About the role
Are you an outstanding leader, passionate about improving outcomes for the most
vulnerable students and ready for the next stage of your career?
Due to the promotion of the current post holder, we are now looking for our new Assistant Head of Cambridgeshire Virtual School to build on the strong foundation and shape the next stage of our work across our professional network. We are searching for someone who will be committed to a challenging, fast paced, yet rewarding role leading our Achievement Through Schools team.
We believe that every young person deserves to realise their potential therefore our work is crucial. We are looking for an experienced education professional to join Cambridgeshire Virtual School's leadership team from September 2023 (or as soon after). This is an exciting opportunity for a candidate wanting to have a real impact on the lives of Cambridgeshire Children in Care, Previously in Care, and Children with a Social Worker.
We are looking for a dynamic individual with a proven track record in leading and inspiring others. The ability to develop and maintain effective relationships across a wide range of stakeholders is key to the success of this role.
For more information or to chat about this opportunity please contact Heather Edwards on heather.edwards@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
What will you be doing?
The Assistant Head Teacher will play an imperative role in the operational delivery and strategic influence of the Virtual School. This will include supporting cultural shifts and embedding the role of the corporate parent with key partners in education and social care. The role will take full responsibility for the management of the Education Advisors within the service and ensure through effective leadership that they are able to respond to the needs of children who have or have had a social worker.
The Assistant Head Teacher will have an important role in ensuring the partnership working across the services within the Local Authority are developed and maintained to deliver a better and more integrated approach to service delivery in order to achieve high quality outcomes for children.
The postholder will use their skills and expertise to drive and support the Education Advisors to deliver on the service’s statutory obligations, processes and procedures. Enabling them to contribute to an effective service delivery and uphold the standards that are required to achieve good outcomes for children, families and schools.
Achievement Through Schools
The Achievement Through Schools Assistant Head Teacher will lead a team of education advisors who have a strong understanding of the role of school improvement in maximising educational outcomes for vulnerable pupils. They will lead on advisory work with maintained school, single and multi-academy setting and independent providers across the Early Years, primary, secondary and post-16 sectors.
- They will support and challenge settings, schools and providers to understand and meet the statutory requirements for the education of children and young people who have or have had a social worker.
- They will promote culture, policy and practice within settings, schools and providers which takes into account the specific vulnerabilities of children and young people who have or have had a social worker.
- They will effectively track, analyse and use data to maximise attainment and progress for all children in care as if they were on a single school roll.
- They will support the quality assurance of the PEP document, including the allocation and impact of the PP+ grant.
About you
The successful candidate must be passionate about and have experience of improving the educational experiences of vulnerable young people. You will be outcomes driven and able to motivate, challenge and support your team in a sometimes complex, but also rewarding environment. Alongside this being a strategic thinker, effective communicator, with the ability to successfully manage change would be beneficial.
This is a great opportunity to join a successful team and to have a significant impact on the lives of young people across a wide range of settings.
You will have up to date knowledge of the education system, recent experience of working in a leadership position in a school or virtual school, and a strong understanding of the barriers faced by children in care and will offer support and challenge to ensure that educational outcomes are maximised.
You will be familiar with children in care, SEND, suspension, attendance, admissions and OFSTED statutory guidance.
You will be responsible for building relationships and providing support and challenge for key partners including senior leaders in schools to promote aspirational outcomes for children who have or have had a social worker.
You will be confident at communicating effectively, efficient, organised and be able to work using your own initiative within a wider team.
You must be able to drive and may be expected to travel outside of Cambridgeshire.
Our benefits
We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits:
- Flexible working
- Flexible Bank Holidays
- A comprehensive wellbeing package
- Our Cambs Rewards employee discounts
- A comprehensive pension scheme
- IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network.
- Camweb our staff intranet helping to keep you informed
- An employee recognition scheme
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 believe benefits our employees, the organisation and our communities.
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.
Attached documents
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