Assistant Head

Move into senior leadership with the Griffin Schools Trust.

Applications are invited from those ready to take senior management responsibility as Assistant Head within the school and the Trust (salary negotiable).

We are seeking consistently good or better teachers who

• know how to manage and develop their colleagues

• have mutually respectful relationships with students

• can see the big GST picture and want to join our dedicated SIS team at this key point in the life of the school. 

You could currently be in the independent, international or UK state sector. We will consider your application in the context of your values and track record.

Stantonbury Campus was planned in the early 1970s as a bold social project which would see students and adults studying together and enjoying shared use with the community of a leisure centre and professional theatre which were funded by Milton Keynes Council.

It opened in 1974, under the Founding Head, Geoffrey Cooksey.

The school has been through some challenging times during the last decade or so. In 2015 the governors looked for a suitable to Trust to join and chose the Griffin Schools Trust with whom they shared values.

You know what the agenda is and the vision that we are working towards to make SIS a truly Griffin Great school and to re-connect the school’s past with its future.

The vision that GST proposed to the governors was (and very much remains) of a school whose flourishing future is connected to its proud past in a number of ways:

• A strong emphasis on the Arts and Sports, using the exceptional facilities to promote excellence as well as enjoyment. We promised to increase access to the Theatre and Sports/Leisure Centre for students which had been limited since council funding ceased some 15 years ago.

• A renewed focus on international links which the campus did so well in its early years, hosting whole school staff teams and making return visits to exchange best practice and innovation in community based education. 

• A revived and contemporary approach to science, maths, engineering and technology.

We used and added to the governors’ great work in winning STEM funding to secure £22m for a new building at the heart of the school to house STEM subjects. (SIS is the home of the annual Griffin Science Symposium.)

• A 100% achievement mentality (well advanced in the founding GST schools) which will see every student reaching national norms as a minimum

The full realisation of this vision (further described in in Griffin Great Schools) is a long-term project and a great deal of progress has been made in securing infrastructure, improving the estate and introducing the IB Middle Years Programme as the foundation of the curriculum. The school’s name was accordingly changed to Stantonbury International School in September 2017. However, the quality and continuity of teaching across the age and subject range at Key Stages 3 and 4 is below par and the Trust has deployed experienced senior staff to accelerate progress with this fundamental element of provision.

A symptom of this inconsistency in teaching is a variable response from students to adults around the campus.

If you want to make an impact on the school’s journey and start your learning as a GST leader, tell us about what you have to offer and why you want to join Stantonbury International School.

How to apply

Please do your research and tell us in no more than two sides of A4 in 11 point

1. what you have achieved so far in building community and outcomes for children

2. why you should join the SIS leadership team. 

Send your application and full CV to michelle.hall@griffinschoolstrust.org.

Closing date midday 02 March 2020.

Interviews will be held at the school on 19 March 2020 and the panel will include senior Trust colleagues. We will make more than one appointment if the quality of applicants suggests we should.