Lower School Deputy Principal
International School of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)

Lower School Deputy Principal

At the International School of Luxembourg (“ISL”) we are committed to excellence beyond academics, innovation, continuous learning, and global responsibility. We are looking for a passionate and caring "Lower School Deputy Principal" who believes in and advocates for lower school students, their learning and their wellbeing. 

Our next Lower School Deputy Principal will play a pivotal role in supporting the work of the Lower School Principal in leading the Lower School, ensuring the highest standards of education and wellbeing for all our students, staff, and families. With a deep commitment to holistic education, the Deputy Principal champions the transformative power of the International Baccalaureate, embracing its philosophy and principles with enthusiasm.

In this role, our next Lower School Deputy Principal will be a visible and engaged leader within the school community. Our students’ personal, social and emotional wellbeing are the prime concern of this role and the Deputy Principal is expected to provide leadership and guidance to colleagues, students and parents on all matters in this regard.  This includes active involvement in extracurricular activities, community events, school trips, and collaborations with the broader international community.

We are a highly reputable and diverse school, in the heart of Europe, with over 300 outstanding staff and 1350 students, coming from all over the world.  We are accredited by CIS, MSA and the IB.  We are committed to safeguarding and prioritising the wellbeing of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment.  We believe that our role as educators is to inspire students to develop their fullest intellectual, social, emotional and physical potential.

We are keen to attract applicants from diverse backgrounds, particularly candidates whose nationality, identity, gender or race is currently under-represented in international school leadership.

What we offer educators

• talented, caring students, who have a history of outstanding results;
• high quality educational programme, educating students for life beyond results;
• care for our staff through a caring, inclusive community;
• demonstrated commitment to DEIJ and Sustainable practices;
• extensive wellbeing programme including employee assistance programmes, healthy nutritional choices, mental health awareness programmes and staff sports activities;
• Luxembourg is a great place to live: multilingual, multicultural, inclusive, strong health care system, free public transportation, AND the only Grand Duchy in the World.

Recruitment Timeline:

                   Application deadline:                17 March 2025

                   Video interviews:                       As soon as possible starting early March 2025

                   Zoom interviews:                       17-24 March 2025

                   ISL site visit:                               31 March - 1 April 2025

                   To begin work:                           1 August 2025

Profile of the successful candidate:

• Experience leading in an inclusive school environment where diversity is seen as a strength;
• Experienced leadership supporting behavior and student wellbeing;
• Teaching certificate and classroom teaching experience required;
• Demonstrated understanding of primary education; with preferred experience in the Primary Years Program (PYP);
• Demonstrated leadership with professional development and student assessment models;
• Familiarity with and understanding of recent developments in primary education curricula;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Experienced in working in a collaborative teaching environment;
• Master’s Degree or equivalent in an appropriate field of study (preferred);
• Significant and successful experience in a similar position in an international school required;

Characteristics of the successful candidate:

• Be student-focused in all aspects of the job;
• Be an upstander who models ISL’s values, the IB Learner Profile and the IB Leadership Capabilities;
• Be kind, reflective, empathetic and honest, demonstrate integrity, understanding that schools are complex and that each individual brings their own identity, experiences and unique context;
• Be humble yet forthcoming, open-minded but knowledgeable with the ability to engage effectively and professionally with a breadth of internal stakeholders;
• Be an ally for diversity in all of its forms, sensitive to and invested in developing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging;
• Be an effective collaborator, eager to listen deeply;
• Be able to inspire trust and confidence amongst students, parents and staff through relationship building;
• Be committed to the health, safety & security of children, including safeguarding.
• Be restorative in approach to behavior;
• Be passionate about excellence in education and the people involved in it;
• Be responsible for own learning and well-being: value continuous learning, collaborative work, self-reflection, and resiliency;
• Be proactive, well-organised and discrete;

Some of the responsibilities will include:

Student Wellbeing

• Be a visible support for students, promoting positive behavior through active monitoring and modelling before school, during recess and lunch and after school;
• Be the primary contact on matters of student behaviour with responsibility for Grades 1 to 5;
• In conjunction with the the Lower School Leadership team and Head of Teaching and Learning, have responsibility interpreting the assessment data, and monitoring the long-term academic and social-emotional monitoring of student data;
• Organize and facilitate standardized assessment including academic and social-emotional assessments in collaboration with the Leadership team;
• Take an active role supporting and provide guidance with the counselors and support teams;
• Lead initiatives in the support of student wellbeing and supporting positive discipline in a restorative framework;
• Meet regularly with parents, students and educators to support the wellbeing of individual students as required;
• Monitor and support individual students in collaboration with the counselors, maintaining accurate records in line with school expectations and Safeguarding practices;
• Develop and assure adherence of all stakeholders with the Student Behavior Policy;
• Facilitate the class placement process for students in Grades 1-5;
• Support the induction of new students in collaboration with the counselors;

