Executive Headteacher

Location: East Sussex - Please do not apply via this site and see full details below for our recruitment partner.

The board are seeking to appoint an inspirational, visionary Executive Headteacher at Ambitious about Autism. In September 2023 Ambitious about Autism will merge with St John's, a Brighton based charity serving a similar cohort. This is a very exciting point in the history of St John's, where the newly appointed highly successful Executive Head will join the Ambitious about Autism education leadership team to oversee the school and college in Brighton.

The successful candidate will bring with them established strategic leadership experience, credibility and expertise in SEND education. Above all, we are looking for someone who will share an absolute commitment to our mission and values. We are searching for an honest, approachable, adaptable, resilient, patient, motivated, knowledgeable and excellent communicator who can demonstrate that they work with integrity and respect for all.

Ambitious about Autism has achieved and developed so much since it was founded in 1997. Our education services continue to grow and develop to support the increasing and changing needs of autistic children and young people. Our outstanding TreeHouse School continues to be innovative in meeting the needs of autistic children and young people with learning disabilities. The Rise School opened in 2014 as the first special free school in our multi-academy trust. It is co-located with Springwest Academy. Ambitious College opened in the same year and was London's first autism specific registered day college serving autistic young people with learning disabilities, aged 16 to 25 years. It now has two permanent campuses co-located and developed in partnership with mainstream further education colleges and a Supported Internship programme with the Whittington Trust. Both new services achieved a ‘Good' Ofsted rating in 2017. Through these services we educate and support over 300 autistic children and young people and thousands more through our national policy and practice influencing work. In September 2023 we will be opening Spring School in Kingston, as part of our Trust.

This challenge is both exciting and significant and we hope very much that you will consider

this opportunity to contribute to our future and the lives of autistic children and young people.

We would be delighted to hear from you. Please contact Caroline Olsen at Academicis on 01223 907979 or 07500 889504 or via email at colsen@academicis.co.uk to have a confidential conversation and to find out more about this excellent opportunity.

Ambitious about Autism is fully committed to equality of opportunity and diversity and we warmly welcome applications from all suitably-qualified candidates. We welcome applications regardless of race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, disability, or age. All applications will be considered solely on merit.

Ambitious about Autism is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and successful candidates will be subject to an Enhanced DBS check. As part of our Safer Recruitment checks, an online search maybe carried out in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.

The Safeguarding responsibilities of the post as per the job description and personal specification.

Whether the post is exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendment to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2021. This means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected', so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS Filter Guidance.