spoken and written form
• A collaborative team-player with excellent personal skills.
• Classroom and behaviour management

Attributes:

• Collaborative team player, empathetic listener
• Integrity and confidentiality
• Internationally minded
• Emotional intelligence
• Intercultural awareness, creative
• Online and classroom teaching experience
• Flexible and a can-do attitude

Whilst every effort has been made to explain the main duties and responsibilities of the post, each individual task undertaken may not be identified. Employees will be expected to comply with any reasonable request from a manager to undertake work of a similar level that is not specified in this job description. Employees are expected to be courteous to colleagues and provide a welcoming environment to visitors and telephone callers.

ISP Leadership Competencies

You consistently demonstrate and role-model the ISP Leadership Competencies in all that you do.

• Collaboration. Takes an active part in leading their school or region; is cooperative and a genuine team player, developing positive, supportive relationships with colleagues to solve problems and maximise opportunities.
• Learning & Getting Better. Continually demonstrates personal commitment and passion for learning and getting better using evidence and feedback; supporting others in their continual learning, development and growth.
• Innovation Leadership. Is good at creating an environment where ideas for learning initiatives and services are generated and is able to motivate and inspire others through the process of creation through to completion.
• Outcome driven. Can be counted on to find solutions. Is consistently looking to exceed goals and is focused on KPIs.
• Resilience. Can deal with setbacks and challenges calmly and effectively.
• Community Focus. Is committed to meeting and exceeding the needs and expectations of our students and their families.
• Integrity & Ethical Management. Has the ability to work ethically and with integrity; helps others feel valued; upholds and models the ISP Vision, Purpose and Principles.
• Leading & Inspiring Others. Supports, encourages and inspires students, colleagues and teams so that they give their best.
• Understanding People. Is a very good judge of talent, can objectively articulate the strengths and motivations of people inside or outside the organisation.
• Influencing & Communication. Consistently informs, influences and inspires students, parents and colleagues through timely and effective communication.
• Agile. Responds and adapts to changing circumstances; manages and solves problems by providing solutions in a climate of ambiguity.
• Strategic, Commercial & Financial Awareness. Has the ability to apply understanding of the business and industry to improve effectiveness and profitability.
• Planning & Decision Making. Makes decisions on the best course of action and then plans, organises, prioritises and balances resources to achieve the desired outcome.
• Diversity & Equity. Has the sensitivity, awareness and skill to understand the values, behaviours, attitudes and practices across cultures that supports all children and adults to learn and work effectively.

How to apply: Please apply by including:

• A CV no more than 2 pages long that gives employment dates and current and previous employer references.

• A letter of application addressed to the principal no more than a single page outlining why you are an excellent candidate for the role

  
  

You can also apply to be invited to our recruitment fair: Embark on Your Next Teaching Adventure with ISP Middle East. Join our London Recruitment Fair on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a dynamic, international community where your passion for education can inspire thousands. Shortlisted candidates will receive a personalized invitation with venue details.

https://careers.internationalschoolspartnership.com/jobs/15205957-isp-middle-east-london-recruitment-fair-2025

ISP Commitment to Safeguarding Principles

Star International school and ISP are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All post holders are subject to appropriate vetting procedures and satisfactory Criminal Background Checks or equivalent covering the previous 10 years’ employment history.

ISP Commitment to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

ISP is committed to strengthening our inclusive culture by identifying, hiring, developing, and retaining high-performing teammates regardless of age, disability status, socio-economic background or other demographic characteristics. Candidates who share our vision and principles and are interested in contributing to the success of ISP through this role are strongly encouraged to apply.