February 2014

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in the position of Headteacher at Roding Valley High School. The school is a very popular, successful 11-16 school situated near tube station on the Central Line in Loughton, .

The school has undergone a dramatic programme of school improvement and we are looking for an inspirational leader to lead us as we move towards ‘outstanding’. This is a truly exciting time for the school and this post provides the successful candidate with a unique opportunity to lead our staff and students. I would ask that you read the job description and person specification for this post as this outlines the main responsibilities that this role brings. The successful applicant must have:

• A track record of successful leadership at a whole school level either as a deputy headteacher or as headteacher • An ability to lead and inspire our staff and students • A clear vision for the future development of provision at Roding Valley High School, particularly for leading the establishment of the new 6th Form from September 2015.

I have set out some key areas that you may find helpful in your consideration of an application for the post of Headteacher:

Background information The school is an 8 form entry, 11-16 school with just under 1150 students on roll. We are a community school whose intake is based mainly from students in the Loughton and area and we also take a small proportion of students from the wider area. We have been asked by the local authority to take an additional form of entry in 2018 due to the increasing population in the Loughton area. The school has excellent facilities and we are currently in the process of submitting a bid to the Department of Education for A Level 6th Form provision at the school (as part of a 4 school consortium) starting in September 2015. We are also in the process of selling a piece of land that will result in a significant capital development in the school to cater for the increasing numbers in Year 7 and in Years 12-13.

Academic Attainment Ours students arrive to us at Year 7 with levels of attainment broadly in line with the national average at Key Stage 2. The school has significantly improved its performance at GCSE in the last few years. In 2009, 42% of our students achieved 5A*-C including English and Maths with 65% achieving 5A*-C overall. In 2013, this had risen to 64% 5A*-C including English and Maths and 83% overall. The percentage of students achieving 3 and 4 levels of progress in English and Maths was well above the national average in 2013. We are hopeful that we will reach 70% 5A*-C including English and Maths in the summer of 2014.

OFSTED We received our latest OFSTED inspection in March 2013 and were delighted to be graded as a ‘Good’ school with Behaviour and Safety of our students being graded as ‘Outstanding’. We are confident that our continued development as a school will lead us to an ‘outstanding’ judgement at our next inspection.

Teaching and Learning Central to our rise in attainment has been our focus on developing teaching and learning at the school. It is a key priority in continuing our success and is centred on what we refer to as ‘DAZ’: differentiation, assessment, zest. We have put considerable investment into this area of the school

and there are lead professionals in English and Maths as well as an assistant headteacher who lead this whole school focus.

Behaviour and Ethos We have exceptionally high expectations for our students and at the heart of this is a traditional approach to behaviour. We value our school community and believe that every student has a responsibility to contribute to the success of the school by behaving in a positive way at all times as well as the correct wearing of our uniform. Our students feel safe and really value the opportunities given to them at the school and we know that this is due to the extremely high expectations we have for them.

Proposed ‘A Level’ 6th Form Provision at the school The school is one of 4 schools in the Epping Forest area (along with Debden Park Academy, King Harold Academy and Epping St. John’s School) that have submitted a bid to the Department of Education for a consortium A Level provision between the schools. The ‘ 6th Form’ proposal is in advanced stages of development and we are confident that the bid will be approved in time for a September 2015 start. We are also in the latter stages of the sale of some of our school land that will fund a small capital expansion to house the increased numbers in the school. The sale will also allow for some of our current facilities to be developed.

School Visits I would like to welcome any prospective applicant the opportunity to visit the school. There are 3 dates for visits: Tuesday 4th March, Wednesday 5th March and Thursday 6th March. The visits will be from 9am to 11am on these 3 days and will give you the opportunity to see our school in action as well as having the opportunity to talk with our current headteacher, Paul Banks. If you would to arrange a visit please contact Mrs Sharon Jones at the school on [email protected] or on 020 8508 1173. I regret that we cannot accommodate visits to the school outside of the dates and times listed.

Application Form Applications will only be accepted on the online application form. As well as your application form, all applicants are required to complete a letter of application. We would ask that this letter has a maximum of 1500 words and covers the following areas: • The skills and qualities that you will bring to the post of headteacher at Roding Valley High School, including your experience of leadership at a whole school level • Your experience of leading and managing change • Your vision for the next stage of development at Roding Valley High School, including the establishment of our 6th Form Provision • Any other information that you feel is relevant to our application

Applications must be submitted by noon on Friday 14th March 2014 using the online application form only. We regret that applications cannot be submitted by post and late applications will not be considered for shortlisting. Interviews will take place on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd April 2014.

I look forward to receiving your application.

Paul Wershof Chair of Governors