About the role
About the school
Samuel Pepys is a Cambridgeshire area special school for 139 wonderful pupils (increasing to 165) aged 3 to 19 years living in St. Neots and the surrounding area. All pupils have an Education, Health and Care Plan to meet their individual needs. Our pupils inspire and teach us a lot and we are committed to ensuring everyone achieves their full potential through fun, purposeful and engaging learning opportunities. We are proud to work in partnership with families, other professionals and with the dedicated support of Governors. We have a super new build and remodelled purpose-built site.
About the role
This vacancy arises due to the planned, phased retirement of the current Deputy Head coupled with
our school growing in size, to meet the needs of the local community. Staff are well supported with a
varied and effective professional learning offer. We work in partnership with on-site therapists to support the planning and delivery of teaching and learning. If you are an experienced school leader and qualified teacher with recent, relevant experience of leading staff and teaching pupils with severe and complex special educational needs, across the age and ability range, we would like to hear from you.
What to expect
• Be part of a friendly and outward looking school with wonderful pupils, supportive families and a strong, positive staff team ethos;
• Varied and relevant opportunities for continued professional learning and development; including leadership development opportunities
• Take part in dynamic and collaborative planning and school improvement opportunities with like-minded colleagues;
• Engage in innovative multi-disciplinary working, with on-site therapists and co-produced working with families
• Support and develop the planning and delivery of high-quality learning opportunities with a well designed curriculum, varied learning resources and purpose-built facilities within school and the wider community;
What will you be doing?
Key Role and Purpose
As Deputy Head Teacher you will work closely with the Head Teacher, School
Business Manager and other members of the senior leadership, management and
teaching team to lead on the operational day-to-day leadership of the school in addition
to other specific senior leadership responsibilities, promoting the positive ethos, vision
and values of Samuel Pepys School
Specific Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic Direction and Development
-Contribute to strategic decision making as part of the school’s senior leadership team
- Support the development of the School Self Evaluation (SEF) and School Improvement Plan (SIP)
- Lead, plan, manage and monitor change in accordance with the School Improvement Plan
- Work in partnership with the Head Teacher, School Business Manager and Governors to plan, implement, monitor and review standards of education and leadership across the school
Leadership and Management
- Ensure effective communication within the school, to ensure the smooth day to day operational running of the school
- Lead, manage and support Assistant Head Teachers (or similar roles), Teachers and Teaching Assistants
- Conduct appraisals for the staff team, in partnership with the Head Teacher
- Promote positive conduct from staff and support staff well being and attendance, in line with school personnel policies
- Liaise with families and key professionals, such as colleagues in health and social care, as part of a multi-disciplinary team working to co-produce and
support pupil outcomes
- Review the quality of teaching and learning in school, conduct monitoring activities in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team
- Co-ordinate how pupil premium funding is used to maximise pupil achievement, access and progression
- Represent Samuel Pepys School as an ambassador at local, regional and national SEND events
- Deputise for the Head Teacher when necessary
Teaching and Learning
- Ensure high quality teaching and learning is taking place across the school through monitoring and evaluation activities, coaching and mentoring,
including induction and support for new teachers and ECTs
- Model high quality teaching and demonstrate the ability to enhance pupil progress by meeting and exceeding Teachers’ Standards
- Monitor and review the effectiveness of the school curriculum, in line with the schools documentation and agreed practice
- Co-ordinate the schedule for review of EHCPs and liaise with the LA Statutory Assessment Team
- Monitor and chair Education, Health and Care Plan reviews for allocated pupils
Effective Deployment of Staff and Resources
- Support the Head Teacher and School Business Manager in the recruitment, development and deployment of staff. Make effective use of staff skills,
experience and professional learning opportunities
- Ensure that staff are effectively deployed to meet the needs of pupils, on a daily basis
- Support the Head Teacher and Senior Leadership Team to organise pupil groupings, rotas and timetables to ensure that effective teaching and learning
takes place
- Work with the Head Teacher, School Business Manager and Governors to establish priorities for expenditure. Monitor the effectiveness of spending and
the use of resources, ensure value for money, including the use of pupil premium funding
Keeping pupils safe
- Fulfil the role of Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead
- Contribute to the safety and well-being of our pupils, staff and families and to work collaboratively with other agencies to protect children and share
information where appropriate.
- Ensure the welfare and safeguarding of pupils across the whole school through rigorous application of the school child protection, supporting behaviour and pupil well-being policies.
- Ensure that all safeguarding procedures are followed including maintenance of safeguarding records (CPOMS), sharing information where necessary,
ensuring attendance at key meetings, such as CIN or Core Groups, and relevant training and supervision
- Lead on the schools responsibilities for looked after children
- Be a Therapeutic Thinking trainer and work in partnership with families, staff and other agencies to draft and review therapeutic plans
- Ensure that pupils with health and medical needs have their needs safely met within school, in line with school, local and national policy.
Other duties
- Promote accessibility, diversity and equal opportunities throughout the school and ensure the application of the school equal opportunities policy
- Be part of the schools offer for advice and support with local mainstream schools, for example hosting in-reach visits
- Participate in the design and delivery of training sessions for other schools or organisations
About you
How to apply:
Please complete and return the application form from our website, with an accompanying letter of
application by email by Friday, 16th January 2026 at 9.00 am. Samuel Pepys School is committed to
safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff to share this
commitment. All appointments are subject to successful pre-employment checks including an
enhanced DBS, medical check and references, requested prior to interview. In line with KCSIE
guidance and as part of due diligence an online check will take place for shortlisted candidates. If you
would like to talk informally about this opportunity, or arrange to visit, please contact Joanne Hardwick,
Head Teacher. Further information can be found on the school website under staff/join our team.
Due to the anticipated level of interest, we may close the application period early. Please apply early to
be considered.
Thank you for your interest, we look forward to hearing from you.
About us
Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
