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Principal

Principal

St Ivo Academy

Cambridgeshire

  • £94,447 - £109,411 per year
  • Quick apply
  • Expired
Salary:
L31-L37
Job type:
Full Time, Permanent
Start date:
September 2023
Apply by:
12 March 2023

Job overview

Astrea Academy Trust is looking for an experienced senior leader to become the new Principal at St Ivo Academy.

St Ivo is at a very exciting stage of its rapid improvement journey. The position provides a genuinely fantastic opportunity to lead a school with as it takes important steps towards excellence. Significant improvements have been made since the Ofsted inspection in November 2021, in particular in the latter part of the autumn term and into spring. The academy has pledged to provide a rich, broad and varied education to all the pupils it serves.

The position is a great match for someone who shares the Trust’s vision for educational excellence and has the focus to drive improvement at a pace, building on the school’s strong academic foundations. The academy and Trust are committed to a knowledge-rich curriculum and a traditional approach to teaching, behaviour and culture.

There is flexibility on when this post starts with options for both September 2023, or sooner, depending on the successful applicant.

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.

Astrea will support the Principal with the expertise of a Regional Director, as well as a highly effective team of national subject leads and Central Support for Finance, HR, Estates and other functions.

This position is open to both experienced and aspiring Principals with a proven track record of school improvement. If you are aligned to our mission and values, have a strong track record of improving young people’s education and a drive to do more, we very much look forward to hearing from you.


We would encourage you to arrange a conversation with the Regional Director (Secondary), Jo Myhill-Johnson, ahead of the interview date in February. To arrange a telephone or Teams call, please contact Jo.Myhill-Johnson@astreaacademytrust.org

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. Posts are subject to enhanced DBS checks. 

Attached documents

About St Ivo Academy

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+44 1480 375400

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St Ivo is a large 11-18 comprehensive academy in the town of St Ives, Cambridgeshire. We have around 1700 students with around 300 in our Sixth Form. The school is 70 years old and is proud of its place within the local community. We are a truly comprehensive and inclusive academy. This is reflected in our approach to all areas of our work, from supporting students preparing for Oxbridge through to working with the most vulnerable St Ivo embraces everyone.

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 Astrea central team colleagues
  • Opportunity to teach up to A Level
  • 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/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 Cambridgeshire region
  • Opportunity to complete NPQs
  • An unrivalled professional progression model
  • A very pleasant location in beautiful Cambridgeshire


What we are looking for


  • Highly effective professionals with excellent knowledge in their area of expertise
  • Colleagues who are aligned to our values and mission. If you are the type of person who fits with our culture, you will love working here.
  • Colleagues 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.


We look forward to hearing from you.  

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Applications closed