Little Paxton Primary School Welcomes You Head Teacher Information and Application Pack March 2018 Learn Enjoy Achieve Essential Information Head Teacher Required for September 2018 Salary range: L17 – L23 th Application closing date: 9.00am 10 April 2018 th th Interview dates: 18 and 19 April 2018 Address: Little Paxton Primary School Gordon Road Little Paxton St Neots Cambs PE19 6NG Telephone: 01480 375600 Email: [email protected] Website: www.littlepaxton.cambs.sch.uk School Data: Please follow the links below for our most recent reports and data. Ofsted Report: https://reports.ofsted.gov.uk/inspection-reports/find-inspection-report/provider/ELS/110733 DfE Performance Tables: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/school/110733 School visits: You are warmly welcomed to visit our school before completing your application. Please contact Jackie, Fay or Bella in the School Office (01480 375600) to make an appointment. Little Paxton School is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from all sections of the community and applicants will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, religion, ethnic origin, nationality, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability or marital status. Letter from the Chair Little Paxton School Governing Body 14th March 2018 h Dear Colleague, Thank you for your interest in our school. As you will see in the following pages you will be joining our school at an exciting time. We offer you an opportunity to come and be part of a forward-looking, successful school; the challenge is to ensure that high standards are maintained whilst the school continues to grow and develop. Our Head Teacher is moving on after 7 years in post and we are seeking a highly motivated and inspirational leader to take the school forward on the next stage of its journey. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to shape the strategy for the coming years. The school is nearing the end of a planned period of growth. We have grown from being a one-form to a two-form entry school; in September there will be 13 classes (almost all single age group) which will rise to 14 classes once pupil numbers allow. We anticipate the roll being between 340 and 350 in September; it will ultimately reach 420. The school primarily serves the village of Little Paxton, although a number of families choose to come to our school from outside the village. The school had a 7 classroom extension built in 2016/2017 to accommodate the increase in pupil numbers that has resulted from several building developments within the village. Much of the existing school was extensively remodelled and refurbished during the construction work. The Head Teacher salary range has been reset to reflect recent changes and will be kept under review and amended as necessary as the school fills. The last full Ofsted inspection was in February 2012. The school was judged as outstanding; the area for development was identified as: ensuring that there is always sufficient challenge for older pupils in mixed age classes. Clearly much has changed since then but KS1 and KS2 results for 2017 demonstrate that effective teaching and learning remains the key feature at Little Paxton School enabling all our pupils to progress well and achieve high standards. We have worked hard to develop a robust assessment system for tracking pupil progress that is easy and efficient for staff, the senior leadership team and governors to use. As we near the end of this period of growth we are looking to the future and considering a number of options. On the school site there is a privately run before and after school club and also a preschool for 2 – 5 year olds run by a committee on a voluntary charity basis. Both these facilities are well used by parents in the village; in fact both are oversubscribed. We are currently investigating ways to increase the space available and also funding streams that would support us to do this longer term, we may eventually look at managing either or both as school-run settings. Another avenue of enquiry is the possibility of becoming an academy and forming or joining a multi academy trust. The Governing Body last investigated this possibility in 2016 and decided, at that time, that this was not the in the interests of the school. Although we have not, to date, seen compelling evidence to make us change this decision we are continually open to new ideas and may choose this option in the future. Our new Head Teacher would, of course, have a large part to play in any such decision. Little Paxton is very much an outward looking school, keen to innovate and embrace the new. We have formed a strong partnership with two other local schools: Priory Park Infant School and Priory Junior School – both in St Neots – and have worked on a number of very successful projects with them. We have, somewhat unusually, 1.6 Deputy Head Teachers: two people each on 80% contracts. Our staff have been involved in a number of local and national initiatives, most recently with the Maths Hub led by the CAM Academy Trust and also the SCITT program run by the Cambridge Teaching Schools Network. Several of our staff are accredited county moderators for end of key stage assessments. We actively encourage our staff to undertake new challenges and we see CPD as an essential ingredient in a successful school. In your role as Head Teacher at Little Paxton School you would have many opportunities to develop professionally. Little Paxton is not a school that stands still; we continually strive for improvement in all areas. The Staff and Governors are committed to working with the Head Teacher to make this happen. You are warmly invited to visit our school to see for yourself. Please contact Jackie, Fay or Bella in the School Office (telephone number 01480 375600). The successful candidate will be included in all decision making from the start; you would be welcome at Governing Body meetings, finance meetings (including budget setting for 2018/2019) and any staff recruitment necessary for next year. The children at Little Paxton are lively, enthusiastic learners who need a new Head Teacher who will ensure that, as the school continues to grow and embrace the challenges ahead, their needs remain at the forefront. Our staff are highly skilled and well motivated; they are all fully committed to maintaining the high standards that have already been achieved. If you have the drive, skills and experience to lead our school and be part of our future I do hope you will apply. I look forward to receiving your application. Yours sincerely, Penny Conway Chair of the Governing Body Little Paxton Primary School is special because … “Great teachers “Adults “We learn in who are very give you enthusiastic an exciting chances” about us getting a good way” education” “Personal “Young people who are warm, “A culture for touch and “Great enthusiastic and a learning for student Team Spirit” pleasure to be with” staff and centred” children” Some views from Pupils, Parents and Staff. Our new Head Teacher should be … “Someone who we “Encourages “Values and every can say ‘hello’ to in inspires” member of our classroom” staff” “Nice but “Delightful, strict when generous “Excellent “Honest” communicator” they need to and fair” be” Some views from Pupils, Parents and Staff. Little Paxton Village and School Little Paxton is a village of approximately 3500 residents, a couple of miles north of the market town of St Neots. It is within easy reach of the cities of Cambridge and Peterborough. Listed in the Domesday Book as ‘Pachestone’, the village in its current form took shape in the 1960s and ‘70s. This is when the school was built, although it has been substantially modified and extended since then. The village has very good transport links. The A1 and A14 trunk roads are nearby and St Neots is on the East Coast mainline with frequent trains to North and South. The Ouse Valley Way, a long distance footpath follow- ing the river Great Ouse from Buckingham to Kings Lynn, passes through the village. Paxton Pits Nature Re- serve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is on the edge of the village. With over 10km of walks and nature trails, it is used and enjoyed by our pupils. Paxton Lakes Sailing Club, based on a lake adjacent to the Nature Reserve, is a leisure amenity that serves the wider community. Sailing courses for children and adults are run during the summer months. Facilities within the village include a Doctor’s surgery, a pharmacy, the village church, a hairdressing salon, a small supermarket and newsagent, a take-away and the village pub. A number of businesses operate on the Conservatory Village situated on the northern edge of the village. Many groups and clubs meet in the Village Hall or in the local Scout Group Headquarters, as well as in the School hall or the Community Room on the school site. A Preschool and an Out-of-School Club operate on the school site. The school consists of fourteen classrooms, a large multi-use hall, a small studio hall, a food technology room, a library, five group rooms and several other group-work areas as well as associated offices and ancillary areas. Outside there is a large playground, with a dedicated Foundation Stage area. The school playing field has space for two football pitches, in addition to a quiet garden area and an outdoor classroom. As well as our Head and 2 Deputy Head Teachers (each working 0.8 FTE), there are 16 other members of the Teaching Staff (including the SENDCo and 4 Phase Leaders), 22 Teaching Assistants (including an Inclusion Worker and 3 HLTAs) and 19 members of the Support Staff.