What skills and experience we're looking for HEADTEACHER – SKILLS & EXPERIENCE PROFILE 1. Strategic Leadership & Alignment We are looking for someone who: • Can articulate and enact a clear educational intent • Understands system leadership within a federation model • Can align school-level priorities to partnership pillars • Is comfortable operating within shared non-negotiables • Can balance autonomy with collective accountability Experience: • Successful senior leadership in a complex setting • Evidence of leading improvement through clarity, not initiative overload • Experience of working beyond a single-school mindset 2. Quality of Education & Curriculum Coherence Skills: • Deep understanding of curriculum design and sequencing • Ability to evaluate curriculum beyond surface outcomes • Confidence leading professional dialogue and challenge • Understanding of progression, inclusion and knowledge entitlement Experience: • Leading curriculum development and evaluation • Driving improvement in teaching quality • Preparing for or leading successful inspection 3. Inclusion, SEND & Early Intervention Skills: • Strong grasp of graduated approach and adaptive teaching • Belief in inclusion as aspiration, not deficit • Ability to balance high SEND demand with strategic capacity • Confidence working with external agencies Experience: • Leading SEND provision or overseeing complex inclusion • Managing high EHCP or disadvantaged cohorts • Demonstrable impact on vulnerable learners 4. People, Culture & Distributed Leadership Skills: • Builds relational trust • Develops others deliberately • Clarifies roles and decision rights • Reduces person-dependence • Coaches rather than rescues Experience: • Growing middle leaders • Leading staff through change • Evidence of sustainable workforce practices 5. Governance & Accountability Skills: • Comfortable with governor challenge • Understands line-of-sight without over-reporting • Can communicate complex information clearly • Uses leading indicators, not just outcomes Experience: • Reporting to governing boards • Managing risk and escalation • Demonstrable financial awareness 6. Community & Partnership Orientation Skills: • Sees school as part of a wider ecosystem • Builds purposeful partnerships • Engages community voice • Understands deprivation and social context Experience: • Community engagement initiatives • Cross-agency collaboration • Family engagement strategies 7. Personal Qualities You want someone who is: • Calm under complexity • Ethically grounded • Values-led • Comfortable with transparency • Strategic but not abstract • Reflective and open to challenge What the school offers its staff 1. Partnership, Not Isolation You will not lead alone. As part of Connected Futures Partnership, you will work within a values-led federation where: • Executive leadership provides strategic clarity and direction • Heads of School collaborate regularly, not competitively • Subject and inclusion networks operate across settings • Professional dialogue replaces silos • Shared principles reduce duplication and noise You will lead your school with autonomy, but within a coherent partnership that strengthens decision-making and reduces fragility. 2. Strategic Support with Clear Guardrails We provide: • A clear three-horizon strategy • Defined decision rights and governance structures • Shared non-negotiables that reduce initiative overload • Disciplined systems for evaluation and early warning • Executive coaching and challenge You will not be left to firefight in isolation. You will be supported to lead strategically, not reactively. 3. Strong Inclusion Infrastructure In a high-SEND and high-complexity context, we offer: • Established graduated approaches • Federation-wide SEND collaboration • Strong links with Family Hub and early intervention services • Expertise that can be drawn upon across settings • A culture that frames inclusion as aspiration, not deficit This reduces person-dependence and builds sustainability. 4. Professional Growth and Leadership Development We invest deliberately in talent. You will benefit from: • Access to cross-federation leadership networks • Coaching culture embedded at senior level • Opportunities to lead beyond your own setting • Structured succession pathways • Exposure to strategic system-level thinking For ambitious leaders, this is a platform — not a ceiling. 5. Governance That Is Strategic, Not Performative We offer: • Clear committee structures aligned to pillars • Governors who understand early years and inclusion • Line-of-sight reporting without excessive data burden • Strategic challenge rooted in shared language This creates accountability without bureaucracy. 6. A Values-Led Culture You will join a partnership that prioritises: • Children and families first • Relational trust • High aspiration in challenging contexts • Transparency and integrity • Sustainable workload and workforce wellbeing We deliberately avoid initiative overload. We sequence improvement. We build capacity rather than dependency. 7. Opportunity for Responsible Growth Connected Futures is entering a disciplined growth phase. For the right leader, this means: • Opportunity to influence federation-wide practice • Scope to shape system development • Exposure to partnership and community strategy • Potential future executive pathways This is a leadership ecosystem, not a single-site role. 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.