Assistant Principal

Assistant Principal – Netherwood Academy

Do you want to be part of a team where you will help make a lasting impact on our students, many of whom are disadvantaged, and rapidly accelerate their progress?

Do you want to work in a school where you are free to teach, with impeccable student behaviour and unhindered by bureaucracy?

Netherwood Academy is an 11-16 academy which opened in September 2012, set in an extensive £35 million campus. As part of Astrea Academy Trust, Netherwood Academy is in an exciting period of development.

As Assistant Principal, you will excel in the classroom - but, just as importantly, you will be instrumental in supporting colleagues across the school to enhance their effectiveness in the classroom and beyond, through mentoring, coaching, professional development and challenge

The ideal candidate will be an experienced and outstanding classroom practitioner with a track record of strong outcomes. We need someone with middle leadership or senior leadership who can walk the walk and be a beacon of excellent practice in a classroom environment, whilst possessing the muscularity of intellect and professional credibility to drive up standards across the academy.

We are committed to a knowledge-rich curriculum and a traditional approach to teaching, behaviour and culture. We believe that schools must teach powerful knowledge, ’the best that has been thought and said’ and an ‘entitlement curriculum’ for all. We believe in explicit instruction and are greatly influenced by Lemov’s ‘Teach Like A Champion’, Rosenshine and recent developments in cognitive science. We believe that the creation of a scholarly culture that is warm and strict, disciplined and joyful, where there is ‘purpose not power’, ensuring impeccable behaviour, where teachers can focus on teaching and pupils can focus on learning, underpins everything.

We are values-driven and our vision is to provide an inclusive, aspirational and academic education for all our students, so that all of them will learn, thrive and lead successful lives. We are unapologetically ambitious for every child, no matter what their background, prior attainment or needs. We want to ensure that all our students have the option to be able to go to university or aspirational alternative. We are not going to reduce expectations because of a child’s background or home life, or because they are new to English or have a special education need. In fact, the opposite is true. It is our job to redouble our efforts to help children overcome these barriers so that they can flourish.

We value our staff highly and treat workload very seriously. Our systems are high leverage, ensuring you can really focus on your core purpose – teaching, in a sustainable way, unhindered by bureaucracy or poor behaviour.

What we offer:

·         Huge support and progression opportunities

·         A knowledge-rich curriculum, built on ‘powerful knowledge’ and a traditional T&L approach built around Rosenshine and TLAC

·         Collaborative planning with centralised, shared units of work and resources

·         Excellent support from the Astrea Trust Central team

·         A feedback policy focused on whole class feedback – no onerous marking policies

·         Disruption-free learning and a ‘warm/strict’ behaviour system

·         Highly visible/supportive senior colleagues who have your back – and who allow you to lead

·         Centralised detentions, including homework detentions (you do not need to organise/run/chase them at all)

·         No formal graded lesson observations – just ongoing ‘no-stakes’ instructional coaching, helping you to continuously develop

·         Excellent ongoing CPD, career development and promotion opportunities across the Astrea South Yorkshire region

·         Opportunity to complete NPQs

·         An unrivalled professional progression model

What we are looking for:

The successful candidate will be:

·         A highly effective middle leader or senior leader, who is able to motivate and encourage colleagues to share our vision

·         Aligned to our values and mission. If you are the type of person who fits with our culture, you will love working here

·         Someone who passionately believes that all children can achieve, no matter what their starting point, background or needs.

Interested in applying?

If this is something you are interested in, looking for a new challenge, have a passion for education or maybe all of the above, take a look at the Applicant Brief to find out more about the role and how to apply.

We actively welcome visits and would be delighted to show you around our academy to appreciate fully our excellent learning environment (details in the applicant brief).

The closing date for all applications is midnight on 18th May 2025.

Commitment to Safeguarding and EDI: Astrea Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. All posts are subject to satisfactory background checks, including references and enhanced DBS checks. We value diversity and encourage applications from candidates who are underrepresented in our workforce, including people from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and LGBTQI+ communities. As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to promoting a culture that ensures there are no barriers to the recruitment, development, and progression of disabled staff across the trust. We provide reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process to ensure disabled job applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.

Ready to Make a Difference? If you're ready to take the next step in your career and contribute to our dynamic and forward-thinking team, apply today and be a part of our mission to create a positive impact!