Guardian UK Jobs – Head of School

About the job

Crawford Primary School

Main purpose

The head of school, under the direction of the Executive Headteacher, will be responsible for providing the leadership and management of Crawford Primary School in line with the vision of the federation and manage the day-to-day running of the school.

Duties and responsibilities

Leadership and management of the school

• Manage senior and middle leaders, developing a professional culture amongst all staff at the school
• Support and challenge staff, dealing with underperformance effectively while making sure staff are given the support to do their jobs well
• Manage the school’s budget and resources alongside the federation’s finance officer
• Implement the school’s appraisal policy and other management processes and systems
• Support the implementation of federation-wide policies and school-level policies
• Undertake self-evaluation and school improvement planning alongside the federation-wide strategy to improve areas of weakness in the school
• Support the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff where necessary
• Provide training and continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities for all school staff
• Identify areas of progression and promotion for staff that support succession planning for the school
• Lead on federation-wide roles as required

Teaching and learning

• Work with staff to promote high quality teaching across all subjects
• Identify any areas of weakness in teaching and implement, monitor and review interventions to improve these areas as well as teaching and learning across the school
• Make sure the school’s assessment system is fit for purpose and provides teachers with useful information about pupils
• Identify areas where staff may benefit from sharing good practice or accessing support from other schools in the trust
• Monitor the outcomes of pupils and draw out any patterns of underperformance in key groups of pupils, such as disadvantaged pupils or pupils with special educational needs
• Make sure standards of behaviour are high to foster an environment in which learning can thrive

Communication

• Work with the governing body and executive headteacher to keep them informed of the financial and educational performance of the school, giving them what they need to provide support and challenge
• Help to build on the vision of the federation and share with colleagues across the federation how this is being demonstrated in the school
• Attend any relevant local governing body and/or federation meetings
• Contribute to reports to the executive headteacher or board as necessary

Strengthening Community

• To build a school culture and curriculum which takes account of the richness and diversity of the school’s communities
• To ensure learning experiences for pupils are linked into and integrated with the wider community
• To collaborate with other agencies in providing for the academic, spiritual, moral, social, emotional and cultural well-being of pupils and their families
• To create and maintain an effective partnership with parents and carers to support and improve pupils’ achievement and personal development
• To seek opportunities to invite parents and carers, community figures, businesses or other organisations into the school to enhance and enrich the school and its value to the wider community
• To contribute to the development of the education system by, for example, sharing effective practice, working in partnership with other schools and promoting innovative initiatives

Managing resources

• Contribute to the budget setting, cash-flow management and all other financial management processes with the finance officer
• Ensure value for money in any delegated financial responsibilities for purchasing and procurement
• Ensure the efficient and effective use of school resources