Director of Education

Job Title: Director of Education - Special Schools

Location: Esteem Multi Academy Central Offices are based at Lake View Drive, Sherwood Park, NG15 0DT. This role will require regular visits to all our school sites.

Salary: Leadership Grade Points 25-29 £89,830 - £99,067

Start date: Easter 2025

Contract: 37 hours per week, all year round

This role comes at an exciting time for our Trust as we continue to rapidly grow and develop across the East and West Midlands. Esteem MAT currently has fourteen special schools and alternative provisions (AP’s), including one mainstream primary school with an ERF for children with autism. We have big ambitions to become one of the leading trust’s nationally for SEND, as we look to expand further in neighbouring regions, to provide a ‘world-class’ education system for children and young people with SEND.

You will be an experienced Headteacher/Executive Headteacher of a special school. Alternatively, you will have relevant experience of evaluating the performance of special schools in a comparable role, such as an HMI, Ofsted inspector or LA/MAT school improvement advisor.  

We seek an exceptional individual to support the delivery of our Education Development and Improvement Framework (EDIF), with a focused determination to drive educational outcomes for pupils with SEND. You will have a forensic focus on the progress and experience of every pupil. Extensive knowledge and understanding of current evidence-based strategies for improving the quality of education in special schools, and the ability to ensure the effective implementation of these strategies, is essential. You will be committed to ensuring every pupil is provided with a high quality and inclusive education within our schools.

This will be a demanding but incredibly rewarding role. You will work alongside, be fully supported, and warmly welcomed by an exceptionally talented central education team. The team is strategically led by our Chief Education Officer, Clive Lawrence, OBE. The central education team also includes a Director of Education (AP specialist), Director of Safeguarding, Data Manager, plus a wider team of school improvement advisors and family support staff.

The successful candidate will manage their own diary, providing improvement and quality assurance work to our schools based upon ‘educational risk’. In addition, the role will entail some outward facing work, as and when commissioned by the DfE, LA’s and other MAT’s. Given the current educational/SEND landscape, we are wanting someone who will fully engage with policy development, initiatives and research at a local and national level.

Benefits include Teachers’ Pension Scheme, mileage allowance paid at 45p per mile, Westfield Health membership, access to a range of CPD opportunities, some home based working.

For further information, including an informal discussion about the role or to visit our trust, please contact Clive Lawrence, OBE (Chief Education Officer), on 01623 859886, via email to HR@esteemmat.co.uk or visit our website at www.esteemmat.co.uk/vacancies.  Please use the relevant application form on the MAT website. CV’s alone will not be accepted.

Closing date for applications: Sunday 24 November 2024 (23:59)

Shortlisting: Monday 25 November 2024

Interview date: 11, 12 or 13 December 2024

Esteem Multi-Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all its students.   We expect all staff, volunteers and agency staff to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be required to undertake a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided.