Principal
The Hathershaw College
Oldham
- £113,646 - £131,578 per year
- Expired
- Salary:
- Spine Points L33- L39
- Job type:
- Full Time, Permanent
- Start date:
- 01 May 2026
- Apply by:
- 16 January 2026
Job overview
The Hathershaw College
‘Together We Succeed’
The Principal (spine points L33 - L39, £113,646 - £131,578)
Start Date: 1st May 2026 (or earlier by negotiation)
We are looking to appoint an outstanding leader to lead a committed and hard-working team of staff in our school, supporting our pupils to achieve great outcomes both in the classroom and beyond.
The Hathershaw college, based in Oldham, serves more than 1,000 pupils aged 11-16 years across 5 year groups. The Academy proudly serves a large number of disadvantaged pupils, with approximately 53% of the students in the academic year 25/26 being eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) or Pupil Premium (PP) funding. The student population represents the local community, with significant representation from various ethnic groups including Pakistani, White British and Bangladeshi. The Hathershaw College requires leadership that is dedicated to promoting inclusion and celebrating diversity.
We are a founding member of The Pinnacle Learning Trust, established in September 2017, and a key driver in the Trust’s mission to improve the lives and chances of young people in the local area. We are an Ofsted recognised ‘good’ school, committed to high standards, and celebrating the uniqueness of everyone within our community. Our inclusive environment is built upon our core values, the Three Rs: Responsible, Respectful, and Ready to Learn.
The Hathershaw College is built around providing students with exceptional experiences. The foundation of the Hathershaw Experience is a curriculum that provides results, and they are consistently one of the top performing schools in Oldham. But the Hathershaw experience goes far beyond this.
We are looking to appoint a new Principal from 1st May 2026 (or earlier by negotiation). We are keen to recruit someone who is passionate about providing an excellent and inspiring curriculum, and leading the school from its current position to even greater strengths, working with staff, parents/carers, Governors and the Trust to inspire, support and challenge staff and students to achieve highly and develop as well-rounded and capable individuals. The new Principal will have opportunities to play a strategic role beyond the school as part of the Trust Executive Team, in addition to being supported by colleagues.
Working with the Chief Executive Officer, Governors, Senior Leadership Team and others, the Principal will be expected to lead all aspects of the school, ensuring that The Hathershaw College achieves high standards and seeks continuous improvement in all aspects of its work. We are seeking a leader who is committed to achieving the highest of aspirations and successfully improving life chances for all students.
The Pinnacle Learning Trust was established in September 2017, through the long-standing, strong and effective relationship between The Hathershaw College and Oldham Sixth Form College. The Trust has a strong reputation for the provision of outstanding professional development and benefits from being a key strategic partner and operational lead in our local Teaching School Hub, (East Manchester Teaching School Hub). Our expertise in professional development is invaluable to staff and students in every one of our academies, in addition to supporting improvement beyond the Trust and providing fantastic development opportunities for our staff team. The Trust has since expanded to include all phases of education, fostering considerable mutual benefits and strong links between our academy’s. Our Trust now comprises of Oldham Sixthform College, The Hathershaw College, Werneth Primary School, Broadfield Primary School, and Alexandra Park Junior School.
We are looking for:
• Successful senior leadership and proven school improvement experience within a secondary educational setting
• An individual with integrity, who inspires and influences others, and has a passionate belief in the value of education
• Someone with a clear understanding of the academy’s vision and values in the context of the Pinnacle Learning Trust and the broader local area.
• A commitment to supporting and leading developments both at The Hathershaw College and across the Trust
• A commitment to collaboration, professional development and working with a wide range of
partners to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students.
The Application Deadline is 16th January 2026 at 12pm
Shortlisting will take place on 19th and 20th January 2026
Interviews will take place on 28th and 29th January 2026
For further information relating to The Hathershaw College and The Pinnacle Learning Trust please visit our websites: https://www.hathershaw.org.uk/ and https://www.pinnaclelearningtrust.org.uk/.
Attached documents
Recruiter contact:
About The Hathershaw College
‘Together we Succeed’
The Hathershaw college, based in Oldham , serves more than 1,000 pupils aged 11-16 years across 5 year groups. We are a founding member of The Pinnacle Learning Trust, established in September 2017, and a key driver in the Trust’s mission to improve the lives and chances of young people in the local area.
We are an Ofsted recognised ‘good’ school, committed to high standards, and celebrating the diversity and uniqueness of everyone within our community. Our inclusive environment is built upon our core values, The Three Rs: Responsible, Respectful, and Ready to Learn.
Ofsted recognises that ‘leaders have developed a broad and rich curriculum’ for all pupils at The Hathershaw College. Our curriculum is designed to be challenging and diverse, ensuring students leave us with a wide range of knowledge. As a former technology college, most of our students take a technology subject for GCSE and this is a very successful area of the school.
The school has a successful personal development offer and is focused on developing the character of our students. We place high value on preparing our students for future success through a comprehensive Careers Education Package that meets all the Gatsby Benchmarks. Pinnacle Learning Trust also includes the successful Oldham Sixth Form College and we benefit enormously from this link.
We are committed to the success of our staff as much as our students. As part of The Pinnacle Learning Trust, our colleagues benefit from extensive support and high quality Professional Development with the support of the Pinnacle Research School. Access to INSET days, weekly in-house CPD sessions, and Trust-wide training ensures that you will be learning and developing throughout your career with us. We are also an executive partner in the East Manchester Teaching School Hub, which provides access to sector-leading, evidence-based training for both teaching and support staff.
We actively seek staff feedback to ensure The Hatherhaw College remains a place where our team feels valued and supported. We are delighted that the Pinnacle Learning Trust was winner of the MAT Excellence Award for Wellbeing Trust of the Year 2025, and has been recognised by Edurio for a Trust Value Award in 2025 for the second year running.
If you are looking to make an impact on the life chances of young people, we invite you to join our team at The Hathershaw College.
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