Assistant Headteacher

Sherwood Foundation School

Assistant Headteacher

Salary: Leadership Pay Scale, L8 to L15, £65,642 to £77,209

Contract: Full time

Closing date: Wednesday 7 October 2026

Sherwood Foundation School is a Foundation Special School located in the London Borough of Sutton and made up of three campuses:

Sherwood Hill Campus

Sherwood Hill Campus is a specialist school for autistic learners aged 3–19 years who have multiple and complex barriers to learning, requiring high levels of support to access education and learning around their peers. Many of our learners may also have severe learning difficulties and/or struggle to maintain a regulated state for learning.

Sherwood Park Campus

Sherwood Park Campus is a specialist school for learners aged 3–19 years who have severe, multiple and complex learning difficulties and/or disabilities. This includes learners who have highly complex access needs resulting from their physical and/or health conditions. All learners require high levels of adult support to access learning.

Sherwood Manor Campus

Sherwood Manor Campus is a specialist school primarily for autistic learners aged 11–19 years who have moderate to severe barriers to learning. Most of our pupils can access a highly adapted formal learning environment with high levels of adult support. Some of our learners struggle to deal with the demands of an adult-led learning environment so may need a highly individualised learning offer to meet their academic potential.

We have high aspirations for all our pupils and we pride ourselves on putting the child at the centre of everything we do. Our curriculum ensures that our pupils, who come from a wide range of backgrounds, have exceptional opportunities to excel and access exciting opportunities in school, and beyond school, to develop their physical, social and emotional well-being.

As Sherwood Foundation School continues to expand, we are recruiting for a number of roles across our three campuses to support the children and young people we serve.

All staff are expected to work across campuses when required.

About the role: We are a senior leadership team with enormous ambition for our pupils and are looking for a senior leader with a growth mindset and a passion for supporting our children to achieve their full potential.

You will assist the Head of School in overseeing the day-to-day running of the school. You will work effectively as a member of the Senior Leadership Team and wider school teams, demonstrating and articulating the school's vision and values in day-to-day practice.

You will have:

•     A National Professional Qualification for Middle Leaders (NPQML), degree, management qualification or equivalent

•     A proven track record of developing an appropriate personalised curriculum for pupils with special educational needs, leading to positive academic, personal and social outcomes

•     Successful experience of leading a department

•     Experience of regularly delivering consistently good and outstanding teaching

•     The ability to engage, motivate and successfully manage staff to deliver an established vision, values and aspirations

If you feel you have the right skills and experience for this role and would like to apply, please submit your application form as set out below:

Please note that applicants must demonstrate how they meet all sections and subsections of the person specification for this role. This post is based at Sherwood Park Campus.

Staff Benefits

We know that to achieve our vision, it is our people who make the difference. We offer a competitive reward and benefits package:

•     Enrolment in Local Government Pension Scheme

•     Competitive Salary

•     Access to Employee Assistance Programme via Vita Health Care Group

•     Benenden Health - health care cash plan

•     On-site staff parking (at two campuses)

•     Comprehensive training and development opportunities

•     Opportunities for career progression across three campuses

•     Flexible working policies

•     On site staff swimming sessions

•     Access to school dinners

•     Commitment to staff health & wellbeing

Safeguarding Recruitment Statement

Sherwood Foundation School is committed to equal opportunities, safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people, and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are made subject to receipt of a completed application, satisfactory references and an Enhanced DBS check.

Please note applicants must demonstrate how they meet all sections and subsections of the person specification for this role.

Equality and Monitoring Questionnaire - completion required

All applicants must also complete the Equality and Monitoring Questionnaire by the application closing date, in addition to submitting their application.

Complete the Equality and Monitoring Questionnaire

Closing Date for Applications: Wednesday 7 October 2026

Interviews: Week commencing 19 October 2026