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School Improvement Officer

School Improvement Officer

Plymouth CAST

South West

Salary:
£55K - £65K (depending on experience) plus car user allowance
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
ASAP
Apply by:
28 November 2017

Job overview

School Improvement Officer (SIO) 

Home based with travel throughout the Diocese of Plymouth and regular meetings at CAST Head Office, Ashburton, Devon.

Salary: £55 – 65k (depending on experience) plus car user allowance 

As part of the School Improvement Team, you will play a significant part in driving improvement across CAST schools, so that all schools are assessed as “at least good.”

You will make regular visits to delegated schools, set targets and produce succinct and relevant reports on the progress of priorities of schools. Your experience will enable you to provide high quality, professional challenge and support for schools to ensure they attain the highest standards and rates of progress. You will ensure school leaders evaluate their schools accurately and identify the right priorities for improvement.

You will line manage the Head teachers of delegated schools, setting performance targets which link to the necessary priorities for school improvement, and reviewing progress against targets during the year. You will work closely with colleagues in HR, the CAST RE Adviser and the learning and standards team, but also network with other appropriate external bodies, to ensure the best possible support for schools. With a significant journey ahead of us, this is an extremely important appointment for Plymouth CAST. As an experienced Head teacher, you will:-

• have a wealth of knowledge in primary education, to include Early Years

• have experience in providing support to schools, possibly in an inspection role

• prepare succinct and focussed reports

• be self-motivated with the ability to make independent judgements

• be a contributory team-player

• have first class communication skills

• be confident liaising with a range of external and internal parties

Underpinning all that you do will be your faith, as well as a strong understanding of the values of the Catholic Church and community.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. An enhanced DBS Disclosure is required for this post.

Please send your completed forms to admin@plymouthcast.org.uk or by post to Karen Grute, Plymouth CAST, St Boniface House, Ashburton, Devon TQ13 7JL.

Closing date –    28th November 2017

Interview date –   7th December 2017


Attached documents

About Plymouth CAST

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  • Plymouth CAST
  • Edmund Rice Building, St, Boniface College, 21 Boniface, Lane, Manadon Park, Crownhill, Plymouth
  • Devon
  • PL5 3AG
  • United Kingdom
+44 1752 686710

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Plymouth CAST is a trust set up by the Catholic Diocese of Plymouth to support and develop its schools. Plymouth CAST is a genuine 'multi academy trust’ in that the constituent schools are all part of a single company with a central Board of Directors, rather than each being an academy company in its own right. The Diocese of Plymouth covers the traditional counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset and therefore also includes the newer unitary authorities of Plymouth, Torbay, Poole & Bournemouth. Altogether there are 35 schools within the Trust spread from Penzance in the West to Bournemouth in the East. Together CAST employs 1300 staff and provides for 7000 pupils. As with all academies, Plymouth CAST is a company limited by guarantee and an exempt charity.

Purpose

The formation of CAST does not represent a change in direction for the schools. As Catholic schools, our fundamental mission has always derived from the wider mission of the Catholic Church and the particular emphases of the diocesan Bishop. However, it was decided that changing our legal structure from multiple, autonomous Voluntary Aided schools into a single corporate legal entity would enhance our capacity to fulfil our shared mission. This is enabled both by the structures of CAST (see below) and by the new 'cultural' expectations on all concerned. These include a shared responsibility for standards across all the schools and increased levels of transparency, particularly among head teachers, about strengths and weaknesses. Alongside this is an increased emphasis on early identification of underperformance in all aspects of a school's provision (Catholic life, educational standards, pupil and staff well-being, financial stability, school environment and community relations) and focused strategies to respond quickly and effectively.

Structure

Consistent with the purpose summarised above, the most important elements within CAST's structure are the schools themselves. The 35 schools are each has a local governing body with a delegated budget and delegated powers to allow it to operate as the local 'steward' of overall mission. The Board of Directors does not seek to manage the individual schools but does carry the overall responsibilities and liabilities for the network as a whole. On the surface, the day to day operation of the schools has not changed since becoming part of CAST and parents experience a seamless transition, as do their children.
 

CAST operates within three local 'Area Councils'. The schools table identifies their Areas and each has either 11 or 12 schools. Each Area has a dedicated 'Area Adviser' whose role is manifold but includes:

  • ensuring that the Board of Directors is fully aware of any school performance issues;
  • working with the head teachers and governing bodies of each of their Area schools to ensure that they have an up to date and accurate picture of all aspects of their school's strengths and weaknesses;
  • working with the relevant personnel from each school to identify effective strategic responses to their development needs;
  • brokering school-to-school and external support for the improvement strategies that have been formulated.

Whilst local governing bodies have delegated authority from the Board of Directors (much the same as that enjoyed by Voluntary Aided school governing bodies) Plymouth CAST also has an agreed Intervention Protocol which provides the basis for the Board of Directors to intervene directly in any school where the internal resources are not being successful in securing required improvements within an acceptable time scale.
 

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