Bi-Borough Deputy Head of Virtual School

Work Location: Kensington City Hall and Westminster City Hall, London

Hours per Week: 36

Contract Type: Permanent

Vetting Requirements: Enhanced

Closing Date: 11 July 2021

Contact details for an informal discussion: Marie Shinn Executive Support Officer to Ian Heggs Director of Education marie.shinn@rbkc.gov.uk

About Us:

THE EXTRAORDINARY STORY OF SHOFA’S MARKET 

Children’s Services in Westminster City Council is a world of extraordinary stories. Where courageous and inspiring professionals bring everything to their work. Sometimes this even includes heartbreak. Shofa is a shining example. Shofa’s brother suffered with his mental health and died tragically young. She uses his memory as motivation to give Westminster Youth Council members the opportunity to have a voice and get involved in decision making. This passion resulted in her innovation: The Westminster Youth Market. Here local teenagers learn about entrepreneurship and develop their personal skills. This is an inclusive platform where everyone’s contribution and abilities are celebrated. Inspired by a promising life cut short, Shofa believes without vision there is no direction and every young person should be supported to realise their dreams. 

The Role:

As a Deputy Head of our high-performing virtual school, you can make your own powerful contribution. 

This ambitious bi-borough initiative brings together the resources and expertise of both Westminster City Council, and our friends at The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Working with children in care and Care Leavers, we are entirely focused on ensuring they receive the education and training they need to secure employment and succeed in life. Our Virtual School is at the heart of this ambition, and with you directly supervising and working alongside members of the school, we are confident that we can achieve even more. 

Supporting the Head Teacher in their work, you will be tasked with the management and strategic development of a team of 11 colleagues, while seeing to it that we are delivering a truly effective service. Devising quality assurance measures to monitor our progress, you will take responsibility for a small caseload of Looked After Children, working with both them and their carers to help them get the best out of this innovative and creative approach to education. 

We value the importance of using progress data to map the success of our initiatives. As such, you will collaborate with data colleagues to ensure the relevant data can be accessed, and you will put the measures in place to ensure all pupils benefit from an effective Personal Education Plan. 

Crucially, this is an exciting opportunity to work with Social Workers, foster families and the children’s Key Workers to enhance their awareness of the importance of education, and to ensure that education is being treated as a key priority across both boroughs. You will also be a trusted partner to the School Standards Team, working collaboratively to drive up standards of education and attainment – so you will also be encouraged to provide training events for school staff, carers and Social Workers. 

Please refer to the Job Description for more information. 

About You:

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a team who are keen to innovate and succeed. With ample support from senior management colleagues and plenty of development opportunities, we will help you build a remarkable career in our vital sector. You will therefore succeed with us if you are a GTC registered and qualified Teacher, with significant experience of working with Looked After Children and Care Leavers. 

Bringing management level experience to the role, you will have a background in improving outcomes for children and young people and you will have a deep knowledge of the educational and employment issues faced by children and young people in the care system. With a good awareness of the legislative framework surrounding this complex issue, you will be keen to share expertise with your colleagues. You will therefore be an inspirational team leader, with the capacity to work collaboratively with partners and stakeholders at all levels. Good analytical skills are essential, as we will expect you to interpret performance data and present your recommendations both verbally and in writing. Above all else, you will be a passionate advocate of the importance of education in improving life outcomes. 

The Council and its partners are committed to achieving diverse shortlists for all vacancies at Band 4 or above to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. As part of this ambition, if you are from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background (BAME) you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.

What We Offer:

Westminster is an amazing place. There are 250,000 diverse residents, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses, and three-quarters-of-a-million people working here every day. Our mission is to create a city for all. We’re an organisation that wants the very best for our residents: a supportive and safe environment, the chance to grow and learn throughout their lives, to build fantastic careers in world-leading industries, to have access to high quality, affordable homes and to retire into the community with dignity and pride. 

The Council and its partners are committed to achieving diverse shortlists for all vacancies at Band 4 or above to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. As part of this ambition, if you are from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background (BAME) you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments. As a progressive and innovative organisation, we welcome applications from candidates keen on working in an agile environment with flexible conditions.

At Westminster City Council, we are passionate about our aim to be an inclusive workplace for all that reflects the communities we serve, and we believe everyone is valued. We particularly welcome applicants from underrepresented backgrounds, including BAME, LGBTQ+ and those with hidden or visible disabilities. We’re committed to ensuring all our staff – regardless of gender, age, religion, sexuality, ethnicity or disability – can succeed. We value diversity and appreciate that people work in different ways. So, as a Timewise employer we work to provide flexible working arrangements and an empowering environment that enables you to be your best, that is the Westminster Way.