Headteacher
The Forest School
West Sussex
- Expired
- Salary:
- Group 6 - L29 (£78,359) – L35 (£90,773)
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- 1st September 2018
- Apply by:
- 22 February 2018
Job overview
Job Reference: 16340
Due the retirement of our highly regarded Headteacher after 11 years at the school, the Governors are seeking to appoint a passionate, innovative, and visionary replacement to provide dynamic leadership to our school and to continue to develop and improve our school.
At the Forest School our aim is to provide an outstanding education, with high-quality teaching and a nurturing school ethos that empowers each boy to achieve his personal best. We provide a personalised curriculum, delivered by staff who understand how boys learn and who provide a safe, happy and challenging environment. The Forest School proudly sends its pupils out into the world confident, articulate and caring young adults.
We are a high-achieving and popular 11-16 comprehensive school with a current roll of almost 1100 boys. We provide a wide range of opportunities to enable boys to achieve their unique potential coupled with an exceptional pastoral system.
The successful candidate will be committed to continuous improvement of teaching and learning, and ensure that achievement is recognised, encouraged, supported, and celebrated.
We are looking for a leader who is:
- confident and positive with strong leadership credentials and the ability to build relationships with a wide variety of partners
- able to build successful teams and work collaboratively with others to achieve success
- highly self-motivated and able to motivate others
- confident in leading and managing change
- a good listener and an effective communicator
- able to demonstrate a good understanding of current legislation and national developments in education, and know how to use resources effectively to maximise student performance whilst ensuring the financial stability of the school.
In return, our school can offer you:
- highly motivated, extremely polite, respectful and courteous pupils with a strong desire to learn
- a committed, hard-working, highly skilled and friendly staff
- a harmonious school community with strong relationships between pupils and staff
- excellent extracurricular activities to develop the whole child
- a commitment from us to support you in your personal continued professional development
Forest boys are welcomed and play an active role in the local community.
For further information, please visit www.theforestschool.com.
We would like to hear from you if you can build upon the significant successes of our school and if you are committed to our principles of inclusivity and collaboration.
This role would suit an existing Headteacher or aspiring Headteacher.
The Forest School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to observe this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure.
Potential applicants are encouraged to contact the school office on 01403 261086 or office@theforestschool.net to arrange a visit during February and March.
Please submit your application using the application form with a supporting letter of no more than two sides of A4 when typed. This should tell us how you satisfy the person specification.
Please return your completed application form and supporting letter by noon on 22nd February 2018 to:
email: HRSchoolAdverts@westsussex.gov.uk
Or post to:
HR Recruitment
Job Reference No: 16340
West Sussex Capita Partnership
Ground Floor
The Grange
Chichester
PO19 1RG
We ask that you please submit your application through email rather than through the post, but if you submit a postal application please ensure the correct postage is used to avoid delays in us receiving the application.
If viewing this advert online the application pack is attached. For an electronic version or hardcopy of the application pack, please telephone 01243 642140 or email HRSchoolAdverts@westsussex.gov.uk (quoting the job reference number), please supply your full postal address. Details of how to apply are in the application pack.
Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to observe this commitment. This post is subject to an enhanced DBS disclosure.
For shortlisted candidates whose travelling time exceeds an hour, The Forest School will assist with overnight accommodation and subsistence expenses up to the value £150 for the night of the 19th March 2018.
Closing date: Noon on 22nd February 2018
Shortlisting date: 1st March 2018
Interview dates: 19th and 20th March 2018
Attached documents
- Chair of Governors' Letter to Candidates146884
- Job Description44063
- Person Specification42291
- Application Form473088
- Child Protection Statement41472
- Locality Area Information33694
- Prospectus1493546
- Safer Recruiting Additional Information Sheet443904
- The Forest School - How to find us Map232077
- The Forest School About Us191059
- Letter from the headteacher158.76KB
- Child protection policy25.5KB
About The Forest School
Our students and staff are at the heart of everything we do. Committed to the highest standards of teaching and learning, we continue to use a combination of challenge, support and praise to ensure that all students fulfil their potential and achieve their best. We are equally committed to the highest standards of professional learning for our staff and have an embedded culture of learning across the school, where all staff model lifelong learning for our students. The school organises its own training programme utilising both external and internal expertise and which is tailored to match the professional needs of staff. In this way we can be sure to secure maximum impact on students’ progress. Subject Team Leaders are empowered to lead excellent professional development activities for colleagues in their teams and have their own external professional performance coach to support the development of their own leadership skills. Our results this year are a true testament to the hard work that both our students and staff have put in over the past three years.
We are an inclusive school, committed to providing the best education possible to students of all abilities, in order for each individual to achieve their personal best. Our SEND provision is highly thought of in the local authority. We work hard to identify barriers to learning, and then endeavour to work with parents, colleagues and educational professionals to address these barriers, so that no child leaves us without achieving their best.
We have very high numbers of students on our More Able and Talented register, and cater for them through our broad curriculum offer, our Effective Learning Groups policy and our wide range of extension activities. We are proud of our excellent facilities, designed to enhance the delivery of our curriculum and to enhance our own teacher training and our own Continuing Professional Learning programme. We have invested heavily in our school building with around 90% of our school being refurbished over the past three years.
Ofsted visited the school in January 2022 and produced an extremely complimentary report. Highlights include ‘Pupils are respectful, polite and courteous towards each other. They are hospitable towards visitors and proud of their school’; ‘Leaders have designed a curriculum to inspire and enthuse pupils. The intent of the curriculum is clear, and the content is ambitious and well considered’; ‘The number of pupils proceeding to post-16 education is very high. Pupils spoken to had high aspirations for their future as ‘confident, articulate and caring adults’.
We also work closely with our other local schools, Millias School, Tanbridge House School and The Weald School, Billingshurst, and our local 16+ providers, Collyer’s Sixth Form College, Brinsbury College and Crawley College. We have a range of vocational provision for our students. Liaison with local primary schools is strong, with staff and students sharing in various activities. Our students also visit primary schools to assist in activities such as sport and assemblies or to provide musical support. We also share in curriculum development work, information exchange and INSET through joint projects funded by Forest. These projects enable secondary and primary colleagues to share and exchange professional expertise and ideas.
We believe our school is very special happy and safe environment in which our students can learn, grow and develop into confident and successful young people. Through our strong pastoral care system we place emphasis on the wellbeing of all our students and the school has been recognised for this provision with the Carnegie School mental Health Award.
Forest School values each individual as unique and special. We believe we offer something for every student, whatever their ability, whatever their interests. We want each of our students to leave the school well qualified and well prepared for the next stage of their education. We emphasise personal responsibility, integrity and courtesy in all that we do because it is also important to us that they leave as kind, thoughtful, caring and well-rounded young people, who are pleasant and polite and who other people want to know. Most importantly, we want our students to look back at their time at Forest with pleasure and pride.
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