Job Information
Achieving for Children is a Community Interest Company that has a public sector ethos, combined with the freedom to innovate enabling us to do things differently. As a not-for-profit social enterprise owned by three local authorities (Windsor & Maidenhead, Kingston and Richmond), we offer the freedoms of a social enterprise with the employment benefits of local government. To find out more about us .
Headteacher Virtual School
We're proud to announce that AfC's Children's Services in Richmond have been awarded an Outstanding rating by Ofsted. This places Richmond alongside Kingston, which also holds an Outstanding rating, as a top-performing service. Our separately inspected Fostering Service has achieved a strong ‘Good’ rating, recognising our skilled and dedicated fostering workforce.
Come work with a skilled, stable workforce and be part of an organization that's truly making a difference.
AfC Virtual School supports the education of all children with a social worker. This includes Children Looked After (CLA), Previously Looked After Children, children in Kinship Care, Children in Need, those on Child Protection Plans, and Care Leavers across Kingston, Richmond, and Windsor and Maidenhead.
Operational area Kingston and Richmond Primary place of work Across Kingston, Richmond and Windsor and Maidenhead Work Setting Hybrid Working Appointment type Permanent Business area Education Full time/Part time Full-time Salary from L18 82,816 Salary to L21 88,812 Hours 36 Estimated Interview date/s TBC Closing Date 05/06/2026 Ref No 2340 Documents
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About the role
The Virtual School Headteacher is a statutory and senior role within all local authorities and will report directly to the Deputy Director of Education.. The successful candidate will drive forward, at a strategic and operational level, the best possible educational and employment outcomes for children looked after and previously looked after, care leavers and children with a social worker.
This is a key role that will lead on developing, implementing, and embedding the strategic plan for the service and the operation action plan. The postholder will lead on identifying and securing opportunities for creative partnerships and funding that will improve the integrated support available to children, young people and families locally.
For an informal chat about the role please contact Clive Haines, Deputy Director for Education,
About you
We are looking for an individual who will be able to provide visible and effective leadership to a diverse team of professionals within the service who possess the following skills and experience:
2. Educated to a degree level with qualified teacher status and Leadership experience
3. Extensive experience in leading a team, undertaking line management, performance management and change management and Virtual School Leadership experience
4. Experience of building strong partnerships, maintaining relationships and co-producing solutions to challenges across a diverse set of stakeholders, including children, young people and their families. Advocating the voices of those we are working with
5. Proven ability to effectively use data, intelligence and evidence to create meaningful insight, to inform own decision making and to support the raising of attainment and standards in education
6. Excellent organisational experience of supporting vulnerable children including Looked after Children in Education settings and working knowledge of OFSTED inspection frameworks
7. Knowledge of barriers to learning for our cohorts, underlining causes and strategies to address the impact.
8. Knowledge of statutory legislation (for example Children’s Act) and national policy drivers that will affect children’s services and your role
9. Excellent knowledge of assessment practice and ability to advise on the setting and review of suitable SMART targets.
10. Experience of addressing specific equality or diversity issues within your practice with colleagues/service users and taking action to solve them
About our benefits
We are focused on creating a positive supportive environment, where you will have access to a really wide range of resources, as well as a competitive salary and all the perks to enable hybrid working. In AfC you will also have access to:
11. 29 days annual leave, increasing to 33 days after 2 years and 35 days after 4 years with an additional day off in your birthday month (Or for term-time workers, your leave entitlement consists of the non-working periods in your contract)
12. Tailored induction sessions commencing on the date you start working for AfC
13. Local Government salary and pension scheme (LGPS or Teachers Pension)
14. Flexible working options - helping to keep a good work life balance
15. A comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
16. A range of staff benefits and discounts
17. An excellent learning and development offer to support your career pathway
To find out about all of the breadth of benefits of working for Achieving for Children. For our social work offer. For our Recruitment Journey,
Important Information
Start dates: Achieving for Children have meaning successful candidates join on a set date in each month. Candidates are advised to prepare for this should a job offer be accepted to ensure eligible continuous service is not affected.
Right to work: The UK has introduced a new points-based immigration system affecting EU and Non-EU workers and sponsorship requirements. We advise checking the for right to work guidance.
Equality: We particularly welcome applications from sections of the community who are currently underrepresented within our teams. Achieving for Children are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions and can improve the way we deliver services. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer.
Safeguarding: We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
We reserve the right to close this vacancy once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Therefore, it is strongly advised that you complete and return your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.