Executive Headteacher

Federation of North and South Cowton Community Primary and Melsonby Methodist Primary Schools
North and South Cowton Community Primary School, North Cowton, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 0HF
Melsonby Methodist Primary School, West Road, Melsonby, Richmond, North Yorkshire DL10 5ND

This is an excellent opportunity to take on a truly unique role, leading and managing two successful and highly regarded small village schools and developing their continued integration and relationships with their wider communities. Each school has its own individual characteristics and sits at the centre of their community.

Currently rated by Ofsted as Good, you will lead and develop their relationship while embedding the newly formed Federation. Our schools benefit from excellent support, provided by the Governors (including 2 Methodist Foundation Governors) Local Authority Advisors and Swaledale Alliance.

Christian values are at the heart of school life at Melsonby and, although North and South Cowton is not a faith school, it has a close relationship with a local church.

Located close to the North Yorkshire market towns of Richmond and Northallerton and with Darlington to the north, we are surrounded by the outstanding natural beauty of North Yorkshire’s National Parks. In addition we have excellent road connections north to Teesside and Durham, west to The Lake District and south to Harrogate, York, Leeds, and Selby. We also benefit from easy access to the east coast mainline from both Northallerton and Darlington.

As well as leading the schools to ever more integration, your remit will be to raise standards by developing collaboration and partnership across our schools and with the wider community. You will also ensure our schools continue to challenge themselves in all aspects of school life, ensuring that pupil outcomes are maximised.

Working closely with each community, you’ll promote each school to ensure it remains highly visible and attractive to parents, maintain strong links with the church and develop local stakeholder networks to maximise influence and support.

A proven leader, team builder and communicator, you must be comfortable in developing and building networks, partnerships and collaborations with the whole school community. You will also have the skills and ability to effectively manage your time between our schools, to ensure that staff are supported, developed and integrate effectively into the wider team and that finances are effectively managed.

You’ll receive positive support from our governing body, all of whom are committed to providing a package of support to ensure your long term success.

We would encourage you to visit our schools in advance of your application and see for yourself how we work together to ensure the best possible outcomes for our children. Such a visit is not part of the selection process, and whether or not applicants have visited will not influence the final outcome.

If you would like the opportunity to visit, please email Steve Cooper (resourcingsolutions@northyorks.gov.uk) at North Yorkshire County Council, who has been engaged to support us with recruitment to this key role. For an informal, confidential conversation about the role please call Steve on 01609 536578.

As small schools, we have planned time/dates when visits can easily be accommodated (detailed below). Should you not be in a position to attend during these times, please contact Steve who will endeavour to make alternative arrangements.

Visit dates/times:

• Tuesday 17 September at 10 am (Starting at North & South Cowton)
• Wednesday 18 September at 10 am (starting at Melsonby)

For more information and to apply, please visit http://www.nyresourcing.co.uk/cowton-and-melsonby/ 

I hope you find the information provided useful and informative and that it will encourage you to apply.

When applying please take into account the following:

Supporting Information:
The supporting information section of your application should clearly evidence your ability to meet the requirements we have outlined in the person specification. The information in Supporting Information will be used to shortlist applicants for this role and therefore it is imperative that you provide evidence as requested.

Key Dates
Closing date: Sunday 22 September (midnight)
Shortlisting date: Wednesday 25 September
Assessment Event: Thursday 10 & Friday 11 October