What skills and experience we're looking for
Introduction
The school has been designated by the Secretary of State as a school with a religious character. The Trust’s Articles of Association confirm that it is part of the Catholic Church and is to be conducted as a Catholic school in accordance with Canon Law, the teachings of the Catholic Church and the diocesan trust deed. At all times the school is to serve as a witness to the Catholic faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ. The post is therefore reserved for a practising Catholic who can show by example and from experience that he or she will ensure that the school is distinctively Catholic in all its aspects.
This appointment is made by Romero Catholic Academy Trust, in consultation with the Local Governing Body of the school and is subject to the terms of the Catholic Education Service contract signed with Romero Catholic Academy Trust as employers. The post is under the current conditions of service for Headteacher contained in the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document, as well as all other current education and employment legislation and statutory guidance.
This job description is based on the key areas identified in the Headteacher Standards (2020). These standards are in turn built upon the Teaching Standards (2011 and updated 2021) which apply to all teachers, including the Headteacher.
The Academy Trust Board, Governing Body and the Diocese acknowledge the importance of the role of the Catholic Headteacher and will actively offer continuing support, encouragement, affirmation and realistic challenge to the successful candidate.
Sacred Heart RC Primary School is an academy with Romero Catholic Academy Trust. Romero Catholic Academy Trust and the Governing Body are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The Headteacher must ensure that the highest priority is given to following the guidance and regulations relating to safeguarding and child protection. Appointment is conditional upon receipt of satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) checks in relation to criminal and child protection matters.
Main Purpose
The headteacher will:
• Establish and sustain the school’s ethos and strategic direction together with the governing board and through consultation with the school community
• Establish and oversee systems, processes and policies so the school can operate effectively
• Identify problems and barriers to school effectiveness, and develop strategies for school improvement that are realistic, timely and suited to the school’s context
• Make sure these school improvement strategies are effectively implemented
• Monitor progress towards achieving the school’s aims and objectives
• Allocate financial resources appropriately, efficiently and effectively
The headteacher will:
Qualities
• Uphold public trust in school leadership and maintain high standards of ethics, behaviour and professional conduct
• Build positive and respectful relationships across the school community
• Serve in the best interests of the school’s pupils
School Culture
• Recognise the authority of the Bishop in relation to the provision of education in the Diocese and work within the school and parish community to create and promote an educational vision and values for the school which take account of the school’s Catholic mission and of the diversity, values and experiences of the school and the community it serves
• Establish and sustain the school’s ethos and strategic direction in partnership with the trust and others responsible for governance and through consultation with the school community
• Create a culture where pupils experience a positive and enriching school life
• Build a school culture and curriculum based on Gospel values, the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church, which take account of the richness and diversity of the school’s communities
• Uphold ambitious educational standards which prepare pupils from all backgrounds for their next phase of education and life
• Hold and articulate clear Catholic values, promote positive and respectful relationships across the school community and a safe, orderly and inclusive environment
• Ensure a culture of high staff professionalism
Teaching
• Establish and sustain high-quality, expert teaching across all subjects and phases, built on an evidence-informed understanding of effective teaching and how pupils learn
• Ensure the curriculum, and its delivery, is in accordance with the teachings and doctrines of the Catholic Church. Ensure quality provision for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural education in line with the distinctive Catholic nature, purpose and aims of the school
• Ensure teaching is underpinned by high levels of subject expertise and approaches which respect the distinct nature of subject disciplines or specialist domains
Curriculum and assessment
• Ensure a broad, structured and coherent curriculum entitlement which sets out the knowledge, skills and values that will be taught
• Ensure arrangements for the daily Act of Collective Worship and the spiritual life of the school. Ensure the diocesan policy for Religious Education is fulfilled
• Establish effective curricular leadership, developing subject leaders with high levels of relevant expertise with access to professional networks and communities
• Ensure that all pupils are taught to read through the provision of evidence-informed approaches to reading, particularly the use of systematic synthetic phonics in schools that teach early reading
• Ensure valid, reliable and proportionate approaches are used when assessing pupils’ knowledge and understanding of the curriculum
Behaviour
• Establish and sustain high expectations of behaviour for all pupils, built upon relationships, rules and routines, which are understood clearly by all staff and pupils
• Ensure high standards of pupil behaviour and courteous conduct in accordance with the school’s behaviour policy
• Implement consistent, fair and respectful approaches to managing behaviour
• Ensure that adults within the school model and teach the behaviour of a good citizen
Additional and special educational needs and disabilities
• Ensure the school holds ambitious expectations for all pupils with additional and special educational needs and disabilities
• Establish and sustain culture and practices that enable pupils to access the curriculum and learn effectively
• Ensure the school works effectively in partnership with parents, carers and professionals, to identify the additional needsand special educational needs and disabilitiesof pupils, providing support and adaptation where appropriate
• Ensure the school fulfils its statutory duties with regard to the SEND code of practice
Professional development
• Create an ethos based on Catholic values within which all staff are motivated and supported to develop their own skills and subject knowledge, and to support each other.
• Ensure staff have access to high-quality, sustained professional development opportunities, aligned to balance the priorities of whole-school improvement, team and individual needs
• Prioritise the professional development of staff, ensuring effective planning, delivery and evaluation which is consistent with the approaches laid out in the standard for teachers’ professional development
• Ensure that professional development opportunities draw on expert provision from beyond the school, as well as within it, including nationally recognised career and professional frameworks and programmes to build capacity and support succession planning
Organisational management
• Ensure the protection and safety of pupils and staff through effective approaches to safeguarding, as part of the duty of care
• Prioritise and allocate financial resources appropriately, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and probity in the use of public funds
• Ensure staff are deployed and managed well with due attention paid to workload
• Establish and oversee systems, processes and policies that enable the school to operate effectively and efficiently
• Ensure rigorous approaches to identifying, managing and mitigating risk
Continuous school improvement
• Make use of effective and proportional processes of evaluation to identify and analyse complex or persistent problems and barriers which limit school effectiveness, and identify priority areas for improvement
• Develop appropriate evidence-informed strategies for improvement as part of well-targeted plans which are realistic, timely, appropriately sequenced and suited to the school’s context
• Ensure careful and effective implementation of improvement strategies, which lead to sustained school improvement over time
Working in partnership
• Forge constructive relationships beyond the school, working in partnership with parents, carers and the local community
• Commit their school to work successfully with other schools and organisations in a climate of mutual challenge and support
• Establish and maintain working relationships with fellow professionals and colleagues across other public services to improve educational outcomes for all pupils
Governance and accountability
• Understand and welcome the role of effective governance, upholding their obligation to give account and accept responsibility as set out in the Trust’s Scheme of Delegation
• Establish and sustain professional working relationship with those responsible for governance
• Ensure that staff know and understand their professional responsibilities and are held to account
• Ensure the school effectively and efficiently operates within the required regulatory frameworks and meets all statutory duties
What the school offers its staff
TeachersPension SchemeWellbeing Support
Professional Development
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.