What skills and experience we're looking for
We are looking for:
• A passionate and experienced educator, dedicated to providing the highest standards of education and preserving the excellent reputation of our school within the community.
• A determined commitment to inclusion, equality and excellent learning opportunities for all our pupils.
• A naturally positive leader who can inspire, empower and motivate our talented team of teachers and support staff.
• Excellent communication and collaborative skills and self-awareness in order to foster constructive relationships with children, parents/carers, governors, members of the Trust and the wider community.
• A visionary with sound judgement, able to shape an engaging and forward-thinking curriculum that embraces the diversity of our school, build cultural capital and foster an enthusiasm for learning.
• An optimistic, flexible and compassionate leader who demonstrates curiosity and can support the individual needs of our pupils ensuring each child reaches their full potential.
• A working knowledge and understanding of school finance, premises and Human Resources.
What the school offers its staff
• A warm and nurturing school environment.
• An established Thrive Trauma based approach to supporting children to fulfil their potential.
• Happy, well behaved, resilient children who love learning
• A dedicated, committed, enthusiastic and highly motivated staff team
• Acommitted and supportive Governing Body
• A highly trained and experienced Pastoral Support team.
• An exceptionally well resourced and maintained learning environment
• Extensive grounds and outdoor areas.
• Strong and positive partnerships with schools within the Cresco MAT and within Basildon.
• Access to ongoing professional development and training opportunities
• An excellent opportunity to lead, shape and influence our future as we continue on our journey to outstanding.
• A close and supportive group of Trust Headteachers.
Further details about the role
Principle accountabilities:
Safeguarding
Take responsibility as the designated professional lead for Safeguarding and secure compliance by those working in school, for safeguarding as set out in the Children’s Act, Statutory Guidance and by the Local Safeguarding Children’s Board. These include:
• Undertaking the designated safeguarding lead duties.
• Operating a culture of listening to children and taking account of their wishes and feelings, both in individual decisions and the development of services.
• Operating clear whistleblowing procedures.
• Sharing information, with other professionals.
• Operating safe recruitment practices.
• Ensuring appropriate supervision and support for staff, including undertaking Induction, safeguarding training and reviews of practice.
• Establish, operate and monitor clear policies for dealing with allegations against people who work with children.
Qualities and Knowledge
1. Hold and articulate clear values and moral purpose, focused on providing a world-class holistic education for the pupils they serve.
2. Demonstrate optimistic personal behaviour, positive relationships and attitudes towards their pupils and staff, and towards parents/carers, governors and members of the local community.
3. Lead by example - with integrity, creativity, resilience, and clarity - drawing on their own scholarship, expertise and skills, and that of those around them.
4. Sustain wide, current knowledge and understanding of education and school systems locally, nationally and globally, and pursue continuous professional development.
5. Work with political and financial astuteness, within a clear set of principles centred on the school’s short- and longer-term vision, ably translating local and national policy into the school’s context.
6. Communicate compellingly the school’s vision and purpose and drive the strategic leadership, empowering all pupils and staff to excel.
Pupils and Staff
1. Demand ambitious standards for all pupils, overcoming disadvantage and advancing inclusion and equality, instilling a strong sense of accountability in staff for the impact of their work on pupils’ outcomes.
2. Secure excellent teaching through an analytical understanding of how pupils learn and of the core features of successful classroom practice and curriculum design, leading to rich curriculum opportunities and pupils’ well-being.
3. Establish an educational culture of ‘open classrooms’ and curiosity as a basis for sharing best practice within and between schools, drawing on and conducting relevant research and robust data analysis.
4. Create an aspirational ethos within which all staff are motivated and supported to develop their own skills and subject knowledge, and to support each other.
5. Identify emerging talents, coaching current and aspiring leaders in a climate where excellence is the standard, leading to clear succession planning.
6. Hold all staff to account for their professional conduct and practice.
7. Lead and manage the staff with a proper regard for their well-being and legitimate expectations, including the expectation of a healthy balance between work and other commitments.
Systems and Process
1. Ensure that the school’s systems, organisation and processes are well considered, efficient and fit for purpose, upholding the principles of transparency, integrity and probity.
2. Provide a safe, calm and well-ordered environment for all pupils and staff, focused on safeguarding pupils and developing their exemplary behaviour in school and in the wider society.
3. Establish rigorous, fair and transparent systems and measures for managing the performance of all staff, explicitly valuing excellent practice and addressing any under-performance, supporting staff to improve.
4. Welcome strong governance and actively support the governing board to understand its role and deliver its functions effectively – in particular its functions to set school strategy and hold the Headteacher to account for pupil, staff and financial performance.
5. Exercise strategic, curriculum-led financial planning to ensure the equitable deployment of budgets and resources, in the best interests of pupils’ achievements and the school’s sustainability.
6. Distribute leadership throughout the organisation, forging teams of colleagues who have distinct roles and responsibilities and hold each other to account for their decision making.
7. Develop clear arrangements for appraisal and advise the relevant body on pay recommendations for teachers.
8. Consult and communicate with pupils, staff, parents and carers and the governing body.
9. Lead and manage / be responsible for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children.
The self-improving school system
1. Collaborate with the other Headteachers in CRESCO Multi Academy Trust in a climate of mutual challenge - to champion best practice and secure excellent achievements for all pupils.
2. Develop effective relationships and collaborate effectively with fellow professionals and colleagues in other public services to improve academic and social outcomes for all pupils.
3. Challenge educational orthodoxies in the best interests of achieving excellence, harnessing the findings of well evidenced research to frame self-regulating and self-improving schools.
4. Shape the current and future quality of the teaching profession through high quality training and sustained professional development for all staff.
5. Model entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to school improvement, leadership and governance, confident of the vital contribution of internal and external accountability.
6. Inspire and influence others - within and beyond schools - to believe in the fundamental importance of education in young people’s lives and to promote the value of education.
7. Participate in arrangements for their own further training and professional development and appraisal and review of own performance.
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.