Skip to main content
Tes home
SearchBack to search
Headteacher

Headteacher

Colnbrook School

Hertfordshire

  • Expired
Salary:
L25 - L31
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
1st September 2018
Apply by:
15 April 2018

Job overview

Colnbrook is a very successful school.  It has a professional and dedicated team of staff who work together to develop the pupils and to ensure that they achieve to the best of their ability. In March 2017, Ofsted judged Colnbrook as ‘outstanding’. The post has arisen because our current Headteacher has decided the time is right to change the direction of her career.

The Governing Body want to appoint a new Headteacher with the skills and vision to build on Colnbrook’s current successes and achievements: someone who will share and take forward the school’s vision and ethos, and our aspirations for our pupils.  We are looking for a dynamic, enthusiastic and creative person to lead us into the future.

You will have a special needs background, be a great role model and have the ability to lead change.

You must be confident and positive, with strong leadership credentials and the ability to build relationships with a wide variety of external partners.  You will have strong communication skills. Above all, you will share our passion and belief that children, their learning and the development of their potential must be at the heart of all school decisions. You will get professional enjoyment and satisfaction from leading a highly motivated team and a vibrant school community.

The post is open to individuals with senior leadership experience from special schools and proven leadership skills, who can demonstrate a clear vision and the ability to manage a diverse team and a pupil population with a wide range of complex needs.

We are committed to providing a stimulating, safe, happy and supportive environment in which every member of the school community - students, staff, parents and governors - feel valued and can flourish.  At Colnbrook, we all focus on, and achieve, excellent educational outcomes for all our students.

In return we will offer you:

  • The full support of the Governors in your work
  • A dedicated and committed team
  • Great students and a friendly and happy learning environment
  • You will also have the opportunity to play a key strategic role in driving the school forward and to continue your own professional development
  • A financially stable school

 

We welcome you to visit our school and ask that you please contact Kerry Harris, Headteacher on 0208 428 1281 or by email: head@colnbrook.herts.sch.uk

If you would like to apply for this post, when completing your application form, you should ensure that you address each of the selection criteria as set out in the application pack, providing supporting evidence of how you meet the criteria, through reference to work or other relevant experience.

Please pay particular attention to the following dates:

Closing date: 9am Monday 16th April
Interview:  Friday 27th April
Start date: 1st September 2018
Pay Range: L25 - L31 

Colnbrook School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.  Appointment to this post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service check, including the barred list, as well as other pre-appointment checks outlined in Keeping Children Safe in Education (September 2016).

For more information and to apply online please visit https://www.teachinherts.com/find-a-job/view,headteacher_46316.htm

Attached documents

About Colnbrook School

School image 1
School image 2
School image 3
School image 4
School image 5
School image 6
School image 7
School image 8
School image 9
School image 10
School image 11
School image 12
School image 13
School image 14
School image 15
+44 20 8428 1281

View on Google Maps

Visit employer website

Description of Colnbrook School

Colnbrook School was built soon after the Second World War, to serve the newly developed London County Council estate. In 2012, Colnbrook's designation was expanded by the Department of Education. As a result, the school is now formally recognised to cater for children with: 

  • Learning Difficulties;
  • Autism Spectrum Disorder;
  • Speech and Language Difficulties.

In addition, Colnbrook School offers advice, support and training to approximately 150 mainstream schools as part of Hertfordshire's response to inclusion. This service is called Outreach.

Profile of pupil needs of Colnbrook School

All pupils are subject to Statement of Special Educational Needs and have been placed at the school following a local authority assessment. At present, the school has 99 children between the ages of 4 and 11 years (from reception through to Year 6).

