Head of Infant School All-Through Assistant Principal Equivalent to Deputy Head of Primary

Head of Infant School All-through Assistant Principal Equivalent to Deputy Head of Primary

February 2016

Dear candidate,

Thank you for taking the time to find out more about King Solomon Academy in Westminster and the possibility of joining us. Included in this information pack is information about the academy, and the role of Head of Infant School, which includes the leadership of Early Years (Nursery and Reception), as well as Key Stage 1.

Within our small school structure, the Head of Infant School role is a vital one in enhancing the learning and the development of our pupils as it defines the starting point of the pupils within our all-through school, where pupils are nurtured from Nursery to Sixth Form (aged 3 to 18). We are looking for an individual with a genuine passion for working at King Solomon Academy, a belief in the potential of every child and that through hard work all pupils can access and benefit from a university education.

KSA is a pioneering school looking to hire exceptional people. This role provides the opportunity to excel in supportive environment and contribute to the ongoing development of our school community. By doing so they will push boundaries in terms of the ambition and outcomes of our pupils achievements.

To apply, follow the link at http://kingsolomonacademy.org/vacancies by 11am on Friday 11 March 2016. For an informal conversation about the role, please contact Rachael Bemrose, Recruitment Manager at [email protected] and 0203 116 6345.

We wish you the best with your application.

Yours sincerely,

Max Haimendorf Principal

2 | Job Description: Head of Infant School

(All-through Assistant Principal / equivalent to Deputy Head of Primary)

Reports to: Vice Principal Start date: September 2016 Salary: Leadership Scale

The Role To drive outstanding outcomes in the Infant School, ensuring pupils receive the foundations necessary to be happy and successful at and beyond university, while also playing a leadership role in the running of the whole all-through academy.

Key responsibilities The full remit of the post will be agreed dependent on the skills and experience of the candidate appointed. Specific responsibilities are subject to change over time. The Assistant Principal will initially take responsibility for the leadership of the Infant School, from Nursery to Year 2. It should be understood that the role may take responsibility for other parts of the school in the future. Initially the responsibilities will include:

Responsibilities linked to leading the Infant School

 Provide overall strategic and operational leadership for the phase of the school they are responsible for, setting and maintaining standards of academic and character development  Lead leaders and teachers in the planning, delivery, monitoring and evaluation of an excellent curriculum in the Infant school (nursery to Year 2) which prepares pupils for academic success, and provides transformational curricular and extra-curricular experiences which are university and life preparatory  Line manage leaders and class teachers in the Infant School, maximising their impact through excellent performance management, coaching, mentoring and support  Lead and manage teachers and leaders on culture standards including behaviour, attendance and punctuality, parent communication, the implementation of pastoral provisions  Maintain and foster excellent relationships with existing and new parents including conducting home visits as required  Grow nursery provision from current 30 full time equivalent to over 60, so that the vast majority of the pupils entering reception have benefited from 3+ nursery provision.  Lead recruitment of pupils into Nursery, including managing recruitment processes, literature and events.  To plan and develop the provision of Nursery for 2 year olds (when logistically possible)

Whole academy responsibilities

 Along with other senior staff, to lead the strategic direction of the all-through academy, maximising the opportunities provided by all-through education  To line manage relevant staff and manage their performance to maximise outcomes

3 |  Deputising for other leadership staff, including the Vice Principals and Principal when required  Play an active role in the maintenance of standards of behaviour across the whole school, holding pupils to account for their actions at all times and having the influence of a senior leader in maintaining standards.  Contribute to the overall academy wide leadership though other specific leadership duties agreed in due course

Outcomes and activities Growth of Nursery and development of Early Years provision  In Collaboration with the Principal plan the recruitment of more than 60 nursery places to ensure maximum continuity from nursery to reception  Develop a full-time (30+ hours) nursery provision which is sustainable and closes the attainment gap  In the future, plan and deliver 2 year old nursery provision  Build transformational relationships with pupils and their families before they enter the school which are then maintained and built on so that families can support the work that we do with their children.  Ensure rigorous baseline data is collected on pupils so that their development can be rapid and personalised when they are with us  Create a culture of rigorous high expectations amongst staff which emphasises the prime areas of development, ensuring that pupils are able to communicate and regulate their social interactions so that they can engage with learning well for the rest of their time in school.

