Job Description - Headteacher
The Headteacher is accountable to the Governors and is expected to provide professional leadership, strategic direction and operational management for the school by promoting high standards in all aspects of the school's work and by building upon past achievement, to secure the school's continued success and improvement by ensuring high quality education for all its students so as to maximise their potential.
Job Purpose
The Headteacher will:
- Inspire, challenge, motivate and empower all stakeholders, including parents and the wider community, to implement and carry forward the school vision.
- Monitor, evaluate and review all policies, set priorities and targets and take any necessary action required to ensure excellence of teaching and learning and the continuous development of pupils and staff.
- Provide a supportive environment for staff and ensure that their wellbeing is paramount, while striving to improve educational attainment.
- Ensure that excellent teaching and learning is the main objective of all members of the school community.
- Have high expectations of pupil behaviour and promote respect for all.
- Promote and secure the school's continued evolution considering national and local policies and initiatives.
- Be accountable for the deployment of resources in accordance with regulations and the school's policies and the overarching need to obtain value for money.
The Headteacher will carry out his/her professional duties in accordance with the National Conditions of Employment for Headteachers in the School Teacher's Pay and Conditions Document and education, employment, health and safety and other relevant legislation affecting the conduct of the school.
The Headteacher is expected to demonstrate consistently high standards of principled and professional conduct and uphold and demonstrate the Nolan Seven Principles of Public Life.
Key Duties School culture
- Establish and sustain the school's ethos and strategic direction in partnership with those responsible for governance and through consultation with the school community.
- Create a culture where pupils experience a positive and enriching school life.
- Uphold ambitious educational standards which prepare pupils from all backgrounds for their next phase of education and life.
- Promote positive and respectful relationships across the school community and a safe, orderly and inclusive environment.
- Ensure a culture of high staff professionalism.
Teaching
- Establish and sustain high-quality, expert teaching across all subjects and phases, built on an evidence-informed understanding of effective teaching and how pupils learn.
- Ensure teaching is underpinned by high levels of subject expertise and approaches which respect the distinct nature of subject disciplines or specialist domains.
- Ensure effective use is made of formative assessment.
Curriculum and assessment
- Ensure a broad, structured and coherent curriculum entitlement which sets out the knowledge, skills and values that will be taught.
- Establish effective curricular leadership, developing subject leaders with high levels of relevant expertise with access to professional networks and communities.
- Ensure valid, reliable and proportionate approaches are used when assessing pupils' knowledge and understanding of the curriculum.
Behaviour
- Establish and sustain high expectations of behaviour for all pupils, built upon relationships, routines and procedures, which are understood clearly by all staff and pupils.
- Ensure high standards of pupil behaviour and courteous conduct in accordance with the school's Behaviour Policy.
- Implement consistent, fair and respectful approaches to managing behaviour.
- Ensure that adults within the school model and teach the behaviour of a good citizen.
Additional and special educational needs and disabilities
- Ensure all staff hold ambitious expectations for all pupils with additional and special educational needs and disabilities.
- Establish and sustain culture and practices that enable pupils to access the curriculum and learn effectively.
- Ensure the school works effectively in partnership with parents, carers and professionals, to identify the additional needs and special educational needs and disabilities of pupils, providing support and adaptation where appropriate.
- Ensure the school fulfils its statutory duties with regard to the SEND code of practice.
Professional development
- Ensure staff have access to high-quality, sustained professional development opportunities, aligned to balance the priorities of whole-school improvement, team and individual needs.
- Prioritise the professional development of staff, ensuring effective planning, delivery and evaluation which is consistent with the approaches laid out in the standard for teachers' professional development.
- Ensure that professional development opportunities draw on expert provision from beyond the school, as well as within it, including nationally recognised career and professional frameworks and programmes to build capacity and support succession planning.
Organisational management
- Ensure the protection and safety of pupils and staff through effective approaches to safeguarding, as part of the duty of care.
- Prioritise and allocate financial resources appropriately, ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and probity in the use of public funds.
- Ensure staff are deployed and managed well with due attention paid to workload.
- Establish and oversee systems, processes and policies that enable the school to operate effectively and efficiently.
- Ensure rigorous approaches to identifying, managing and mitigating risk.
Continuous school improvement
- Make use of effective and proportional processes of evaluation to identify and analyse complex or persistent problems and barriers which limit school effectiveness and identify priority areas for improvement.
- Develop appropriate evidence-informed strategies for improvement as part of well-targeted plans which are realistic, timely, appropriately sequenced and suited to the school's context.
- Ensure careful and effective implementation of improvement strategies, which lead to sustained school improvement over time.
Working in partnership
- Forge constructive relationships beyond the school, working in partnership with parents, carers and the local community.
- Commit the school to work successfully with other schools and organisations in a climate of mutual challenge and support.
- Establish and maintain working relationships with fellow professionals and colleagues across other public services to improve educational outcomes for all pupils.
Governance and accountability
- Understand and welcome the role of effective governance, and the importance of giving account and accepting responsibility.
- Establish and sustain professional working relationship with those responsible for governance.
- Ensure that staff know and understand their professional responsibilities and are held to account.
- Ensure the school effectively and efficiently operates within the required regulatory frameworks and meets all statutory duties.
Line Management
Responsible for the supervision of all staff employed in the school.
Conditions of Employment
The above responsibilities are in accordance with the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document in terms of duties and working time and are also subject to any local agreements and LA guidance on interpreting conditions of service.
Review and Amendment
This job description is normally subject to annual review. Subject to the provisions of the School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document it may be amended at the request of the Governing Body but only after full consultation. It will be signed if agreement is reached.