School Provision

  • 11 Classrooms - organised into 3 Curriculum Planning Groups (KS1, Y3/4; Y5/6);
  • Jigsaw – a specialist Speech, Language & Communication facility for selected KS2 pupils;
  • Whiteboard, computers and iPads in every classroom;
  • ICT suite;
  • Performing Arts Studio;
  • Two Food Technology rooms;
  • KS1 Outside classrooms (covered areas);
  • Soft Playroom;
  • Sensory rooms;
  • Sensory corridors;
  • Sensory gym (covered);
  • Sensory garden areas;
  • Garden allotment area (with raised beds);
  • Wildlife areas (for curriculum support);
  • Light & sound facilities in school hall;
  • Adventure playgrounds (Key Stage specific);
  • Creative zone playgrounds;
  • Enclosed sport & games facility (MUGA);
  • Two libraries - Key Stage specific;
  • Kiln;
  • Meeting/Training Room;
  • Two 17 seater minibuses and one 8 seater ‘People Carrier’.

Staffing (as of January 2015)
There are 20 teachers at Colnbrook, including 6 part time staff (5 who work for the Outreach Service). There are 40 Teacher’s Assistants (TAs), many of whom are part time of varying amounts.

Staff Training
The school has a long history of promoting and supporting accredited training and, wherever possible, university fees are paid in full by the school. As a result, we have several members of staff who have gained a degree or post-graduate qualification in autism. We have also funded foundation degrees for Teaching Assistants who have expressed an ambition to become teachers in the future.
The school also offers a wide range of non-accredited training opportunities to all staff in order to develop skills and knowledge.

Inclusion
We have well established links with two local primary schools:

  • KS1 pupils enjoy an afternoon of music and play with Warren Dell pupils;
  • Years 3 and 4 join with St Joseph’s pupils for P.E.;
  • Years 5 and 6 pupils have individual integration experiences at both schools.

Additionally, KS2 pupils regularly join their mainstream peers at Sporting and Dance Festivals, organised by the local Sports Partnership arrangements.

Outreach Support Service
The school is commissioned to provide over 500 sessions of Outreach Support per year, to approximately 150 mainstream schools across the south and west of Hertfordshire.

Speech, Language & Communication (SL&C)

  • Hertfordshire County Council provides SL&C therapy via a Service Level Agreement with the local Health Trust. Colnbrook is currently allocated six sessions that are delivered by Speech & Language Therapists. The Health Authority also funds a full time Language & Communication Assistant (L&CA) to work across the school.
  • The Governing Body prioritises communication as a primary focus for the school and, as a result, employs two additional L&CAs out of the main school budget.
  • To complement the S&LT provision, the school also funds a specialist SL&C base – called Jigsaw – for Key Stage 2 pupils with complex and significant language needs. This is staffed by the SLCN teacher and a L&CA. Jigsaw provides a daily input of approximately one hour for approximately 10 pupils, shared across two groups, from Key Stage 2. Additionally, it provides a weekly programme of social communication and interaction support for up to 12 pupils from Key Stages 1 and 2. 
  • Communication development is also supported by a specialist Performing Arts facility, funded from the school budget.

Physiotherapy/Occupational Therapy
Following a medical assessment, individual pupils receive visits from the Health Occupational Therapist and/or Physiotherapist. Wherever possible, class staff incorporate any advice into the child’s day to day educational programme.

Music Therapy
The school currently receives one session per week of private music therapy (coordinated through the Hertfordshire Music Service). This is purchased through a combination of:

  • School budget - where the therapist works with a small group of pupils from Rainbow class each week.
  • Parental fees – where the therapist are paid by the parent to work on an individual basis;

Educational Psychology (EP)
The majority of the school’s EP sessions are allocated to Year 5 (secondary phase transfer) assessments. However, where appropriate and needed, the EP will carry out assessments of pupils in other year groups (for example, where it is felt that a child may need to transfer to a different type of school). Parents are given the opportunity to meet the EP in order to discuss the outcomes of the assessment and always receive a written report (normally within three weeks of the assessment).

Quality Mark Accreditation
Colnbrook has gained - and maintained – several quality marks and awards since 1995 (see the www.colnbrook.herts.sch.uk website for reports and further details).

Please note that you are wholly responsible for fact checking in respect of the information provided by schools. Please also check for the latest visa and work permit requirements that may apply. Tes is not responsible for the content of advertisements or the policies adopted by advertising schools. Tes asks that all schools follow Tes' Fair Recruitment Policy.

Applications closed