Prior's Court School
England
£54,000 - £64,000 per year
Expiring soon
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Apply by:
8 October 2025
Job overview
Are you a compassionate and driven leader with a passion for supporting autistic young people with complex needs? Do you have the vision, resilience, and commitment to help shape the future of a unique, highly specialist residential setting?
We are seeking a Deputy Headteacher to join our dedicated team, helping to lead a nurturing and inclusive environment where every young person is respected, supported, and empowered to thrive. This is a critical and rewarding leadership role with a direct impact on the lives of our young people, their families and the wider school community.
Prior's Court is an 'Outstanding' (OFSTED, February 2024) forward-thinking residential special school for autistic children and young people with complex needs, aged 5-25. Each individual young person is at the centre of everything we do and by working as one team across the whole day, we provide a safe, inclusive, and enriching environment where learners are supported to achieve their potential to live lives that are healthy and happy, that become more independent and gain world of work skills to take into adulthood.
Key job information:
Salary - £54,000 - £64,000
Hours: Full time, 37.5 hours, 42 weeks (term time)
Contract type: Permanent
Closing date for applications: 8th October 2025.
Face-to-face interviews will be conducted on 17th October.
About the Deputy Headteacher role:
The Deputy Headteacher will work alongside the school principal and senior leadership team in defining, articulating and implementing the shared vision to prepare all young people to reach their ambitions for health, happiness, independence, and skills for work through effective communication and engagement with all stakeholders.
It is expected that the deputy head will demonstrate outstanding leadership skills working with the school principal on the implementation of the strategic direction of the school.
* Lead collaboration across departments to ensure consistency and shared contribution to each young person's progress
* Contribute to organisational strategy and the day-to-day delivery of high-quality learning
* Lead curriculum development in identified areas
* Lead compliance and quality of EHCPs, including Annual Reviews and multi-agency coordination
* Coordinate CPD pathways (e.g. QTS, QTLS, DET) in collaboration with the training team
* Support the implementation of the organisational strategic plan
* Monitor assessment strategies and track progress against skills development and individual targets.
* Line management of staff
* Maintain and support the school's Outstanding Ofsted rating
* Ensure learning progress is effectively evidenced and clearly communicated to all stakeholders
What we are looking for:
* Substantial teaching experience in a SEND or specialist education setting
* Leadership experience in an education setting
* Experience of working with autistic young people and/or those with complex needs
* Qualified Teacher Status (QTS)
* Strong working knowledge of SEND Code of Practice, EHCP requirements, and safeguarding procedures
* Experience of leading on staff development or mentoring of teachers/support staff
Recruiter contact:
Email us
Call us
About Prior's Court School
Prior's Court School
Hermitage, Thatcham
Berkshire
RG18 9NU
United Kingdom
Building a future for people with autism
Prior's Court Foundation is dedicated to bringing the highest level of expertise to support and improve life chances for people with autism.
Our aim is to offer the best quality specialist provision to enable our pupils to achieve as fulfilling and independent a life as possible.
Prior's Court School has developed the Prior Approach, a multi-disciplinary programme of educational, communication and daily living practices which has been extensively researched and has been proved to be extremely successful.
The approach focuses on
* structured teaching and a structured environment
* communication
* physical exercise
* behaviour management
* therapeutic provision and an inter-disciplinary approach
* independent living skills and Daily Life Therapy
* an individual programme of learning, addressing all curriculum areas, structured throughout their waking day
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