Areas of Responsibility and Lower School Leadership

• Assist the Lower School Principal in the effective day-to-day leadership of the Lower School and deputise for the Principal when required;
• Support the management of the day-to-day operation of the Lower School building under the delegation of the Lower School Principal with a focus on operations;
• Work with and support the Lower School Principal in maintaining a visible and approachable profile of positive leadership through open communication with all staff in the Lower School;
• Work with the Lower School Principal and Assistant Principal to ensure that the mission of the Lower School reflects the whole school’s philosophy and to ensure that the school’s mission is implemented;
• Support, supervise and evaluate Lower School teachers as directed by the Lower School Principal;
• Support scheduling Lower School classes and collaborate with the Lower School leadership team in the assignment of teachers and teaching assistants including assignment and monitoring of duties;
• Liaise with the operations staff of the Lower School in collaboration with the Lower School Principal including maintenance, cafeteria, security and cleaning staff.

School Community

• Act as the contact person and report to the Lower School Principal on matters of Lower School Health and Safety;
• In conjunction with the Lower School Principal, the Lower School Assistant Principal provide support and guidance to the Grade 1-5 Primary Grade Level Leaders, classroom teachers, subject leaders and teachers;
• Support vertical articulation between the different divisions of the school as students pass from the Lower School to the Upper School
• Contribute to parent gatherings and workshops and LS and ISL communications in the areas of delegated responsibility;
• In collaboration with the Lower School Leadership, contribute to the weekly parent and teacher communication;
• Attend all evening and weekend events that are relevant to the position in collaboration with the Lower School  Leadership Team and as assigned by the Lower School Principal;

Student Voice & Student Leadership

• Facilitate and develop the Grade 5 student Blue Hat programme training for each group of homeroom students and monitor and lead the daily and weekly activities of the Blue Hats in the LS
• Facilitate and develop the Student Council with support from the Lower School Principal and other members of staff as relevant;
• Identify new opportunities to promote student voice and collaboratively develop these.

Personal Professional Development and Growth Related

• Actively seeking professional development opportunities and participating, personally, in ISL’s professional growth programme.

Other

•  Such other duties as may be assigned by the Director

Working conditions:

Full time (40 hours per week) – Indefinite employment contract with a 12-month trial period – Starting annual salary range EUR 130K to EUR 135K – 48 days holidays - digital lunch allowance card - relocation allowances and home leave travel allowances - Supplementary Pension scheme - access to professional development training.

About the International School of Luxembourg

Last year we celebrated 60 years as an independent, non-profit, university-preparatory day school situated in the City of Luxembourg, capital of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. ISL offers a quality English language education for children of both international and local families living in Luxembourg and the surrounding area.

We are proud of our international character. With a student population including more than 55 different nationalities and staff from 41, our school emphasizes inspiration, resilience and passion as fundamental to the future.

Our school is organised in two divisions. The Lower School extends from Early Years 3 (ages 3 years) through grade 5. The Upper School includes both middle school (grades 6-8) and high school (grades 9-12) programmes. We are housed in a modern, fully networked facility on a centrally located campus and enjoy substantial financial support from the Luxembourg government. Our academic year runs from late August to late June and classes are in session between 8:25 am and 3:40 pm Monday-Friday.

We are a Primary Years Program (PYP) school and an IB World School with instruction in the core academic subjects of Language and Literacy, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies, with comprehensive instruction in the Arts, Information and Communication Technologies, and Physical Education.  English as an Additional Language is available for students from kindergarten through grade 10, French is taught from our Early Years and the teaching of German and Spanish begins in Upper School. In addition, we offer an array of extra-curricular activities for all students including a wide selection of competitive and non-competitive sports as well as choral and instrumental music.

How we started out

Our school was established as a private school by DuPont de Nemours in 1963 and was re-organised as a non-profit association in 1972. The school was formerly known as the American International School of Luxembourg, the American School of Luxembourg, the English Speaking School of Luxembourg and the DuPont de Nemours Private School, before being renamed the International School of Luxembourg in 1999, in recognition of our ever-increasing international student body.