Assistant Headteacher - Aurora Brooklands School

The Aurora Group 

The Aurora Group is an innovative provider of education and care for children, young people and adults with special educational needs and disabilities.  Aurora Brooklands School is an independent day school in Lancashire providing specialist education for young people with Social, Emotional and Mental Health difficulties (SEMH).

The role:

 As our Assistant Head Teacher, your role will be to passionately and enthusiastically work closely alongside the Head teacher and Deputy Headteacher to deliver the schools strategic vision. You will also lead manage and deputise for the Headteacher/Deputy Headteacher on site and off site as and when required as well as occasionally carrying out the professional duties of a class teacher as required.

Key Duties: 

• To work with the Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher in all aspects of leadership and management and to take responsibility for managing and developing Curriculum and Teaching, Achievement (including exams) and Alternative Provisions throughout Brooklands School.
• To take a central role in assisting the Head Teacher and Deputy Head Teacher to develop Brooklands School in accordance with its shared values contributing to all school evaluation / development and / or improvement plans.
• Be an outstanding practitioner possessing a wealth of experience across all key stages in particular formal and semi formal pathways.
• Lead the development of the curriculum and learning across all key stages and pathways.
• Lead in assessment for learning and assessing pupils' progress and achievement both academic and vocational
• To lead and support the teachers and teaching assistants with driving improvement within our curriculum, teaching and assessment across the school.
• To ensure that staff and the deployment of staff carry out their organisational responsibilities in relation to the above.
• To further the aims of the school and support the Head Teacher in ensuring the vision of the school is clear and well communicated.
• To share with the Head Teacher a responsibility for providing quality assurance in all the school's activities.
• To provide Head Teacher with an overview of major school issues using a range of evidence sources.
• To contribute to the overall leadership and management of the School with specific responsibilities identified.
• To deputise and undertake overall responsibility for the school in the absence of the Head Teacher/Deputy Headteacher and on any other occasions where required.

A full job description is available to view here: Job Description - Assistant Headteacher

Successful candidate are likely to demonstrate the following: 

Essential Qualifications

QTS or QTLS.

Desirable Qualifications

• Accredited training in specific areas of special education, e.g. Autism, Dyslexia, Teaching and Learning etc.
• Management/leadership qualification

Essential Experience

• Experience within ideally a middle/senior leadership position; Leading a significant area or phase or inclusion, including responsibility for raising standards across the whole school.
• Experience of at least 5 years successful proven track record of excellent creative and structured teaching within the special needs environment.
• Ideally to have prior experience of teaching in a specialist SEMH or Autism environment.
• Extensive knowledge and understanding of leading and managing Curriculum, Teaching and Assessment on a whole school level.
• Knowledge and understanding of Formal, Semi-formal and informal curriculum
• Track record of outstanding teaching throughout career
• Experience of leading and managing a diverse team of staff effectively
• Experience of working with and developing links with the community.
• Evidence of major whole school responsibilities and experience of turning policy into effective and successful practice.
• Leadership of a significant area or phase or inclusion, including responsibility for raising standards across the whole school.
• Experience of working with and involving school governors/trustees or executives
• Communicating effectively to a wide range of different audiences though a range of different mediums.
• Successful management of complex scenarios and conflict resolution
• Effective relationships working successfully with a range of external agencies

Desirable Experience  

• Evidence of developing and delivering effective and inspirational professional development for staff including mentoring and coaching as appropriate.
• Evidence of contributing effectively to the work of the senior leadership team.
• Experience of leading Assessment across school.
• Experience of leading formal assessments and examinations.

Professional Knowledge and Skills

• A clear understanding of the essential qualities necessary for effective teaching and learning.
• Experience of using effective behaviour and teaching strategies.
• Understanding of the implementation of ASD intervention and support strategies (TEACCH or other similar).
• Up to date knowledge of statutory regulations and guidance on education at relevant key stages, attainment, progress and assessment methods.
• Analysis of data to evaluate the performance of pupil groups, pupil progress and using this information to plan an appropriate course of action for whole school improvement.
• Experience of OFSTED inspection and following action planning.
• Experience of curriculum leadership action planning and resource management
• Some experience of leading or supporting the annual appraisal process.
• Evidence of creatively approach to problem solving and identifying opportunities
• Good ICT skills and understanding of how ICT can be used to support learning
• Resilient with the ability to remain calm and reflective when working in a challenging environment
• High level of emotional intelligence with the ability to solve complex issues 
• A good sense of humour

How to Apply: 

For candidates that haven't worked in this sector before please be aware that for regulatory reasons the application process is far more detailed and thorough compared to other sectors.

Please complete the online application form in full, including all employment and education details, and provide a personal statement that makes us keen to speak to you.

If you need any assistance or would like any more information, please contact Liz in the Aurora Group Recruitment Team at Liz.Hudson@theauroragroup.co.uk

Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.

The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.

This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled. 

Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search

As part of our safer recruitment procedures for senior leadership roles, we will endeavour to complete a range of safeguarding checks prior to interview where possible. These include references, online searches, a Prohibition from Teaching check and a Section 128 direction check