Job Description

Deputy Headteacher: L17 - 21

Required for September 2014

Forest Hall School is an extremely small, semi rural 11 - 16 school which serves both a local catchment area and the surrounding villages. The school has undergone a radical overhaul during the past four years and was judged 'Good' in the Ofsted inspection of June 2013. September 2015 will see the school join a small and successful academy trust.

Due to the retirement of the present Deputy Headteacher, we are seeking to appoint a dynamic, motivational and ambitious leader with a strong and proven track record at senior leadership level of raising standards and levels of achievement. You will be an outstanding leader and teacher with drive, energy and passion and be able to demonstrate exceptional skills which will see you inspire young people and staff alike. Key accountability will lie within Curriculum design, Teaching and Learning and related staff development, although there is scope to realign the present leadership team roles and responsibilities.

This is an exciting opportunity and you will need to be a driven and purposeful individual in order to join our leadership team and to play a key role in the direction of the school as we navigate our way through a period of change leading to membership of an academy partnership.

This role would be ideal preparation for Headship and we will only appoint a candidate with the potential to be an exceptional school leader. Please read the attached information and if you feel up to the challenge, if you have the energy, the creativity and the leadership skills to build your career at a school that welcomes innovative thinking, then please apply for this role.

Please contact Ann Williams (PA to the Headteacher) for further details/an application pack or visit the school website: www.fhs.essex.sch.uk Potential candidates are encouraged to visit the school. Visits have been arranged for the following dates: Thursday 1st May at 11.00; Friday 2nd May at 10.00. Please contact Mrs Williams directly if you wish to visit: 01279 810666.

FHS is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and applicants will be subject to full employment checks, including an enhanced DBS disclosure.

Information about the School

Forest Hall School, in Stansted, Essex, is a relatively small secondary school with a family feel and strong sense of community.

Irrespective of our size, we offer a wide range of courses, activities and experiences for students and, as a result, we respond to the pace and direction of individual development and are inclusive to all.

Our inhouse Dyslexia Support Unit works with students with low literacy to teach them the skills and strategies to achieve in life.

Students with an Education Health Care Plan with dyslexia as their main need from across Essex – from Halstead and Chelmsford to Waltham Abbey and Epping – attend lessons with specialist teachers who focus on multi-sensory teaching, while boosting confidence and self-esteem.

Forest Hall, like any other school, has students in mainstream lessons who have dyslexia, but those with severe needs attend the unit for up to six hours each week.

Before children come to Forest Hall, they are allocated a form group which is within a House. This is very carefully done to ensure that each group is balanced. Each form group has its fair share from each primary school, of academic children, quiet children, sporty children and performing arts children. Forest Hall has been built on the House system. We believe it helps all students to feel they ‘belong’ and that they are a valuable and valued member of a group. We feel that when students are secure and happy, they have the best chance of reaching their full potential. Many extra-curricular activities such as competitions, sport and charity work are organised in the Houses.

Three members of staff have particular responsibility for each student – their form tutor, head of house and a member of the Senior Leadership Team – and work closely together to make students’ path through secondary school as successful and as happy as possible.

Above all, we believe a student’s success grows out of a close and personal home/school relationship.

Every young person is supported and challenged to reach their full potential. Our high expectations for students is evident in an upward trend in examination results. Since 2015, Forest Hall has exceeded national averages and standards at GCSE level.

Through our extensive curriculum provision, enrichment experiences and school ethos, we ensure students develop not only their academic ability, but also their social, moral, spiritual and cultural awareness.

Forest Hall School is a caring and inclusive community and we work hard to ensure all students are safe, healthy and achieving. We are proud of our wide-ranging partnerships with charities and organisations such as Hope Not Hate, Samaritans, Children’s Society and Essex Young Service to support our students’ mental health and wellbeing.