Virtual School Head for Children & Young People in Care

Virtual School Head for Children & Young People in Care

 County Hall, Northallerton

Would you like the opportunity to positively influence the strategic vision and operational practice for children in care?

We are looking for an inspirational and visionary leader to lead and develop our high performing virtual school team.

As head of our virtual school, you will have the opportunity to lead, support and challenge internal and external schools and partners to secure the best possible educational outcomes for Children and Young People in the care of the Local Authority.

North Yorkshire County Council has a reputation for delivering high quality services. Its children’s services are nationally recognised for their excellence, taking a national lead to spread best practice.

The recent independent Local Government Association (LGA) peer review gave tremendous feedback to our children’s services referring to them as outstanding and providing a beacon for other authorities grappling with the challenges of delivering excellent outcomes for families and children while operating under a constrained budget.

As one of 8 partner authorities to share and develop good practice in children’s services at a national level, as a ‘Partner in Practice’ for the Department for Education, you would be joining one of the best children’s social work services in the country, at a very challenging but exciting time.

We are looking for someone who has demonstrated strong and effective leadership in a school and or a local authority senior role and has a passion for promoting the educational attainment of children in care and celebrating their successes.

The post holder will have excellent understanding of the social care and educational legislation pertinent to children in care and will use their initiative and imagination to unblock significant barriers to the educational success of these children.

You will be joining a Children’s service that have both a strong advisory service and a strong preventative service, allowing you the opportunity to work across both education and skills and children and families portfolios- an excellent platform for personal development.

Equally, whilst the post holder will work directly with the Assistant Director of Children and Families there will also be formal monthly meetings with the Assistant Director of Education and Skills. As such you will be joining a very joined up and forward thinking local authority where you play a pivotal role in the the Children and Families Senior Leadership team as well as the extended Education and Skills senior leadership team.

Whilst the post base would be Northallerton, we are supported with modern technology and accessibility to enable flexibility and agility with working from other work bases or from home and patterns of work, centred around the needs of our customers and the achievement of visible leadership.

Northallerton benefits from excellent road and rail links, with easy access the East Coast mainline, the A1(M) and A19. Leeds, York, Newcastle, Durham and Teesside are all easily commutable. North Yorkshire borders the Lake District, Lancashire, County Durham, and Yorkshire & Humber regions with all they have to offer.

As an authority we provide a comprehensive relocation package and offer hands on support with any of your relocation needs, details of which are below. New to North Yorkshire? We really do have it all… bustling market towns, coastal resorts, vibrant cities, rural landscapes not least within our two national parks and convenient links to neighbouring regions, London and beyond. Our history of consistently strong educational attainment, safe neighbourhoods, variety of pastoral pursuits and relatively low levels of unemployment make North Yorkshire a residence of choice.

We can also offer you a comprehensive benefits package including generous annual leave entitlements, a local government pension scheme, flexible working, salary sacrifice and continuous personal development. You would be joining geographically the largest and one of the best local authorities in the country, with a track record of being in the top 20% for educational achievement and an award winning children and young people’s service that are recognised nationally for their excellence.

If you would like the opportunity to lead our highly regarded virtual school team, we would like to hear from you!

For an informal discussion about the role please contact Judith Hay, Assistant Director of Children and Families on 01609 533569.

For more information and to apply please visit www.nyccjobs.co.uk  

Key dates:

Closing date: 1st February
Shortlisting date: 2nd February
Interview dates: 14th and or 16th February