Job Description

Deputy Headteacher - Behaviour and Attitudes

About this Role

Southend High School for Girls is a school with momentum. Recently judged Outstanding in every category, inspectors noted that "pupils flourish and excel" and that "the school is relentless in its desire to keep improving." With record-breaking GCSE and A Level results and recognition The Times list of the best schools in the country, Southend High School for Girls is poised for its next ambitious chapter. We are seeking a Deputy Headteacher who matches our pace, drive, and standards, someone who leads by example, energises teams, and delivers lasting impact. You will be a compelling communicator with clarity of vision, high expectations, and the resilience to make things happen. If you are a strategic, solutions-focused leader ready to help shape the future of one of the UK's top-performing grammar schools, we want to hear from you.

Purpose of Role

To lead a culture of high standards, strong relationships and personal responsibility, where exceptional behaviour, attendance and attitudes underpin learning. You will drive a whole-school approach to character, wellbeing and pupil development so that every student thrives, socially, morally and academically, and is fully prepared for life beyond school.

As Deputy Headteacher overseeing pastoral care at Southend High School for Girls, you will be the driving force behind sustaining and elevating our outstanding provision for personal development, behaviour, and attitudes. Your leadership will ensure that our students continue to thrive in an environment where they are "safe, happy and successful", a core principle that defines the Southend High School for Girls experience.

Ofsted's July 2024 report praised the school's "strong sense of family," and highlighted that "pupils behave with great maturity and consideration for others," reflecting the school's deeply embedded culture of respect, kindness, and responsibility. This ethos is not accidental, it is the result of clear values, lived consistently, and championed through intelligent, compassionate leadership.

Students benefit from an exceptionally rich and coherently planned programme of experiences that promotes their wider development, both within and beyond the curriculum. Their active involvement in a "vast range of clubs, trips, visits, and visitors" is testament to a culture that values breadth, depth, and belonging. These opportunities are of outstanding quality and enable all students, including the most disadvantaged and those with SEND to flourish.

Your leadership will be instrumental in maintaining Southend High School for Girls' status as a beacon of excellence in pastoral care, ensuring that our students continue to flourish and excel in all aspects of their school life.

The successful candidate will:

• Have successful leadership experience and the ability to inspire and motivate others
• Demonstrate high expectations for all pupils and staff
• Be committed to inclusion and to ensuring every pupil achieves their full potential
• Use data effectively to drive standards and evaluate impact
• Be an outstanding classroom practitioner with a proven track record of impact
• Support the Headteacher in delivering a clear and ambitious vision for the school
• Drive improvements in behaviour, attendance, and pupil wellbeing
• Line manage and develop staff, fostering a culture of continuous improvement
• Deputise for the Headteacher as required
• Contribute to school self-evaluation and inspection readiness
• Act as a Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL)

What We Offer:

• Highly motivated, curious, and industrious students.
• A strong, highly qualified staff team and an ethos of tolerance and respect with a family community spirit.
• A commitment to ongoing professional development and staff wellbeing.
• An environment which promotes innovation.

How to Apply

Please complete the online application form on My New Term and include a formal letter of application within the form, addressing the following points:

• Why you are interested in becoming a Deputy Headteacher at Southend High School for Girls
• The experience and expertise you would bring to the role
• Your ideas for the role and how you would contribute to Southend High School for Girls' continued development

Southend High School for Girls is a highly successful and oversubscribed girls' grammar school rated 'outstanding' by Ofsted. This is an exciting time to join the school as it moves forward under the leadership of its Headteacher, Mr Jason Carey.

We reserve the right to call applicants to interview, and appoint, prior to the closing date.

All staff at Southend High School for Girls have a responsibility for safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. The successful applicant will be required to complete an enhanced DBS check.

Information about the School

“Pupils flourish and excel at Southend High School for Girls.”

– Ofsted, July 2024

Southend High School for Girls (SHSG) is an outstanding grammar school with academy status, proudly educating generations of students for over a century. We blend tradition with innovation, creating a dynamic learning environment where students are safe, happy, and successful.

Our school is a family-orientated community where pupils thrive. Students achieve exceptionally high outcomes and benefit from an ambitious curriculum and an exemplary careers education programme. As one pupil told Ofsted, “The school will literally help you do anything you want to do.”

We offer a vast range of clubs, trips, productions, and leadership opportunities, including the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme and World Challenge. Students are encouraged to lead and contribute, with many acting as ambassadors and house captains.

SHSG is proud to be a member of NACE (National Association for Able Children in Education), reflecting our commitment to stretching and challenging all learners. Our curriculum goes far beyond the National Curriculum, with students in Key Stage 3 studying three separate sciences and two languages, and engaging in ‘super-curricular’ tasks that promote independent research and critical thinking.

Staff are passionate, well-supported, and receive high-quality professional development. Our shared ethos of high expectations, mutual respect, and continuous improvement makes SHSG a truly special place to work.

If you are enthusiastic about education and excited to join a high-performing, caring school community, we warmly invite you to explore our current vacancies and consider becoming part of the SHSG family.