Managing Director
Central South Consortium
Rhondda Cynon Taff
- Expired
- Salary:
- £103,000 (Secondments will also be considered)
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Apply by:
- 27 February 2017
Job overview
CENTRAL SOUTH CONSORTIUM JOINT EDUCATION SERVICE
‘Overall performance in this region has improved at a faster rate than in the other regions over the last three years...
‘The consortium has a clear vision and strategy to improve schools ...
‘The consortium has developed into a reflective organisation that is committed to evaluating and improving its own performance and practice’
Estyn report into Central South Consortium February 2016.
What are we looking for?
We are seeking a strategic leader to take school improvement across South Wales on the next stage of its journey. Whilst this is a permanent role we would also welcome the option of a secondment for up to two years. Please note that any successful secondment arrangement would be at the candidate’s current salary if higher than the salary stated above.
We are looking for an outstanding candidate who can develop further our vision of a school led system; who understands the drive to place control and resources in the hands of schools to lead improvement across all schools and minimise the role of government in building capacity for improvement.
We want a candidate with a strong background in school improvement, either in a school or across an area, who works well to influence and lead partners within a political system to transform educational outcomes for the most vulnerable children and young people in the region’s schools.
Who are we?
The Central South Consortium (CSC) works on behalf of five local authorities in the South Wales region and with 400 schools to deliver school improvement services. The region is the fastest growing region in Wales covering the capital city and economic heartland of Wales. Schools in the region serve a third of school aged children in Wales as well as both the most diverse and deprived communities of Wales. The region includes many outstanding schools as well as small numbers who still require intensive support and intervention. Nothing is more critical to the people who live in this region than the quality of education that young people receive.
The region is on the up. From the lowest performing, Central South is now the second highest achieving region in Wales and has seen the fastest improvement in results, particularly for the most vulnerable, across Wales in the last three years.
We have confidence in our school leaders and teachers.
Our mission is to enable schools to lead improvement, through the ‘Central South Wales Challenge’. Our approach is based on the premise that great practice exists in schools and our job is to find effective structures and systems for sharing and growing practice within and across schools.
We can go further. We want to be highest performing region in Wales and to work with the highest performing internationally. We want to be a region known for the quality of professional learning for teachers and leaders. Above all, we want to be a region where every school delivers great teaching and learning benefitting the most vulnerable children first and most.
What is Central South Consortium?
The consortium is a joint partnership delivery model, governed by a Joint Committee of the five authorities. Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan councils have put together resources for school improvement into one organisation.
As a result, the consortium brings scale and strategy across a wider group of schools, and a focus on improvement strategies to our engagement with school leaders. The consortium delivers challenge and support to all schools, distributes grants on an equitable basis and leads with school leaders on the development of evidence based school to school strategies. At the same time, the consortium works with other consortia across Wales, research institutions and the Welsh government to lead policy development and delivery in the region.
It is an innovative model, focused on improvement, efficiency and delivery at all levels of the system. The scope for further development is huge.
What do we want?
We are looking for a creative and committed Managing Director to lead our service to its next stage of delivery. We are looking for someone who:
- has experience and a strong track record of making an impact in leading a school improvement organisation to significantly improve educational outcomes;
- is innovative about strategic sustained school improvement, committed to a school led model of improvement, creative and positive about working with heads, teachers and students;
- demands high standards, recognises the importance of accountability to local democracy and is unequivocal about the fight against complacency;
- is able to galvanise a collective leadership team working with Local Authority leaders and politicians; and
- is committed to leading an organisation to work in partnership with national and regional partners to get behind the efforts of schools and leaders to improve learning in Central South Wales.
For an informal conversation contact Rob Thomas, CSC Lead Chief Executive on 01446 709202 or Hannah Woodhouse, the current Managing Director on 01443 827565.
For further details on this post please contact Paul Aristides, Education Senior Consultant, Gatenby Sanderson on 0207 426 3987.
To apply please visit http://www.rctcbc.gov.uk/jobs.
The deadline for receipt of applications is midday on Monday 27th February 2017.
Attached documents
About Central South Consortium
- Central South Consortium
- Ty Dysgu, Cefn Coed, Nantgarw, Cardiff
- Glamorgan
- CF15 7QQ
- United Kingdom
The Central South Consortium (CSC) is a school improvement service which operates on behalf of five local authorities: Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taff and the Vale of Glamorgan.
This region is the most populous in Wales. It includes over 400 schools and serves 135,000 learners - a third of the country’s school-age children. The region is home to the highest number and the largest proportion of children living in poverty; it is also home to the capital city and the economic, financial, creative and media industries of Wales.
Our ambition as a region is that, by 2018:
- Our learners achieve the best educational outcomes in Wales, rivalling similar parts of the United Kingdom;
- The poverty-related attainment gap is closing faster here than anywhere else in Wales;
- That the region is known and recognised for its high-quality school-led professional learning.
To do this, the Consortium:
- Provide challenge advisers to schools across the region, with more time allocated to the schools most in need
- Provides timely data analyses to support schools’ self evaluation and improvement planning (including school categorisation judgements);
- Supports and funds school-to-school improvement partnerships. These enable schools to share good practice and learn from each other to improve teaching and leadership practice and improve outcomes for learners;
- Works with the Welsh Government to deliver its priorities in the region;
- Allocates grant funding (e.g. the pupil deprivation grant - PDG) to schools in the region along with guidance and advice on how grant funding can be used to drive improvement.
Building a Self Improving School System
We are moving increasingly from a school improvement model dependent on central support to a more sustainable by-schools-for-schools model which builds capacity for collective improvement across the system. This is a system where all schools care as much about the improvement of other schools as they do about their own. This strategy is built on what is known about successful school systems worldwide.
Our model: The Central South Wales Challenge
In January 2014, backed by the five authorities and drawing on international research, schools across the region led the way in launching a strategy to develop a ‘self-improving’ school system. The strategy is based on six principles commonly found in successful school systems:
- Schools are communities where collaborative enquiry is used to improve practice.
- Groupings of schools engage in joint practice development.
- Where necessary, more intensive partnerships are formed to support schools facing difficulties.
- Families and Community organisations support the work of schools and reinforce community aspiration.
- Coordination of the system is provided by school leaders themselves.
- Local authorities work together to act as the ‘conscience’ of the system.
This work is led by the Central South Wales Strategy group. The strategy group is largely made up of headteachers but also draws on the expertise of universities and external experts in school-improvement.
Aspects of the model
- All schools are part of School Improvement Groups (SIGs) which determine improvement priorities and work together to secure progress on these.
- Pathfinder Pairs - brokered partnerships between two schools where one school supports another to improve. Improvement impact on both schools is measured.
- School Improvement Hubs provide professional learning and support to all schools in line with regional improvement priorities.
- Peer Enquiry - usually a grouping of three schools working together. Schools’ leaders conduct an enquiry into an aspect of another school’s practice with the leadership of the other school in order to identify areas of good practice and improvement
How to Find Out More
Please refer to www.cscjes.org.uk and www.cscjes-cronfa.co.uk for further information about the Consortium. Please also follow us on Twitter for updates as they happen!
We also publish a weekly school bulletin and a half termly newsletter which provide key updates about education in the region and further afield.
For any queries please do not hesitate to contact communications@cscjes.org.uk / 01443 827500.
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