Headteacher Application Pack Fen Drayton Primary School www.fendraytonprimary.co.uk Cootes Lane facebook.com/fendraytonprimaryschool Fen Drayton Cambridge CB24 4SL Contents A Letter from the Headteacher......................................................................................3 A Letter from the Chair of Governors............................................................................5 Our School....................................................................................................................6 Overview............................................................................................................6 Staff Team..........................................................................................................6 Curriculum..........................................................................................................7 Inclusive Environment........................................................................................7 Further Information............................................................................................8 Vision and Values.........................................................................................................9 Achievement and Progress.........................................................................................10 Key Stage Two: at expected levels or above standard....................................10 Key Stage Two: greater depth..........................................................................10 Key Stage One: at expected levels or above standard....................................10 Key Stage One: greater depth.........................................................................10 EYFS: good level of development....................................................................10 Year One: phonics screening test....................................................................10 School Development Priorities................................................................................... 11 Extra-Curricular Activities........................................................................................... 12 School Statistics.........................................................................................................13 Overview...........................................................................................................13 Staffing Structure..............................................................................................13 Class Structure.................................................................................................13 Local Networks.................................................................................................13 Financial Position.............................................................................................14 Parents and Teachers Association and Fen Drayton 10k Race.......................14 Pupil Voice..................................................................................................................15 Views from Our Staff...................................................................................................16 Views from Ofsted.......................................................................................................17 Looking Ahead............................................................................................................18 School Premises.........................................................................................................19 Local Context..............................................................................................................20 The Appointment Process.......................................................................................... 21 Timeline........................................................................................................... 21 Applications..................................................................................................... 21 Interview Process............................................................................................ 22 Headteacher Job Description.....................................................................................23 Person Specification...................................................................................................26 Support For Newly Appointed Primary School Headteachers....................................28 2 A Letter from the Headteacher Dear Applicant, Welcome to Fen Drayton Primary School. This is a small and very welcoming school with an experienced group of staff, friendly children, and supportive parents and governors. I hope you will decide to make an application as there is no better place to start or develop your career as a headteacher. I have been head of this wonderful little school for six years and will be sorry to move on. There are challenges ahead, as there are for all small schools, but the whole community is dedicated and determined and wholly behind the leadership and staff. The staff are a great team and very experienced. We have expertise in almost every area of the curriculum, despite being few in number. They are creative and hardworking and enjoy getting together as a whole school to share special days, trips out and working on cross-age group projects. The headteacher is very much one among equals as we work together to make decisions about the future of the school and share out the tasks which need to be done. The children are enthusiastic, polite and ready to learn. We have 5 Rs in our school: responsibility, resilience, resourcefulness, readiness and reflectiveness. The children use these to help them become better learners. As they arrive in school in a small group, they settle in very quickly with the help of their Year 6 and Year 1 buddies. Each child grows in confidence and capability as they progress through the four classes. By the time they reach Year 6, they are a tight-knit team who are eager to take on the responsibilities of being at the top of the school, working with their class teacher to prepare for the transition to secondary school. There are various ‘rites of passage’ which the children look forward to as they move into each new class, but are open to new ideas and changes. Our Governing Body is strong and active. It consists of a mixture of experienced and new members, parents and community members and has robust, effective processes and structures. Our current chair, Philippa, is highly supportive and keen to ensure strong succession so that the Governing Body goes from strength to strength into the future. I have always found the governors to be empathetic but challenging and a very dedicated group of people. We have a committed and supportive parent body. Most of our families live in Fen Drayton, but there are a few who come in from nearby villages. They have chosen the school because they value its family feel and friendly ethos and are committed to supporting it. Slow to grumble and quick to praise, they always come along to events and support the school’s efforts. We have an active PTA which raises around £4000 per year and provides social events for the children as well as fundraising events for the school. We are committed to an integrated curriculum. We believe that learning needs to make sense to children, so our termly plans are built around topics which are either history or geography-based. Our literacy and arts lessons use the topic as context as we develop the 3 A Letter from the Headteacher subject-specific skills for each year group. Maths, science and other subjects are taught separately where they do not link naturally to the topic, but we are conscious that we need to build sequentially on the children’s learning. We have always been committed to providing the full range of curriculum subjects from Year 1 to Year 6, so have not needed to make significant changes in the light of the new Ofsted framework. Each of our teachers and level 4 TAs has responsibility for at least one curriculum subject, and we are developing assessments and monitoring structures for them. Special days are a highly-prized feature of our curriculum offer. Once or twice a half term, a member of staff takes responsibility for organising a subject-based day of learning for the whole school, such as science day or creative day. Some coincide with national days, such as World Book Day, while others are spread over a longer period, such as computing week or personal safety week. The children love these changes to our usual routine and look forward to each one eagerly. One of our best features is that the size of our school means that each of the staff gets to know all of the children very well. This creates a family-style atmosphere which ensures that children feel safe and happy, and staff feel engaged and included. I have really enjoyed being part of it and am sure you will too. Regards, Claire Turner Headteacher 4 A Letter from the Chair of Governors Dear Candidate, Thank you for expressing an interest in the role of headteacher. Fen Drayton Primary School is a small school which plays a big part in the lives of our local community. We are proud of many aspects of our school, but we’re particularly proud of our dedicated and experienced staff who lead a broad and varied curriculum, ensuring we get the best out of every child. From the very start of our pupils’ time in reception to the end of Year 6 we see children grow in confidence and ability, ready to take on