Leadership of culture  Plan, manage, monitor and evaluate the curriculum in its ability to generate an ethos and culture which is powerful and transformational to ensure pupils are having the experiences which prepare them to be successful inside and outside the school.  Proactively set and maintain expectations of behaviour in Infant School, and drive a positive reward based culture set alongside appropriate sanctions  Ensure all appropriate consequences (positive and negative) are administered and recorded  Keep meticulous records of all serious behaviour incidents  Apply the behaviour policy of the school consistently and fairly  Drive excellent culture and organisation to ensure the effective running of the school day for their year group, including all communal times (e.g. lunch)  Plan and deliver year group assemblies  Help keep systems organised, up-to-date and user friendly for all year and academy wide staff, ensuring consistency  Model precise and consistent use of systems and routines to all teachers in their year group  Supervise lunch time and after school activities as required  Lead (or where agreed with line manager, support) extra curricular activities and trips  Act as a positive role model to staff and pupils  Through observation and feedback, coach Infant School teachers to ensure excellent positive culture in all lessons  Analyse behaviour data to identify trends and act to address any issues

4 | Pastoral care, attendance and punctuality  Maintain constant overview of pastoral and academic concerns and communicate these as appropriate to ensure effective provisions are made  Maintain positive relationships with all pupils in the school  Be proactive in supporting social and emotional care of pupils  To proactively drive attendance policy to ensure attendance and punctuality is as close to 100% as possible by robustly setting and maintaining expectations

Parental relationships  Effectively manage transitions at the start and end of the academic year, including conducting home visits for all incoming pupils  Maintain frequent communication with parents about pupils’ attainment, behaviour and development  Ensure high attendance of parents to academy events including parent meetings, concerts and plays  Facilitate positive relationships between staff and parents

Pupil Attainment  Analyse academic data with leaders and teachers to ensure all pupils’ academic needs are met and excellent progress and attainment is achieved  In coordination with other senior leaders and teachers, ensure that pupils are on track to meet ambitious goals and where pupils are not on track to do this, to recommend and ensure the execution of intervention strategies

Teaching and Learning (the Assistant Principal will role model great teaching with a small amount teaching)  Meticulously plan and teach engaging and challenging lessons that pave the way for success in school and life  Meet the needs of all learners by consistently planning and teaching carefully differentiated lessons  Set and mark appropriate homework  Use regular, measurable and significant assessments of their teaching  Complete all reporting on time  Closely monitor progress and attainment of their pupils and use it to inform their teaching  Provide content for and where necessary deliver high quality pupil interventions with direction from SENDCO  Maintain regular and productive communication with parents about their child’s progress, behaviour and development, including attending after school parent meetings as required  Organize and participate in exciting and motivating trips and events

Other  Undertake professional development as agreed with school leaders  Perform additional duties and tasks required for the effective operation of the school, including: attending home visits, eating lunch with pupils, supervising silent sustained reading (DEAR), break supervision, detention and gate duty.  Undertake other activities directed by the Principal

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Person Specification: Head of Infant School

Qualification criteria  Qualified to degree level and above  Qualified to teach and the right to work in the UK

Experience  Experience of raising attainment in a challenging classroom environment.  Experience of leading a high achieving team within a complex school environment.  Experience of leading, coaching and managing staff with transformational outcomes.  Experience of working collaboratively with other stakeholders outside of the academy

Skills and attributes

Leadership  Vision aligned with KSA’s high aspirations, high expectations of self and others.  Genuine passion and a belief in the potential of every student.  Motivation to continually improve standards and achieve excellence.

6 | Teaching and Learning  Excellent classroom practitioner, including Effective and systematic behaviour management, with clear boundaries, sanctions, praise and rewards.  Commitment to regular and on-going professional development and training to establish outstanding classroom practice.

Alignment with KSA vision  Relentless drive to do whatever it takes to ensure all students succeed.  The belief that with the right environment more than 95% of our pupils are able to excel at University.

Communication skills  The ability to listen and communicate effectively.  Empathy and the ability to understand the needs, aspirations and motivation of diverse individuals and groups.  The ability to influence and motivate others.

Problem solving  Identify, analyse and resolve problems and issues.  Develop plans with concrete outcomes and effective solutions.  Evaluate results and identify necessary actions.

Resilience  Sustain energy, optimism and motivation in the face of pressure and setbacks.  Stay calm in difficult situations and maintain clarity of vision.  Be adaptable in the face of adversity.

Results and learning orientation  Commitment to ongoing improvement and learning.  Focus on achieving challenging goals and results.  Resourcefulness and flexibility in delivering outcomes.

