Head of Key Stage

Do you want to be part of a leadership team where you will help make a lasting impact on our students, many of whom are disadvantaged, and rapidly accelerate their progress? 

Do you want to work in a school where you are free to teach, with impeccable student behaviour and unhindered by bureaucracy? 

Astrea Academy Trust is looking for a candidate who is ready to take their next step in leadership to become a Head of Key Stage at Astrea Academy Woodfields. This is an excellent opportunity for an existing or aspiring middle leader with a track record of impact in leading a year group or subject area. The position is a great match for someone who shares the Trust’s vision for educational excellence and has the focus to drive rapid, transformational improvement. 

We are committed to a knowledge-rich curriculum and a traditional approach to teaching, behaviour and culture. We believe that schools must teach powerful knowledge, ’the best that has been thought and said’ and an ‘entitlement curriculum’ for all. We believe in explicit instruction and have been greatly influenced by Lemov’s ‘Teach Like A Champion’, Rosenshine and recent developments in cognitive science. We believe that the creation of a scholarly culture that is warm and strict, disciplined and joyful, where there is ‘purpose not power’, ensuring impeccable behaviour, where teachers can focus on teaching and pupils can focus on learning, underpins everything.

We are values-driven and our vision is to provide an inclusive, aspirational and academic education for all our students, so that all of them will learn, thrive and lead successful lives. We are unapologetically ambitious for every child, no matter what their background, prior attainment or needs. We want to ensure that all our students have the option to be able to go to university or aspirational alternative. We are not going to reduce expectations because of a child’s background or home life, or because they are new to English or have a special education need. In fact, the opposite is true. It is our job to redouble our efforts to help children overcome these barriers so that they can flourish.

We value our staff highly and treat workload very seriously. Our systems are high leverage, ensuring you can really focus on your core purpose – teaching, in a sustainable way, unhindered by bureaucracy or poor behaviour.

What we offer:

• Huge support and progression opportunities
• A knowledge rich curriculum, built on ‘powerful knowledge’ and a traditional T&L approach built around Rosenshine and TLAC
• Collaborative planning with centralised, shared units of work and resources
• Excellent support from the Astrea Trust Central team
• A feedback policy focused on whole class feedback – no onerous marking policies
• Disruption-free learning and a ‘warm/strict’ behaviour system
• Highly visible/supportive senior leaders who have your back
• Centralised detentions, including homework detentions (you do not need to organise/run/chase them at all)
• No formal graded lesson observations – just ongoing ‘no-stakes’ instructional coaching, helping you to continuously develop
• Excellent ongoing CPD, career development and promotion opportunities across the Astrea South Yorkshire region
• Opportunity to complete NPQs
• An unrivalled professional progression model
• A very central location accessible to motorways and public transport.

What we are looking for:

The successful candidate will be:

• A highly effective or aspiring middle leader, who is able to motivate and encourage colleagues to the shared vision 
• Aligned to our values and mission. If you are the type of person who fits with our culture, you will love working here 
• Someone who passionately believes that all children can achieve, no matter what their starting point, background or needs. Someone that does not make excuses for what children can achieve. 

Interested in applying?

If this is something you are interested in, looking for a new challenge, have a passion for education or maybe all of the above, take a look at the Applicant Brief to find out more about the role and how to apply.

We actively welcome visits and would be delighted to show you around our academy to appreciate fully our excellent learning environment.

Astrea Academy Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All posts are subject to satisfactory background checks including references and enhanced DBS checks.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early should we receive an overwhelming response.  Interviews will be held as soon as possible after the closing date.

Further information

For an informal conversation about the role and the journey we are on as a school, or to arrange a visit, please get in touch - admin@astreawoodfields.org

If you are joining us from another school, academy or trust we recognise your continuous service date with confirmation from your current employer. This can be discussed in more detail at interview.