Head of Sixth Form

The Swan School, Oxford

Head of Sixth Form

This is a rare and exciting opportunity to be part of starting an exceptional comprehensive school. As a member of The Swan’s team, you will help to build the foundations of an outstanding school from the ground up.  In this role you will help to establish a fantastic new sixth form from scratch.  Working closely with the senior leadership team, you will put in place a clear vision for the sixth form which will open in September 2021.  You will lead on both curriculum and pastoral aspects of the provision ensuring that our students achieve the best possible outcomes and thrive in their lives after school.

The Swan School, part of the River Learning Trust, is Oxford’s first new secondary school for over 50 years, and opened in September 2019.  When full, we will have approximately 1,200 students on roll.  Initially, our sixth form will be small - we expect to have approximately 40 students in our first year 12 cohort - but will grow to full size once our current year 8 students get to sixth form age in September 2024.  Our students will be drawn from a local catchment area and the school will be at the heart of the community.

Learning from the most successful approaches at the best schools, The Swan School provides a uniquely challenging and structured experience in a caring and disciplined environment. The ethos is academic; we regard an excellent academic education as the entitlement of all young people, no matter what their background or previous experiences of learning. Students are inspired and nurtured, acquiring the knowledge and skills to think critically and creatively. They will learn to be confident, resilient and ambitious, and will have high expectations in terms of their own achievements and their contribution to wider society.  

The successful candidate will share our ambitions for our students. You will relish the challenge of creating a new school that will be different to other comprehensive schools in the city. You will be a highly motivated team player with leadership potential, a creative thinker who is unafraid to try new approaches, and a reflective practitioner, keen to continue learning in order to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to someone about this post, please contact us via headteacher@theswanschool.org.uk or on 01865 416070.  We do encourage anyone interested in this role to get in touch to find out more about the existing plans for sixth form that we have in place.

Please visit theswanschool.org.uk/now-recruiting to find out more about working at The Swan.

Applications for this post should be made through the TES recruitment portal.  Please contact us if you have any queries regarding the application process.

The closing date for applications is Monday 7th December at 9.00am

We anticipate that virtual first round interviews will take place on the 10th December, with successful candidates being invited into school for the final stage of the process on Friday 11th December.

The Swan School and the River Learning Trust are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism; all staff are expected to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to an enhanced DBS check. The Swan School is an equal opportunities employer and we welcome applications from a range of ethnic backgrounds to represent diversity in line with our school community.

The Swan School is a free school managed by The River Learning Trust, which is an exempt charity and a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales with a registered company number 7966500.  Registered Office: c/o Gosford Hill School, Oxford Road, Kidlington, Oxfordshire, OX5 2NT