Adrian Duffy

Head of Humanities/ Leader of Learning

• Oversee classroom practice for humanities subjects including History, Geography, Religious Education, French and Learning for Life and Work, ensuring consistency and high standards in teaching and learning were upheld across faculty.
• Lead and support team of humanities teachers, fostering collaboration and professional development opportunities.
• Monitor department performance, implemented improvement strategies and interventions based on data and student outcomes.
• Organise and lead departmental meetings to discuss plans for progression within department, necessary interventions, action plans and assessment review.
• Represent humanities department in senior leadership meetings and contribute to whole school strategies for improvement.

Key Achievements

• Delivered whole staff "Back to Basics" training to address identified challenges to effective lesson delivery across school, including effective assessment, stretching and challenging, inquiry based learning and improving engagement.
• Joined Teaching and Learning Working Party, with responsibility for leading on and implementing new whole school initiatives. Our current focus is use of AI in school.
• Led development of schemes of work for team of new staff within the faculty, ensuring consistency in curriculum delivery.
• Collated and reviewed assessments with faculty members to define high-quality assessment standards, ensuring they were progressively challenging and well-balanced across each term.
• For the past 3 years I have led the Student Council, supporting student prefects and staff in organising charity/fundraiser events across the school, taking part in community outreach programmes, launching whole school initiatives to improve well-being and most recently beginning an eco-club through collaboration with their Geography teacher.

Subject Lead for History/ History Teacher

• Deliver KS3 and KS4 History lessons, ensuring differentiation to support diverse learning needs.
• Design and implement effective assessment strategies to track student progress and provide targeted interventions.
• Make use pupil voice surveys to adapt teaching strategies, increasing student engagement and retention.
• Organise after-school revision and exam preparation sessions, as well as model answer workshops.
• Liaise with parents to address student concerns and improve progress.
• Prepare stimulating classroom displays to encourage student creativity.

Key Achievements

• Increased GCSE History pass rates, with 100% of Year 12 students achieving A-C* in 2023.
• Improved KS3 student engagement with over 50% reporting greater confidence in History following pupil voice surveys.
• Successfully planned and led educational trips to Derry museum and Berlin with 41 students to enhance real world learning and complement their classroom knowledge.
• Planned KS3 History Curriculum, incorporating modern and engaging topics based on student feedback. In my first year, these changes saw History become the highest subscribed subject in the school at GCSE, improving after years of low numbers.

• As a form tutor to a year 9 class, I fulfilled duties by delivering LLW (PSHE), careers and digital skills lessons, as prescribed by the school, daily
• Ensured close relationships with their parents/ guardians regarding concerns and attendance
• Planning and teaching English lessons to pupils from Year 8 to Year 11
• Creating and setting assessments and providing both individual and whole class feedback that encourages pupils to reflect to ensure progress
• Attending department meetings after school to address on-going issues or concerns
• Attending year group meetings to address any pastoral concerns within form class and communicating effectively with heads of year and safeguarding leads
• Preparing students for their Unit 1 and Unit 2 English exam has provided in-depth knowledge of the CCEA exam board and its mark schemes

• Form tutor to group of Year 10 pupils
• Responsible for registering classes and delivering weekly literacy and PSHE lessons
• Planning and teaching engaging lessons to pupils from year 7-10, ensuring pupils are given opportunities to access new content and carry out weekly and daily recall of prior knowledge
• Carrying out break and lunch duties (safeguarding)
• Taking part in parents’ evenings and completing end of term reports for each year group by assessing target grades and each pupil’s 'attitude to learning'
• Setting and marking of GCSE mock exams
• Taking part in weekly moderation of year 11 assessments and mock exams
• Responsible for planning year 8 and year 9 lessons for History
• Contributions to the History department saw History become the most subscribed GCSE after English and Mathematics with GCSE History numbers reaching a all-time high
• Achieved 'Green' in every category following 'culture-check' classroom observations
• Praised by Deputy Head of school for ability to build relationships and rapport with pupils and teach engaging lessons that ensured pupils of all abilities could access their learning
• Took part in year 11 tutoring via Google meets during Covid-19 pandemic
• Planned and executed history themed murder mystery for new year 7 pupils in summer school

• Form tutor to group of Year 9 pupils
• Responsible for registering classes and delivering daily PSHE lessons
• Planning and teaching high quality History lessons to pupils from Year 7 to 11, including planning of schemes
• Planned and taught lessons to a year 8 Geography nurture group
• Assessing pupils and providing feedback that allows for progress (Including individual and whole class)
• Attending learning zone and subject specific meetings after school to address ongoing issues or concerns
• Liaising with behaviour leads and members of safeguarding team in person and through logs on 'Behaviour Watch' and 'My Concern'
• Taking part in setting and marking of mock exams at GCSE level and providing feedback accordingly
• Completing lunch duty each week as part of my safeguarding role
• Commended by Headteacher for my work within the History department throughout the year following setbacks due to loss of department members
• During my NQT year I worked successfully as part of a two man team with another new member of staff, maintaining high standards and pupil attainment
• Helped increase average number of pupils scoring grades 9-4 (A*
• -C) from 73% to 82%
• Took part in numerous charity events throughout the school year, including the Christmas Fayre and yearly bake sales and successfully ran a bush tucker trial event with my Year 9 form class