Head of Early Years Foundation Stage

Purpose of the Role:

 To provide leadership, direction and management to ensure sustained improvement of the FS.

 To share in and support the leadership of the school as a member of the Senior Leadership Team.

 To help lead the school in the policies and practices of continuous school improvement and staff development in relation to the EYFS

 To be a member of the Pastoral Leadership Team where you will be responsible for the Social and Emotional wellbeing of both the students and staff in the FS.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Strategic Development

 To oversee the FS strategy, in line with agreed educational priorities, and, where appropriate, in liaison with senior staff across the school.

 To recommend to the Head of Primary, future priorities that meet the needs of all the students.

 To represent SCS at the relevant Governors’ and data analysis meetings, reporting on significant Foundation Stage matters.

Leadership

 To be a core member of the Senior Management Team, representing the interests of the FS.

 To work with members of the Senior Management Team and, where appropriate, senior colleagues to develop, refine and implement the Schools’ policies and procedures.

 To lead on all FS areas of the School Development Plan.

 To take lead responsibility in promoting an ethos of pastoral care, engagement and perseverance in the pursuit of academic excellence within a warm and supportive environment.

Inclusion

 To lead a highly inclusive FS Department.

 To work closely with the Head of Inclusion, and the SENDCo for FS.

 To ensure provision maps are reflective of the children’s needs and modifications are made to the curriculum where appropriate.

 To ensure all children are given an equal opportunity to be successful.

Curriculum and Administration

 To ensure that curriculum planning, development and delivery meets the needs of all students within the FS.

 To manage the timetable, staff allocations and rooming (specialist subjects).

 To manage parents’ meetings.

 Assist the Principal and Head of Primary in ensuring that the school is regulatory compliant in all academic matters, with self-evaluation and inspection.

Staffing

 To assess academic staffing requirements, recruitment and deployment.

 To oversee support staff (including recruitment).

 To oversee staff cover, including supply cover.

 To monitor staff absence/illness, including conducting Return to Work interviews and have an active appreciation of staff wellbeing.

 To conduct staff appraisals, as agreed with the Head of Primary, and manage underperforming staff.

 Assist the Principal and Head of Primary, in the production of a rolling audit of staff commitments and requirements, and the recruitment and retention needs of the school.

 Work with the Principal and Head of Primary in developing, implementing and maintaining an effective appraisal system.

 Line manage the Heads of Year, Curriculum Leaders and specialist staff in the FS.

Admissions and Marketing

 Leading on admissions testing at all entry points for the FS.

 Academic assessment and interviews of all applications.

 Involvement in the interview and selection process of prospective students to the school.

 Produce content for and help edit the school website, academic booklets and other promotional material.

 Lead weekly tours for potential new parents in the FS and follow up on any concerns or questions that they may have.

 Lead playdates and key events which help promote the FS.

 To make connections with local nurseries and make visits where appropriate.

 To help support and run the FS Social Media account.

Pastoral Care

 To be a member of the child protection team, working alongside the Senior DSP to ensure that the safeguarding policy is followed and the statutory requirements of April 2017 EYFS are maintained.

 To prioritise the health, safety and wellbeing of all FS students and to monitor this consistently.

 To provide support for children with social and emotional barriers to learning, effectively working alongside the class teacher and child’s family.

 To meet with the pastoral team on a weekly basis to discuss whole school pastoral focuses,

 To coordinate with the school counsellor, arranging appointments of those who require it, including staff, parents and students.

 Train staff on pastoral care systems and procedures and to monitor the use of these within the EYFS setting.

 Transition into SCS, from FS1 to FS2 and from FS2 to Year 1. Overseeing class placements and teacher allocations.

 Health and safety - Fire Marshall, up to date First Aid Training and monitoring FS Bus Children.

 Responsible for Playground health and safety, duty rotas and monitoring incident reports.

 Ensuring parents and staff follow the correct ‘return to school procedures’ when they have been off absent.

 To track and monitor the punctuality and attendance of all EYFS students.

Parental relationships

 To actively develop relationships with parents and the wider community, including pre-schools and nurseries.

 To build strong, trusting relationships with the parental community.

 To operate SCS’s open door policy to ensure parents feel able and comfortable to contact/meet with you regarding any concerns or queries.

 To encourage parent participation.

 To lead on Coffee mornings, webinars, information evenings.

 To maintain a warm, friendly approach.

 To provide excellent communication, both written and verbal.

 To be present at all key events which take place throughout the Foundation Stage curriculum - events - FS shows, swim demos, sports day etc.

Learning, Teaching and Curriculum

 To work alongside the Assistant Head of Learning and Teaching to overseeing the quality and standards of teaching and learning across the Foundation Stage. This could include providing analysis and reports to the Senior Leadership Team, and governors as required.

 To keep up to date with current developments in teaching and learning and in school improvement in the EYFS and to share this with staff.

 To help to formulate the aims and objectives of the EYFS and policies for their implementation.

 To play a major role in the development of high quality teaching and learning in the EYFS. This will include the monitoring of curriculum planning and the giving of feedback and advice as well as assisting and supporting colleagues with the planning and delivery of a differentiated curriculum.

 To lead the EYFS team in the delivery of a creative and stimulating curriculum.

 To seek ways of sharing good practice in the EYFS and to ensure dialogue about teaching and learning amongst school staff.

 To ensure curricular policy development is focused on continuous improvement.

Assessment

 To ensure that the requirements of the EYFS including arrangements for assessment and moderation are met.

 To ensure appropriate support for individuals and groups of pupils based on assessment data.

 To ensure that all the children in the EYFS are able to learn and achieve to the best of their ability.

General Information

 The Head of FS is a member of the Senior Management Team and will also be expected to contribute to wider school matters.

 This is a non-teaching position.

 This job description provides a guide to and general description of the duties and responsibilities of the Head of Foundation Stage and may be amended.

 To manage the day to day staffing of the FS.