Headteacher/ Executive Headteacher

This post is available from September 2019. This pivotal role offers an exciting opportunity to join an enthusiastic team of colleagues who are committed to making a real difference to the lives of all our students.

Bullers Wood MAT was formed in February 2018 following a successful application under the Free Schools programme to open a secondary boys’ school to join the existing and very successful girls’ school and offers

opportunities for enhanced professional and career development for colleagues working within the Trust.

The Girls’ school was last fully inspected by Ofsted in May 2011 and we were awarded Outstanding. The report is available on our website. We are very proud of our achievements and in recent years we have been congratulated by the Minister of State for Schools on our achievements at GCSE level, placing us in the top 100 non-selective state-funded schools in England. In addition, we were in the top 100 for pupils achieving the English Baccalaureate. We have also regularly been in the top 10% nationally (out of over 2,500 schools and colleges) for our A level performance assessed by ALPS.

The successful candidate will join Bullers Wood at an exciting time as September 2018 saw the opening of a new secondary free school, Bullers Wood School for Boys.

We are looking for a skilled, professional and enthusiastic individual to help us to ensure that in every way the schools at Bullers Wood are outstanding schools, and that every one of our students achieves and exceeds both their targets and expectations.

Bullers Wood School for Girls has for many years achieved outstanding results for its students, comparing very favourably with the best schools nationally and in many cases, similar schools in the selective sector. The school holds a significant position in the Borough and is held in high esteem in the wider community.

It was due to this impressive reputation that the Governors decided to make an application through the Free School programme to create Bullers Wood School for Boys to offer the same opportunity to the boys in our community. It has taken over 4 years to get to this point but finally, through the appeal/public enquiry route we will realise our vision to build the new boys school on the unused part of the playing fields (known as St. Hughes fields).

Our first cohort of 180 boys started in September 2018 in temporary accommodation and we currently expect these students and our next year group to move into alternative, temporary provision at St Hughes in September 2019 whilst the new school is constructed. This is due to open in September 2020.

During consultations with stakeholders that took place during the creation of the Bullers Wood MAT, it was concluded that whilst further expansion of the MAT would be desirable in the future, this would not be actively considered until the boys school had been in operation for 3 years. This remains our position although realistically, should opportunities present themselves, the board would consider them in light of their fit to the MAT.

Organisation structure

This post is critical to the on-going success of the Bullers Wood Multi Academy Trust. We anticipate that in the first few years of appointment the primary focus will be as Headteacher for Bullers Wood School for Girls demanding approximately 80% of the allocated time with the remaining 20% of time focussed on the Executive Headteacher requirements.

Bullers Wood School for Boys Headteacher is led and performance managed by the Executive Headteacher and is also held to account by the Bullers Wood School for Boys local governing body.

Bullers Wood School for Girls has a highly capable leadership team including two deputy Headteachers who are continually improving the outcomes for our students. The ethos that currently exists of approachability, openness and visibility is highly valued by staff, students, parents and governors alike and it is important that this approach prevails as we move forward.

We have recently appointed a Chief Operating Officer who has direct responsibility for all non-teaching elements of the MAT (Finance, HR, IT, Site, Purchasing and Marketing). Her brief is to build and develop a central services team to support both schools now and any that may join the MAT. She is directly responsible to the Executive Headteacher and will attend Trust Board meetings in an advisory capacity.

The successful candidate will be a Trustee on the board and will play a significant role in the decision-making process on all issues relating to the Bullers Wood Multi Academy Trust.