Leading the Infant School curriculum and provision  Able to establish curriculum development, assessment, co-ordination and coaching relationships with other senior leaders.  Has expert communication, planning and organisational skills.  High expectations for accountability and consistency.

Other This post is subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Services check.

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Principal

Max Haimendorf graduated from Oxford and joined the first cohort of the Teach First programme. He has been a Science teacher and then Head of Year 8. Following work at Teach First central office he joined the consultants Oliver Wyman where he worked in finance strategy. Whilst there he continued to contribute to the education field, writing about the importance of small schools. In 2008 he was appointed as Secondary Headteacher of King Solomon Academy. He has now led KSA through two outstanding Ofsted inspections and led KSA to achieve the highest GCSE results in the country for a non-selective secondary school in 2015. From the summer of 2016, he will lead the all-through academy.

“We are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to ensure each of our pupils has the chance to attend an academically rigorous university.”

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About The Infant School at KSA

King Solomon Academy is focused on providing a high quality education to all our pupils – from day one.

We believe that the foundations of our school are built in the Infant School, where through Early Years and Key Stage 1, pupils develop most rapidly. As an all-through school we know that the successes here echo through a child’s whole education. If we can help pupils to be confident and engaged learners in these early years, we can set them up for success in their futures.

As a genuine all-through school, with our pupils staying with us from nursery to Sixth Form, we have a unique opportunity to have a long term and dramatic impact on our pupils’ lives. In working with pupils in their formative years, we are looking for a leader who is passionate about forming mastery of all aspects of Literacy (including phonics) and Numeracy, as well as creating the classroom culture which fosters significant character growth. In this way we believe our Infant classrooms have vital importance in our ability as a school to affect change in the lives of our pupils.

Our Infant School is characterised by the formation of extremely positive and influential relationships between the school, pupils and their parents. We aim to support the development of the whole child, including their upbringing at home. Our curriculum is rich and varied and Infant teachers are encouraged to dream big in their curriculum choices to inspire and engage pupils. In preparation for learning musical instruments at the start of Key Stage 2, we invest in musical learning in KS1 – sport, drama and other enrichment activities benefit from our all-through setting.

We have achieved great success at effectively starting our pupils on their journey through education. We teach Phonics exceptionally well – achieving in the top 5% of schools in the country in the Phonics Screener. Our KS1 outcomes are also in the top 5% nationally. We aim for all pupils to achieve Level 3 at the end of KS1 because we know this will put them on the path to academic success as they grow through the school with us. In KS2 Sats, over 90% of pupils achieved combined Level 4 and over 30% combined level 5. Although above national averages within a challenging context, we are committed to significantly improving these results to make them as dramatically ground-breaking as in Key Stage 4, where we have achieved nationally outlying outcomes – this year achieving 95% 5A*-C including English and Maths, the highest for a comprehensive school. We know that to raise the bar further, we need to push forward what happens in our pupils first years in the school.

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Being a Senior Leader in the Ark network

Ark is an international charity, transforming lives through education. Ark exists to make sure that every child, regardless of background, has access to a great education and real choices in life. The highly-successful network of 34 schools educates over 20,000 students across Birmingham, Hastings, London and Portsmouth. They are achieving some of the best results in the country despite being largely in areas of historic academic underachievement.

As a senior leader at KSA, you become part of a growing cohort of senior leaders who work together and learn from one another to build the best possible schools. The opportunities for further growth and responsibility, inside KSA and beyond are significant.

Ark runs a number of additional leadership programmes which provide structured support for our leaders to develop. This includes coaching and the opportunity to visit other successful schools inside and outside the Ark network.

Ark Safe Recruitment Procedure Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Disclosure

10 | This post is classified as having substantial access to children, and appointment is subject to an enhanced police check of previous criminal convictions (DBS). Applicants are required, before appointment, to disclose any conviction, caution or binding over including ‘spent convictions’ under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exemptions) Order 1975. Non- disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar individuals from employment – this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred.

Reference checking References from the previous and current employer will be taken up for shortlisted candidates, and where necessary employers may be contacted to gather further information.

Probation All new staff will be subject to a probation period of six months (which may, in certain circumstances, be extended by up to 10 weeks). The probation period is a trial period, to enable the assessment of an employee’s suitability for the job for which they have been employed. It provides the academy with the opportunity to monitor and review the performance of new staff in relation to various areas, but also in terms of their commitment to safe guarding and relationships with pupils.

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