Deputy Head Teacher Standards Leadership

Thank you for your interest in the vacancy for Deputy Head Teacher for Standards at Manchester Hospital School. This is a key post, vital to ensuring our teaching and learning constantly improves and develops. The successful applicant will be joining a relatively new team of senior leaders and governors. We are committed to the principles of ethical leadership in education and, as such, proud to be a pathfinder school.
 
With a population of almost two million, Manchester is the third largest city in the country, after London and Birmingham. Our specialist children’s hospital, Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, (RMCH) is the largest single site children’s hospital in the country.

Our school provides education for children at RMCH, at a number of other provisions across the city and for children and young people too ill to attend their own school. We run the Leo Kelly Centre as part of our hospital school for children and young people with specific health needs which cannot be met in any other settings.

We have fifty staff, mostly teachers, and on our last census day in January 2020 we had 148 pupils on our roll ranging from ages 3-18.

We are a key member of the National Association for Hospital Education, NAHE, and I am one of its Directors. We work closely with our local partnerships in the Manchester Collaborative and I am a Director and board member of the Manchester Schools Alliance. Regionally, we work with Greater Manchester special schools including hospital schools in the North.

As a Hospital School, we are classed as a community special school because all of our young people have ill health; physical or mental or both. The ability profile of learners is wide, with the vast majority broadly in line with learners in mainstream settings. However, we do also have some PMLD learners and those with special needs, which means their “home” school is within the specialist sector.

The school is seeking to appoint an outstanding leader with experience in all aspects of teaching and learning preferably within a secondary mainstream setting. We are seeking to recruit someone who wants to work hard for the children and families we serve, someone with a passion for teaching and learning and someone who shares our vision.

Our school’s core purpose is to enable children and young people to access education even when they are too unwell to be in their usual school. We are a rights respecting school, a Stonewall champion and an organisation which celebrates diversity.

As a relatively small all age school, we are both excited and challenged by the new Ofsted focus on the curriculum. We are seeking someone who is a great curriculum thinker, someone who can improve teaching and learning across the school, and someone with a clear vision for training, professional development and working collaboratively with partners.

We can offer you: 

• A culture where all students feel valued, listened to and cared for.
• A talented, sensitive and flexible group of staff.
• A committed Governing body with interested and involved parents.
• Opportunities to work locally, regionally and nationally.
• Opportunities to work with many different agencies.
• A skilled and ambitious leadership team.

The Application Process

Applications should be made to the Headteacher by formal letter of application (maximum three sides of A4) accompanied by a fully completed application form with details of qualifications etc. In your letter, as well as addressing the person specification, it would be helpful if you could outline: 

• Two examples of your work which provide evidence of your skills and how you would work effectively in this post, specifying your qualifications and experience.
• The values and philosophy which underpin your commitment to working within the education sector. 

Referees: Please ensure you provide two - One must be your current employer. Please provide email contact details. 

Closing date for application:  9am Monday 30th March

Notes:

• Shortlisting will take place on 30th March. Candidates will be informed and references requested.
• Interviews will be a two-day process on the 22nd and 23rd April.
• Please ask your referees to respond as soon as you know that you have been shortlisted.
• It will not be possible to debrief applicants not invited for interview.
• Verbal feedback will be offered to all candidates who are interviewed.
• It is strongly recommended that you visit our school before submitting an application form. Arrangements for this can be made by contacting Sandy Mcallister, HR Manager, s.mcallister@hospitalschool.manchester.sch.uk or telephone 0161 225 2199.
• Manchester Hospital School is an Equal Opportunities Employer and we positively welcome applications from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 
   

We are fully committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, younger learners and vulnerable adults and we expect all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment. The above post will be subject to enhanced DBS checks, satisfactory references and will be exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.