Head of Junior School

The School

St George’s British International School, founded in 1958, is the original and largest British curriculum school in Rome, and today educates over 900 children from over 90 countries across two sites and three sections of the school – with the City Centre and La Storta Junior Schools feeding into the Senior School, based at La Storta in the north of Rome. For the past two successive years, the school has been ranked as one of the top 10 international schools in Europe and among the top 100 schools in the world in the prestigious Spears Schools Index. 

The La Storta Junior School is home to 225 pupils from Red Dragons (nursery) through to Year 6. St George’s is ranked in the top 10 international schools in Europe (Spears Schools Index 2020), with graduates progressing on to further study at many of the world’s leading universities.

The Post

The Principal wishes to recruit an experienced, independent, well-qualified and inspirational Head to lead the continued success and further development of the La Storta Junior School, to succeed the current post-holder upon their retirement at the end of the current academic year.  

The Head of La Storta Junior School will lead and manage the day-to-day matters of our outstanding 3-11 Junior School. The successful candidate will be an adaptable and innovative leader, a good motivator, communicator and administrator, and should be capable of managing key aspects of a high-profile and academically successful British international school. The post holder will hold considerable autonomy whilst enjoying the support and collegiality of the cross-site Strategy Team along with the Principal, the Head of the City Centre Junior School and the Head of the Senior School.

The post would suit an exceptional Head of Junior School within the international sector who is looking to expand their experience of whole site leadership, or a Head of a Prep School within the UK independent sector who understands the demands and expectations of high-profile fee-paying parents and is looking for their first overseas post. Current Heads of outstanding state Primary Schools within the UK and high achieving aspirational Deputy Heads who have enjoyed a wide brief and considerable leadership autonomy are also strongly encouraged to apply.

Personal Skills  

• Possess excellent communication skills and be professional and confident in communicating with all school stakeholders and external agents 
• Be a creative problem-solver who can manage ambiguity and uncertainty 
• Consistently demonstrate the values and behaviours expected of a Head Teacher 
• Possess excellent understanding of teaching and learning practices and curriculum development and prevailing trends in global and British education 
• Be able to recognise development needs and able to coach to improve performance, create opportunities and provide support for career advancement aiming to bring the best out in others especially amongst Middle and Senior Leaders 
• Be understanding of the needs and issues facing all stakeholders within the school community 
• Be an exceptional organiser and administrator 
• Be IT competent 
• Possess powers of diplomacy and persuasion 
• Have the ability to develop and foster teamwork 
• Be competent in monitoring and evaluating teams and individuals 
• Have the ability to think strategically and to contribute to the school’s strategic development 
• Be persistent and see tasks through from beginning to end

Leadership, Management and Strategic Planning 

• Setting, in conjunction with the Principal, the vision, aims and priorities for the La Storta Junior School 
• Driving the realisation of the La Storta Junior School vision, aims and priorities 
• Deputising for the Principal in his absence 
• Reporting to the Principal on all matters pertaining to the La Storta Junior School 
• Leading and managing the day-to-day operations of the La Storta Junior School 
• Leading and managing the La Storta Junior School’s Leadership Team 
• Contributing to the development and execution of the St George’s Strategy 
• Leading the teaching staff in the delivery of outstanding academic achievement 
• Overseeing the implementation and development of the St George’s Junior School curriculum 
• Overseeing the coordination of the CCA programme 
• Overseeing the resourcing of the school and devolving the school’s budgets in consultation with the Principal and the CFO 
• Leading the teaching staff recruitment, induction, appraisal and professional review within the La Storta Junior School 
• Leading the self-evaluation processes within the La Storta Junior School by ensuring adherence to the school’s self-evaluation timetable and the collection, analysis and storage of the required qualitative and quantitative data 
• Taking responsibility for the effective performance of teachers working within the La Storta Junior School 
• Taking responsibility for the academic progress and welfare of all pupils in the La Storta Junior School 
• Ensuring the effective supervision of pupils within the La Storta Junior School 
• Monitoring pupils’ academic and pastoral progress in the La Storta Junior School 
• Ensuring the effective collection and moderation of assessment data

Communication 

• Maintaining and developing effective relationships with parents through regular and efficient communication and frequent parent workshops 
• Overseeing the collection and dissemination of all information relating to the La Storta Junior School for the purposes of marketing and communications 
• Overseeing all aspects of formal reporting to parents for pupils in the La Storta Junior School 
• Managing parent consultation meetings for pupils in the La Storta Junior School 
• Overseeing the production of the La Storta Junior School sections of the staff and parent handbooks 
• Overseeing the production of the La Storta Junior School curriculum guide

Formal Qualifications/Experience 

• A good UK Honours Degree (or equivalent) 
• A distinguished record of teaching and senior leadership experience 
• A strong record of professional development 
• Relevant recent experience as a Head or Deputy Head teacher 
• A Masters-level or equivalent degree in Education or Educational Leadership would be desirable