Assistant Headteacher

Full Job Description

How would you like to be paid for five days but only work four*?

Our colleagues’ wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at OFG, so we’re always looking for new ways to improve everyone’s work/life balance. We’re taking part in a trial of the 4-Day Working Week, meaning that you could be working one day less a week (or equivalent).

If the trial is a success, we’ll be rolling the 4DWW out across the Group – so there’s never been a more exciting time to join #teamOFG!

Job Title:    Assistant Headteacher 

Location:   Woodside Park School, Penge, SE20 8QU 

Salary:        Up to £58,000 per annum

Hours:        38.5 hours per week, Monday to Friday 

Contract:    Permanent, Term Time only 

Start:          September 2025

UK applicants only. This role does not offer sponsorship.

We are recruiting an Assistant Headteacher with Teaching and Learning Responsibilities to join our amazing team at Woodside Park School in Penge, South-East London, part of Options Autism.

About the role

The Assistant Headteacher will take lead for the whole school responsibility for Teaching & Learning ensuring the best possible curriculum offer, provision, well-being, progress and achievement for all pupils through careful monitoring and holding staff to account for the progress their pupils make.

As part of their Teaching Responsibilities, they will take a creative approach to teaching pupils according to their educational needs, ensuring delivery of the school curriculum in a way that maximises pupil's achievement and ability to develop, supported by the school and Outcomes First Group’s national support team. The Assistant Headteacher will be a subject specialist in either Maths, English or Science.

Offered on a permanent basis, this role would suit a proactive individual with middle leadership experience to date. Ideally, with SEN experience, however we welcome candidates from other sectors who have a keen interest to transfer their existing skills into the SEN Independent Sector. The successful candidate will need to demonstrate an understanding and acceptance of our Trauma Informed Approaches to supporting Positive Behaviour Management. In-depth training from Lead Clinicians will be provided to support upskilling of knowledge on the job. 

Essential Requirements

• Experience of Ofsted framework and inspection
• Experience of working with pupils/young people with ASD
• Experience of managing staff
• Experience of leading one or more curriculum areas
• Ability to motivate a team and individuals
• Excellent organisation and time management skills
• Excellent knowledge of safeguarding procedures
• Excellent communication skills, verbal and written
• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS/QTLS) with NPQ accreditation or willingness to work towards an NPQ course within 12 months of employment start date
• Strong adaptable communication style
• Flexible working approaches
• Adaptable self-management skills of own workload
• Experience in managing an education staff team
• Ability to work to deadlines consistently
• Relevant teaching qualification with proven experience as middle leader or Teacher with lead responsibilities.
• Knowledge of Autism, Specialist Curriculum and SEND Code of Practice 

About us

At Woodside Park School, we provide specialist education for 36 pupils, aged between 7 and 11. Our pupils are taught in smaller class sizes and all pupils work towards a variety of qualifications dependent on their needs and ability.

For over 16 years Options Autism have provided care and education to pupils, young people and adults with autism, complex needs and learning difficulties. As part of Outcomes First Group, we are leading our sector in setting and delivering new approaches that provide measurable outcomes for those in our care.

We are really proud to say that in 2024, Outcomes First Group were officially certified as a ‘Great Place to Work’ for the fifth year running.

Why join Options Autism?

Benefits

Your health and wellbeing are important to us, so you’ll get an exceptional reward package including:

• Life Assurance
• Pension scheme with options to increase your contributions
• “Your Wellbeing Matters” – access to a wide range of first-class mental health support services and physical health checks

And a market-leading benefit offering through our Flexible Benefits Platform, Vista, enables you to choose the package that’s right for you, including:

• A wide range of health, wellbeing, and insurance benefits
• 100’s of discount options valid in the UK and abroad
• Cycle to Work Schemes
• Electric Car Purchase Scheme
• Critical illness cover

And that’s not all, we place the outcomes of the pupils and vulnerable young adults in our services at the heart of everything we do, so you’ll wake every day in the knowledge that your role will have a significant positive impact on the lives of others.

We are committed to the safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils and young people. All applicants will be subject to social media checks and successful applicants to a fully enhanced DBS.

We reserve the right to close the vacancy early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.

*You’ll work 80% of your contractual hours for 100% of your pay, giving you more time to do the things that make you happy. 4DWW is subject to successful completion of probation and is not a contractual benefit

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