Deputy Headteacher

Ferndown Upper School has a three year trend of positive P8, positive A Level VA and positive Applied General VA. In fact Ferndown’s results were the best in Dorset for the last two years when these three key accountability measures are averaged together.

However, we are not a school that is overly concerned with league tables, and Ferndown Upper School is a very special place to work because we have well behaved students, who allow their teachers to teach. We focus on work life balance to ensure that staff spend their time on the activities that actually make a difference. And we have a friendly and supportive staff body.  

Ferndown itself has also an ideal location; it is ten minutes from the historic market town of Wimborne, thirty minutes from the sandy beaches of Bournemouth and Poole and twenty-five minutes from the New Forest.

We are now looking for an outstanding colleague who will come to Ferndown with a fresh pair eyes and challenge the status quo. You will be an outward facing leader with a desire to improve and implement change and who will cast a critical eye over our current policies and practices with a view to moving Ferndown even further forward.

The ideal applicant will have the desire to learn from a Headteacher who has experience of leading both outstanding and inadequate schools and by learning from this example it is anticipated that the successful applicant will use this post as ideal preparation for their own Headship within the next four years. 

The current post holder has a remit for Learning and is responsible for T&L, pastoral provision and behaviour, (as can be seen from the roles and responsibilities). However all SLT roles are reviewed annually and therefore the successful applicant will have the required skills and expertise rather than direct experience in these specific areas. 

What Ferndown Can Offer You:

As a local authority maintained school you will have the freedom and autonomy to implement the solutions and policies that you feel are appropriate. It also allows our decisions to be based upon local considerations.

• Engaged students who behave impeccably and who allow you to teach.

• The opportunity to work with outstanding and friendly colleagues.

• Highly visible and supportive senior leaders who have your back.

• And who support tight, robust behaviour systems.

• Centralised detentions, including homework, that you do not need to organise or chase, helping to underpin our students’ behaviour and leaving you free to teach.

• We do not have onerous or impossible marking policies but instead operate a feedback policy focused on whole class reflection and improvement. So you do not need to mark exercise books and may instead focus on finding the students ‘gaps’ and then delivering feedback lessons to cater for these gaps.

• No formal graded lesson observations, just ongoing, ‘no-stakes’ feedback, helping you to continuously develop. We believe that trusting our staff with autonomy helps to develop a strong staff culture.

• Centralised, shared units of work and resources.

• Excellent ongoing CPD, career development and promotion opportunities.

• Really well-kept site in a very pleasant location in beautiful Dorset.

Incentives:

• Childcare vouchers

• Cycle to work scheme

• Car leasing scheme through Tusker

Well-being:

• Time off in lieu for Easter or May half term revision sessions.

• Limited data entry requirements since the school utilises an electronic mark book via Go4Schools.

• A feedback policy that focuses on verbal feedback and feedback lessons rather than time consuming book marking.

• Two collapsed INSET days served as twilight sessions which results in two additional days of holiday per academic year.

CPD:

• An internal CPD programme that is a balance between training and in faculty development time.

• Support to complete further academic study.

• Access to high quality in-house and external leadership development programmes.

CLOSING DATE: Wednesday 27th March 

INTERVIEW DATE: Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th April 2019