Deputy Head (SENDCo)

Position: Deputy Head (SENDCo) (L16 - 20)

Start date: September 2025

For the full candidate letter and information surrounding this vacancy, please visit the 'Application Pack’, this pack also details the application process. 

Our '2030 Vision Document' which is referenced

throughout the below and the application pack, can be found on our Cleeve

School website.  For any questions on this or to arrange an informal

visit, please contact our HR Manager, Michaela Pink, in the first instance. 

Dear Prospective Candidate

Thank you for the interest you have shown in the transformative position of Deputy Head at Cleeve School. I hope this information pack allows you to form a clear view of our thriving school and encourages you to submit an application, for what is an extremely exciting opportunity. I am enclosing with this letter an application form, an indicative Job Profile as well as a draft copy of our ‘2030 Vision’ document. I also very much welcome pre-application tours.

Cleeve School was recently visited by Ofsted and I am delighted to say that we received two ‘Outstanding’ judgements. The one area of focus was identified as the implementation of impactful classroom strategies for all students with SEND. The report acknowledges that many students with SEND progress extremely well; however, some are inhibited by inconsistencies in delivery. Whilst this Deputy Head (SENDCo) role will be influential in enabling all to meet their full potential, it is very much a school-wide team that will enable us to become a national ‘leading light’ for inclusion and SEND provision. This starts with me as the Executive Head - and permeates through everyone’s roles and responsibilities. Margaret Mulholland (ASCL) writes about all leaders wearing ‘equity lenses’ – and we do. As our Ofsted report makes clear, we also have the highest expectations for all students and inclusion is woven throughout this. At all costs, we avoid the soft bigotry of low expectations!

We enjoy working closely with a nationally-recognised external SEND expert and have built an extensive on-site team of specialists across our SEND Team, which also includes two non-teaching Deputy SENDCos. We are extremely proud of our partnership work with external agencies, including the Advisory Teaching Service.

Underpinned by our core values of Aspiring, Collaborating and Transforming, our vision is built around our mission of Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunities and Inspiring Futures. We are extremely proud to be a non-selective school, sitting at the heart of our large and growing community, providing the highest quality of education to our students and families. We are driven to ensuring that our most-vulnerable-to-barriers students benefit from our mission – and our mission pursuit will not be successful if we leave any child behind! Not on our watch!

As you can imagine and as a non-selective school, we fully believe that inclusion sits at the heart of our vision and the pursuit of our mission. We believe that every child has an entitlement to a fabulous education and that this is essential for success and excellence to be achieved, in school and beyond. We also believe that principles built on inclusion ‘democratises’ access and opportunity and, ultimately, helps to foster a culture of hope and joy within education. What could be better?

As you can see, our ‘2030 Vision’ captures seven enabling strategies in terms of how the ambitions from the ‘Vision’ are being met. Our work with inclusion and students with SEND underpins these enablers, so that all leaders are leaders of SEND.

As part of our broader vision is an absolute focus on our ‘Curriculum for Excellence’ strand, placing quality-first teaching as a ‘universal’ priority, aiming for all classrooms to consistently provide an outstanding and adaptive learning experience for all, on a day-by-day basis. By achieving this, we know that we will collectively be an exceptional school and our students, including our most susceptible to ‘barriers’, will flourish with their learning. Equally, we know that this core and achievable vision will enable us to strive towards our ambitious goals, from student outcomes to closing achievement gaps to opening doors of opportunity for all young people – with literacy as an essential partner within this aim. A reading richness is integral to our pursuit of excellence across the curriculum, so that our learners speak, write and read like scientists, mathematicians… and so forth. The same expectations exist for this equity of access to students with SEND. 

The vacancy offers the ambitious, energetic and highly capable leader the opportunity to play a significant part in the future strategic development of Cleeve School into a truly excellent place to learn and work. The trustees, staff, students and parents are committed to continuing to serve our community by developing the all-round performance of the school, together with our inclusive, ‘can-do’ ethos. If you feel you could contribute to this exciting and ‘no ceilings’ vision, I would be delighted to receive your application. 

The Application Process

If you would like to apply, please return the following by 9am on Monday 10th March 2025.

A fully completed Application form .

A letter of application which should be no longer than two sides of A4 (word processed and using size 11 font) and should address the following areas:

- What you would bring to the Deputy Head role, with a particular focus on excellence within SEND provision

- How your personal qualities and experience to-date make you the right person for this influential role, including your own subject teaching area/s

- Specific skills that you can bring to our school’s ambitious vision – for example, in terms of the broader attributes required of the Senior Leadership Team.

Any other relevant supporting information.

Please email your completed application to our HR Manager, Michaela Pink.

Interviews will take place on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th March.

Finally, may I thank you for your interest in the post. I very much hope you are encouraged to apply – it is a very exciting opportunity, where you can make a BIG difference! If you do, please know that I appreciate the time and effort needed to complete such applications. If you would also like a pre-application tour, please let me know, and I would be delighted to show you our fabulous school, staff and students.

The school is an equal opportunities employer and committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people, and therefore expects all staff and volunteers, to share this same commitment. We particularly welcome applications from under represented groups including ethnicity, gender, transgender, age, disability, sexual orientation or religion. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.

Yours sincerely

Alwyn Richards

Executive Head