St Michael’s Junior School

Headteacher Recruitment Pack

Welcome from our Chair of Governors

Dear Applicant,

Thank you for the interest you have shown in becoming the Headteacher of our wonderful school which is at an exciting stage of growth and development. I am delighted to be able to send you this pack of information about the school and the local community which I hope will help you in deciding if this is the position for you.

We are looking for a Headteacher who can rise to the challenge of delivering an excellent standard of education for our pupils, leading to a good or better Ofsted judgement whilst holding true to the values we believe in. This is a real chance for a dynamic leader to make a difference as the school currently faces some serious challenges to improvement. We currently have an interim headteacher in place until the end of August 2018, who continues to drive us forward, and are therefore looking to appoint a permanent Headteacher of vision, passion and energy to build on our strengths and take us to the next level, from September 2018.

Here at St Michael’s Junior School we pride ourselves on being a family where love, nurture and valuing the individual child are our motivating forces. St Michael’s sits at the heart of the vibrant and colourful community of Twerton on the Southern edge of Bath. The children come from a variety of backgrounds and subsequently many have significant needs. The diverse range of needs and experiences within the community presents some unique challenges but also offers many exciting and rewarding opportunities. We embrace these opportunities and have a school, built on a strong Christian ethos, which is inclusive, child-centred and looks to give everyone, no matter what their background and experience, the best possible start to life.

As a school we are in the process of converting to an Academy as part of the Bath Wells Multi Academy Trust. We anticipate this process to be completed on 1st April, ahead of the September 2018 start date and so the Job Description and Person Specification reflects this. Until this point we are still a Bath & North East Somerset maintained school and so the application process is via their online application form.

We have a strong and active Governing Body who are committed to supporting school leaders and work closely with the leadership team to deliver the best outcomes possible for the families we serve.

Our new Headteacher will play an active role in the St Michael’s family, be a good communicator, visible, approachable, able to inspire staff and parents/carers, value the individual whilst celebrating community and above all lead by example.

I strongly encourage you to come and visit us where we will gladly show you around and give you a feel for the St Michael’s family in which we are justifiably proud. If you would like to visit, then we have set aside Wednesday 7th or Friday 9th February when someone will be available to guide you round. Please contact our Business Manager Karen Bond to arrange a specific time on one of these days:

Yours Sincerely

Mark Lawrence

Chair of Governors

Application Process

Further Information:

Open Days:

Open Days will be held on Wednesday 7th February and Friday 9th February. To make a time on one of these days to come and visit us then please email our Business Manager Karen Bond: or call 01225 421888

Application and Interview Process:

  • Closing date: Midday Tuesday 20th February 2018
  • Shortlisting: Thursday 22nd February 2018
  • Interviews: Wednesday 7th March and Thursday 8th March 2018
  • References for shortlisted applicants will be sought prior to the interview

Appointment Timescale:Job starts 1st September 2018

About the Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust

The school intends to convert to an Academy as part of the Bath & Wells Diocesan Academies Trust (“the Academy Trust”) on 1 April 2018. Assuming this conversion goes ahead, all of the staff at the school will transfer, under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, to the Academy Trust. Consequently, if and when that conversion takes place, the successful candidate to this post will transfer from the school to the Academy Trust with the same terms. If you have any questions about this then please contact Joanne Moore, Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust HR Manager on 01749 372700.

The family of schools within the Trust has been growing since 2012 and stretches across the area of The Diocese of Bath & Wells. Our primary schools come in all sizes and serve both rural and urban communities, but we are all bound together with a common ethos and determination to provide the best possible learning opportunities for our children.

Each school within the Trust is unique and distinctive and we are committed to celebrating the local context of each school. Our vision is for all our schools to become highly successful and meet the needs of the community in which they serve.

The purpose of the Trust is to secure the rapid and sustained improvement of all of its academies. The Trust enables and encourages schools to work together, share expertise and maximise resources. We strive for a family of Bath & Wells academies that offer a great learning experience for every child.

We seek to ensure the best possible educational outcome for every child. We believe that every child has the right to a good education and this will be achieved within a distinctively Christian context, valuing each child as an individual. For more information about the Trust please visit

We highly value every staff member and recognise that our aims and objectives cannot be achieved without the hard work and commitment of every individual. We are committed to our people offer, to always working within our values, supporting staff wellbeing and providing all staff with a voice. Working for the Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust offers excellent professional development opportunities, a supportive and collaborative network, enhanced staff benefits. For more information please visit the ‘working for us’ section on our website:

“Life in all its fullness” John 10:10

About St Michael’s Junior School

St Michael’s Junior School is situated in the heart of Twerton in Bath. We are proud to be a Church school within the Bath and Wells Diocese with strong links to St Michael’s Church and the wider community. We currently have 155 pupils aged 7-11 spread over 6 classes. We believe in being a values-led, child-centred school built on Christian Distinctiveness. We believe we have a strong tradition of providing pastoral care, nurture and additional support in helping pupils overcome adversity in their lives to achieve beyond what they may believe to be possible.

