Head of Music for August 2025 at JESS Jumeirah Primary School

Salary: Competitive Salary Job type: Full Time, Permanent Start date: August 2025 Apply by: 23 January 2025

Job overview

Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) is a leading British International School in the Middle East and has been continuously rated as ‘Outstanding’ by the Dubai School Inspection Bureau (DSIB).

We are also listed in the Spears Top 100 schools ranking.

At JESS we promote a supportive learning environment where students always feel determined to do their best. At all levels, JESS provides opportunities to show curiosity, excellence, commitment, integrity, and care.

Our mission is to discover brilliance in every individual, build community through respect and a sense of belonging and empower people to act with purpose to 'Make a Difference' in the world. Find out more about JESS at www.jess.sch.ae

JESS Jumeirah Primary School is seeking an outstanding, enthusiastic and driven Head of Music to start in August 2025.

We are looking to appoint a talented professional with a passion for music and a clear understanding of effective and engaging teaching and learning to lead our capable and supportive Music Department.

At JESS we highly value personal attributes of hard work, positivity and kindness, and we are looking for staff who can model these principles.

All staff are totally committed to working together to ensure that each of our students receive the best possible education where students are consistently challenged to be the best that they can be. The successful candidate will be passionate about leading and teaching engaging lessons that will help students appreciate the importance of music and develop the skills they need for life.

As part of our commitment to our staff's personal and professional development, comprehensive professional development will be provided to the successful candidate, who will:

• be fully qualified and experienced Music Teacher with a relevant degree and professional teaching qualification with a minimum of 3 years' experience in a leadership role (Deputy Head of Music/Head of Music)
• be committed to personal professional development and has relevant recent professional development that qualifies them for this role
• be able to use and promote a range of teaching and learning strategies and ability to create a stimulating and safe learning environment for all students by establishing high expectations and implementing effective classroom management and organisation
• have a successful track history of outstanding teaching and leadership experience
• have a robust knowledge, understanding and track record of raising standards in Music
• be committed to collaborating with other staff members and building strong relationships
• be committed to safeguarding and child protection and the wider pastoral care of students in their care
• be able to contribute to wider school life outside the classroom in terms of extracurricular activities and school community events

The package offers a generous salary, which includes a housing allowance, and private health care insurance.

All applications for this role must be supported by a current CV and online JESS application form.

Due to the expected volume of applications, we will only contact those applicants that are shortlisted for interview. We reserve the right to appoint before the closing date.

Closing Date is 23 January 2025

JESS is committed to providing a safe and happy environment for all its staff and in which its students can thrive and learn. JESS is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its employees and students. All employees are subject to appropriate vetting procedures including satisfactory police clearance certificates for all counties in which a successful candidate has resided including home country is required. For candidates coming from or who have resided in the UK the most recent Enhanced DBS and an International Certificate of Police Clearance (ICPC)is required. All candidates will require as a minimum 2 satisfactory references. All candidates who have worked as adults and who have resided in the UK will be subject to prohibition and barring checks.

About Jumeirah English Speaking School

Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches Street, Arabian Ranches, PO Box 24942 Dubai United Arab Emirates

+971 3619019

JESS (Jumeirah English Speaking School)

Who are we?

Jumeirah English Speaking School, commonly referred to as ‘JESS’ is one of the few remaining non-profit schools in Dubai. We are a sought-after, well-respected and top-performing school delivering a world-class education to English-speaking students from over 70 different countries.

Our six core values: Commitment, Excellence, Integrity, Curiosity, Care and Respect allow us to deliver our vision of educating to make a difference. We strive to identify and tap into every individual student’s talents, finding areas in which they can shine and build confidence. At JESS, we pride ourselves on being a high-achieving community school where every boy and girl is important.

The History of JESS

JESS, began in a large apartment in a building near the Deira Clock Tower in 1975 with just 17 pupils. Within a year, thanks to a grant from the Ruler of Dubai, JESS moved to a villa in Jumeirah. There, we expanded from the apartment to a huddle of buildings in the middle of the desert, in Al Safa, Jumeirah which is still the home of JESS Jumeirah primary school.

The funding from the original companies took the form of a ‘corporate debenture’; a system that still successfully operates today at our schools with over 170 companies holding debentures at the Jumeirah school and over 80 at the Ranches - many companies having invested in both schools.

JESS Today

Today, after over 45 years of providing exceptional education in Dubai, the school has over 2,500 pupils enrolled in two different sites; c. 800 pupils at the original primary school in Jumeirah and c. 1700 at the newer Arabian Ranches school which opened in September 2005.

Like all expat schools in Dubai, we are a fee-paying school but the debenture system that we operate allows us to operate as one of the (very few) non-profit-making schools in Dubai. Managed by a Board of Governors, any decision regarding the provision of our education is based purely on whether it is in the best interest of our children and all finance is used entirely for school resources and staffing, ensuring that education is always the core driver of what we do as a school.

Our Curriculum

We offer the English curriculum from Foundation 1 to Year 11. In the Sixth Form (Years 12 and 13) which opened in 2009, we offer the IB Diploma and specialist Extended BTEC courses in Art, Sport and Business with more BTEC courses to follow,

JESS supports the philosophy that education goes beyond the limitations of the classroom. Consequently, there is also a varied and exciting range of extracurricular activities for children in Years 3 and above.

Our Staff

We are looking for high-quality, energetic individuals who can join our team and make a difference. We welcome staff who show a genuine commitment to the vision for the school and who are exemplary practitioners with a proven track record of outstanding teaching.

JESS is a school with learning at its heart; we aim to instil in our students a passion for knowledge and discovery. The same is true of our staff. Our JESS CPD provides a forum for JESS staff to keep learning, fostering their growth mindset and share best practice. We work collaboratively across both JESS campuses to celebrate our strengths and enable us to get the best of ourselves, so we can ensure the best of our students.

JESS CPD umbrellas five strands: JESS Talks, JESS Workshops, JESS Listens, JESS Learns and JESS Leads.

For more details, see Working at JESS

Exam Results

JESS is consistently one of the top-performing schools in the UAE and our Sixth Form has one of the largest cohorts in Dubai and is the top-performing IB school in the Middle East. Our Examination Results has more details

JESS Facilities

Physical facilities at both JESS sites are state of the art reflecting the aims of JESS in providing a broad and balanced education for pupils. Both sites have large, well-established campuses with shaded, well-equipped playground areas, interactive whiteboards in every classroom, temperature-controlled swimming pools, air-conditioned sports halls, multi-purpose PE studios, netball courts, large sports fields, fully equipped ICT & Music departments and extremely well-resourced libraries.

The nine-acre site at Arabian Ranches also has a purpose-built music centre with a digital recording studio, excellent science, art & DT facilities, dance and drama studios, a strength and conditioning suite, a lecture theatre and a 500-seater auditorium with an outside amphitheatre. Our dedicated Sixth Form Centre was added in 2009 providing an excellent learning environment for our Sixth Form students.

By far the greatest resource at JESS is the students and our staff. We continue to recruit and retain staff of the highest calibre and this is reflected in examination results and inspection reports.

Location & Contacts For Recruitment enquiries: [email protected]

P O Box 24942, Dubai, UAE

+971 4 3619019