Deputy Headteacher – Whole School Curriculum & Quality Assurance

Salary Range: L21 – L25 (£77,195 – £85,146 – to increase by 5.5% this term in line with the teachers’ pay rise to £81,440 – £89,829)

Start Date: 1st January 2025

The Governing Board at St Gregory’s Catholic High School seeks to appoint a Deputy Headteacher following the successful promotion of the previous post holder to a headship post. This post is for an outstanding candidate who is a practising Catholic with a successful track record of school improvement and a vision that matches our ambition for all children to realise their maximum potential.

Following our very recent positive Ofsted inspection in July 2024, the new candidate will have a strong foundation to build upon, time and opportunity to develop and grow within the role. Starting in January provides a positive platform in which to get to know the school for the long term.

This post was first advertised in June 2024 but was deferred until now as the school was inspected by Ofsted at that time and this meant governors and the head teacher were unavailable to be involved in a recruitment process.

St Gregory’s is at the heart of the Warrington Parishes within the Deanery of Warrington and Widnes situated in an area of substantial growth next to all of the key motorway routes in the North West. We take pride in our relationship with the local community, partner primary schools and our partnerships within the archdiocese.

Our school has been on an exciting journey of substantial growth and success over the past eight years. Our PAN has increased from 192 to 240 per year group and we are now well oversubscribed with a waiting list for admissions. A new building project which has seen the addition of a new teaching block including a STEM area, a new chapel and a new sports hall, is now complete and well established.

In February 2019, St Gregory’s was graded as ‘Outstanding’ by Liverpool Archdiocese under Section 48. As mentioned above, Ofsted inspected our school very recently in July 2024 and we were graded once again as a ‘Good’ school. The opening lines of the report read as follows:

“Pupils are proud to attend this school. They value the strong relationships that they have with their teachers. Pupils, including those who attend the specially resourced provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are well supported. This helps them to feel safe and happy. Pupils positively embrace the school’s values. For example, they are respectful and empathetic towards other people regardless of their culture or background.”

Behaviour and attendance is excellent at St Gregory’s and our community thrives on respectful and positive relationships between our staff and our pupils. Our parent body is extremely supportive and works in positive partnership with the school community. Academic outcomes are very strong and highly competitive nationally with all subjects performing above the national averages. We are proud that all of our pupils go on to successfully study at college and university or attain apprenticeships when they leave our school. Our class of 2024 have recently achieved record progress outcomes in their GCSE examinations.

We are now relishing the challenge of continuing our successful journey towards providing an outstanding whole school provision. Your qualities will include being an outstanding communicator, demonstrating commitment and resilience in the face of challenges and showing passion and an ambition for all children. You will lead by example and be a team player.

You will become part of an experienced and hardworking senior team that will consist of the headteacher, two deputy headteachers (including this post) and four assistant headteachers. We also have an excellent finance director who is part of the senior team and two additional associate assistant headteachers.

If selected for interview, you will need to demonstrate a successful track record of senior leadership experience and will currently be an experienced assistant headteacher or an existing and successful deputy headteacher at your current school who is looking for a fresh challenge and a different school context to work in.

St Gregory’s will provide a very strong platform to move on to successful headship if that is a route you wish to take in the future.

As the Deputy headteacher for Whole School Curriculum & Quality Assurance, your key responsibilities will be:

·        Devising and leading on a strategic approach to ensure the highest standards of achievement for our pupils

·        Whole school quality assurance and monitoring of academic standards as well as other key areas of school life

·        Overseeing strategic leadership of the subject leaders and academic staff

·        Ensuring the best CPD is in place for our staff members across the school

Opportunity to complete the NPQH will be available as will the opportunity to work with our wider network of partnership schools.

Tours of the school and meetings / phone calls with the Headteacher are warmly welcomed and will be treated with the strictest of confidentiality. Please email the Head teacher’s PA Mrs Hutton

(shutton@stgregoryshigh.com) to arrange a visit / discussion.

We look forward to welcoming you to discuss the great opportunity further with you.

This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. The successful applicant will be expected to undertake a criminal record check via the DBS.

Online checks of shortlisted candidates may be obtained which forms part of our Safer Recruitment procedures and KCSIE Guidance.

Closing date for applications which must be completed on a CES Senior Leadership Application Form, clearly addressing the main roles and responsibilities as listed above must be received by: Thursday 3rd October 2024 at 2pm.

Shortlisting and notice of selection for interview: Tuesday 8th October 2024.

Interview Dates: Week commencing 14th October 2024 – interviews will be over 2 days with day 1 being a full day and day 2 having the potential of being a partial day.