All about the Role
As Headteacher for Peterborough Virtual School, you will provide strategic leadership for the Virtual School, ensuring the local authority fulfils its statutory responsibilities to promote the educational achievement of all children known and previously known to social care. You will also lead the Virtual School's work in supporting care leavers and overseeing tracking and monitoring of education, employment and training (EET) participation.
Working across schools, colleges, social care, health and wider partners, you will influence policy, practice and provision to improve attendance, attainment, inclusion, progression and post-16 outcomes.
You will provide advice, support and challenge to headteachers, designated teachers, governors, social workers, carers and other professionals, ensuring children and young people receive the support they need to succeed.
Interviews for this role will take place W/C 24th August
Key responsibilities include:
Providing strategic leadership for the Virtual School and its statutory functions.
Promoting high aspirations and improved educational outcomes for children in care, care leavers and children with a social worker.
Overseeing the statutory EET tracking and monitoring function, using data to identify trends, challenge underperformance and drive improvement.
Monitoring the quality and impact of Personal Education Plans (PEPs), including the effective use of Pupil Premium Plus funding.
Building effective partnerships across education, social care, health and the voluntary sector to improve outcomes for vulnerable children and young people.
All about our Team
The Virtual School sits within Peterborough's Education Directorate and plays a crucial role in delivering the city's ambition for an inclusive, sustainable and thriving Peterborough. The team works collaboratively with schools, academies, further education providers, social care colleagues, local authority staff, governors, trustees, regional networks and national partners.
This is a team with a strong shared moral purpose: to remove barriers, raise ambition and strengthen opportunity for children and young people who need the education system to be at its very best. You will lead a service with four direct reports, twenty-seven indirect reports and a budget of approximately £1.5 million, ensuring resources are used effectively to add value and improve outcomes.
All about You
We are looking for a credible, resilient and ambitious senior leader who can combine professional expertise with relational, inclusive and collaborative leadership. You will be comfortable operating in complex political and organisational contexts and will be able to build confidence with school leaders, elected members, senior managers, partners, staff and external stakeholders.
You will bring:
Significant senior leadership or management experience in education or strategic operations.
A detailed understanding of relevant legislation, statutory duties and frameworks relating to children known to social care.
Substantial experience of using performance data to evaluate provision, identify risk and drive improvement.
Excellent communication, negotiation, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
A degree-level qualification or equivalent, Qualified Teacher Status or equivalent, and a clear commitment to continuing personal and professional development.
Our Benefits
We value our colleagues and have developed a number of benefits in addition to our generous annual leave starting at 25 days + bank holidays, sick pay and local government pension scheme…
Access to a range of benefits via our Employee Benefits Platform, including in-store and online discounts as well as our Cycle to Work and Home & Electronics schemes
Buy up to 10 days additional annual leave (pro-rata)
Access to car lease scheme
Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared Cost AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
Access to development opportunities including apprenticeships to support your personal and professional growth
Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
Access to our equality, diversity and inclusion network
Opportunities to receive Employee Recognition Awards
Our Commitments
We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer, dedicated to fostering diversity, advancing equity, and building an inclusive workplace for everyone. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and particularly encourage those from underrepresented groups, including disabled people, care leavers, and individuals from minority ethnic communities. Your unique perspectives and experiences are encouraged and valued and will play a vital role in our success.
We are committed to making our recruitment process as accessible as possible. If you are a person who has or considers yourself to have a disability and you require reasonable adjustments to the application or interview process, please contact
[email protected].
Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service. The Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
If you've already applied and completed the recruitment process for this position within the last three months, there's no need to reapply. We really appreciate your interest and thank you for considering us.
