Headteacher

Headteacher for The London Acorn School – your chance to lead a small ‘Outstanding’ holistic community school in a beautiful National Trust park.

Lead a dedicated team of teachers and support staff in partnership with our families to further grow and develop our small independent, alternative community school.

We are looking for a headteacher committed to both a warm and collaborative way of working and to our progressive principles.

If you have senior school leadership experience; experience/knowledge of alternative and/or holistically orientated mainstream settings, and the following thoughts chime with yours, this post will be of interest to you.

Our teaching approach is inspired by The Acorn School in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire and we are also inspired by the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, other alternative approaches and the best of mainstream holistic practice.

Core to our values and underlying our goals of holistic education and academic excellence is a real partnership between staff and families, with children’s happiness and well-being at the centre of that partnership. We are a close community, with lovely children and parents who are  actively engaged in supporting the school.

We are currently looking for a new head teacher who:

• Shares and will actively demonstrate our school vision.
• Has senior school leadership experience and will work to pull the different threads of our school together.
• Is keen for a new exciting project, very different from mainstream education.
• Could be from the state or independent sector, with a commitment to holistic educational excellence and the healthy growth of children in intellect, body and spirit.
• Has experience or at least strong interest in alternative approaches.

Some facts about our school 

• Our school was founded in 2013.
• Our school is on a National Trust property amidst 125 acres in Morden, South London. It is accessible by tram, underground, bike, bus and car. It would be in keeping with our ethos if our headteacher did not have a long commute.
• At last inspection our school was rated ‘Outstanding’ (2014) and we are keen to build on this.
• We currently run a kindergarten with entry from age 3 and a half, and Lower/Middle School with entry from age 6. Our oldest student is 12, but our ambition is to grow the school up to age 18.
• We currently have 50+ pupils on role with a maximum of 84 possible in our current building. 
• Our faculty of 15 members combines trained staff with backgrounds in methodology and practice drawn from both mainstream and Steiner educational traditions.
• We are seeking a head teacher to start in September 2017 or before if available.

Next steps

1. In the first instance we invite candidates to contact our school office (info@thelondonacornschool.co.uk), with their CV. Suitable candidates will then be contacted to arrange a telephone call with a member of our Governance Council to discuss the post and their interest in taking their application further.
2. Information on progressing your application further: a downloadable candidate brief for this post can be accessed on this site, together with an application form which you can complete online or download to scan or post and which should be returned to our school office in order to be considered for interview. Interviews for this post are currently scheduled to take place in  May 2017.

The post holder will be accountable to and supported by the School Governance Council.

The London Acorn School is a not-for-profit community interest company.

Further information on The London Acorn School can be found at www.thelondonacornschool.co.uk

Please note that all applicants for this post will be required to undertake appropriate safeguarding controls including Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) screening and checks with past employers. We expect them to demonstrate that they share our commitment to the wellbeing and safeguarding of children.

In addition candidates invited to interview will be required to complete a medical questionnaire and provide proofs of qualifications.

The London Acorn School is an equal opportunities employer.