Head of Primary

Job title: Head of Primary

Reports to: Principal, All-Through  

Start date: Easter or September 2020

Location: White City, West London

Salary: Highly competitive package and negotiable according  to experience

Closing date:  Tuesday 7th January 2020

Do you have the vision, passion and rigour to lead Ark Burlington Danes Primary Academy at this pivotal and exciting time in its development?  

Ark Burlington Danes seeks an inspirational Head of Primary with the ambition and drive to develop our primary into a beacon of excellence. You will be a creative and tenacious leader with the vision to realise the existing potential of our primary and to face future challenges. You will hold exceptionally high expectations for all students, share the belief that an excellent education is central to transforming lives and ensure every student is given the opportunity to succeed. You will be deeply committed to staff development and have a strong track record of improving teachers and leaders in your role to date.

The Primary presently runs from Nursery to Year 4 and will continue to grow over the next two years. By 2021, the primary will have students in each year group and by 2022, it will be providing students as part of the Year 7 secondary cohort.  The Head of Primary will play a critical role in ensuring that students arriving in nursery experience an exceptional all-through educational journey taking them from primary to secondary, into sixth form and beyond. They will have strong curriculum knowledge and will be adept at planning and integrating the primary curriculum into that of the secondary. They will have a deep understanding of how to embed systematic approaches to whole school improvement in a primary and integrate those approaches within the all-through academy. They will be a positive and creative leader, with the ability to work effectively with leaders across every stage the all-through academy.

Burlington Danes Academy is part of the Ark network of schools, one of the largest and most successful multi-academy trusts in the country. Ark is renowned for its approach to staff development, with high quality training provided at every level for both teaching and non-teaching staff. Leaders within Ark benefit from being able to draw upon the resources and expertise of the network. They also have the opportunity to work collaboratively with other school leaders and to feed into the development of excellent practice beyond their own school.  Ark has developed a number of successful programmes and tools to support the cultivation of excellence including world class curricula through its English and Maths Mastery programmes. 

This year the Great Teacher Rubric has been launched. This tool is a driver for teacher development and we believe all teachers, from novice to master, will benefit immensely from it. It is a hugely exciting time for anyone considering joining our network.     

We are keen to hear from successful school leaders seeking a new challenge. Ideal candidates will:  

• Be fully aligned to the Ark Pillars
• Have a clear understanding of what makes a great school  
• Possess the technical and behavioural traits to lead a highly effective school  
• Be able to demonstrate impact in key areas of provision in current or previous roles
• Be a great teacher themselves
• As a leader of teaching, we are looking for someone who really knows what great learning looks like in the classroom and how to achieve it 
• Be network-minded and able to contribute meaningfully to our strategic development at both regional and network level     

This is a rare opportunity to lead across the primary phase as part of an ambitious and aspirational senior leadership team, driving our academy in an exciting next phase of its development. The all-through nature of the academy presents a significant scope to develop the pupils academically and personally. The successful candidate will have the full support of Ark to ensure Burlington Danes Primary Academy makes a lasting contribution to its community, supporting local children to fulfil their ambitions.  

 If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please contact the Executive Principal, Peter Haylock, at peter.haylock@arkonline.org    

Key dates

Shortlisting: 09 January 2020

First stage interview: 14 January 2020

Final stage interview: 20 January 2020  

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in our academies. In order to meet this responsibility, we follow a rigorous selection process and all successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check.