The community of Twerton sits on the south-west edge of Bath. It is a mixed community with higher unemployment and crime rates, lower mobility and education attainment and a life expectancy 7 years less, than the rest of the city. This presents some challenges but also an opportunity to make a real impact in changing the narrative of the lives of children and families in the community. As a result of some of these factors St Michael’s has pupils from a variety of backgrounds, with a range of needs and abilities. We are looking for a Headteacher who has significant understanding and experience of inspiring pupils with a range of Special Educational Needs, as well as significant experience of implementing positive behaviour management strategies in challenging circumstances.

As a school we are in a challenging place, in terms of our educational outcomes, and so we are looking for a dynamic leader who can rise to the challenge of raising expectations, motivating and inspiring staff and encouraging parents and carers to value an aspirational education for their children. We have been through a difficult period with current assessments indicating that the school would fail to meet its previous judgement of good. These things may present a challenge but are also a fantastic opportunity, for the right person, to help us reach our potential to be a thriving, heartbeat at the centre of the community.

As a church school, with a recent Outstanding SIAMS judgement, we strive to embed Christian values in all that we do. They are the bedrock of our school community and we want all our pupils, parents and staff to feel valued, nurtured, cared for and inspired, in order to flourish and be all that they can be. We understand that not every pupil will leave St Michael’s as a Maths genius (although we believe some can be) but we hope that all will leave at the end of year 6 having been believed in, given a range of opportunities, with raised expectations of what they can achieve and an understanding of their intrinsic worth. We have strong and active links with St Michael’s church in Twerton, and work in partnership with them to employ a Chaplain within the school.

We are in a transitional period as we make the move towards academisation. The Governors have committed the school to become a part of the Bath and Wells Multi Academy Trust. The proposed date of conversion is April 2018 and this is an exciting opportunity for a Headteacher to join us and lead us forward as we start this new journey together.

Despite some of the challenges we are currently facing, we are also hugely proud of our school. We have lovely, creative and able children who deserve the very best. We are determined to find an experienced leader who sees a challenge as an opportunity, and can help us become the school we all know we can be at the heart of our community.

For more information on the school and/or to access our Ofsted report please check our website:

We believe together we can

We aim to:

  • Be compassionate, creative and offer friendship, forgiveness and trust.
  • Be hardworking and learn from our mistakes.
  • Be respectful of one another and are thankful for diversity.
  • Persevere through challenges and are humble in success.
  • Seek inspiration in ourselves, our peers, our communities and the world.
  • Hope for peace, knowledge and wisdom.
  • Believe together we can!

St Michael’s Children’s Promise

Together we grow and share

We love making stuff

We are friendly, forgiving and show respect

Together we learn and care

We try hard and aren’t big headed

Together we laugh and trust

We look around us for help if we need it

And inside ourselves we hope for peace

Believing together we can

Pupils would like their Headteacher to…

Be Fun with a Good Sense of Humour

Be Kind not Meanand Doesn’t Shout

Be Supportive

Believe in Play

EncourageSportand Creativity

Have a Good and Positive Attitude

Be Adventurous and “Takes Us On Trips”

Listen and Care

Be someone who “Makes Our Days Good and Fun”

Job Description

Post: Headteacher

School:St Michael’s Junior School

Responsible to: The Schools Local Governing Board and Directors of The Bath & Wells Multi-Academy Trust (MAT)

Overriding Requirements

The Headteacher shall carry out his/her professional duties in accordance with the most up to date School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD), National Standards of Excellence for Headteachers and the Burgundy Book, as amended or modified by the Bath & Wells Multi Academy Trust (hereafter referred to as the MAT).

Job Purpose

The core purpose of the Headteacher is to provide professional leadership and management for the school.

With the Local Governing Board and the MAT Leadership Team, the Headteacher provides vision, leadership and direction for the school and ensures that it is managed and organised to meet its aims and targets. The Headteacher also seeks to secure the commitment of the wider community to the school by developing and maintaining appropriate networks and relationships and, in particular, those that promote the school’s Christian ethos.

The Headteacher is accountable to the Local Governing Board and MAT Directors for ensuring the educational success of the school within the overall framework of the MAT strategic plan as well as the schools strategic plans. They are responsible for the quality of teaching and learning, the internal organisation, management of the school and for leading and managing staff. They should create a culture of constant improvement and be an inspirational leader, committed to the highest achievement for all in all areas of the school’s and wider organisations work.

Key Relationships

The Headteacher will establish and maintain effective working relationships with:

  • The MAT’s Executive Leadership and Central Team.
  • The school's Local Governing Board.
  • The MAT’s Board of Directors.
  • The Diocese of Bath and Wells.
  • The Headteachers of local secondary schools.
  • The Headteacher and SLT of Twerton Infant school
  • Headteachers of other local primary and special schools, particularly those primary schools that are members of the MAT.
  • Other services and agencies for children including social care, health care and the police.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

The following duties are to be carried out in consultation with as appropriate, the Local Governing Board, the MAT’s Board of Directors, MAT Executive Leadership Team and Central Team, the Diocese of Bath and Wells Officers, the staff and parents.

A.Strategic Direction and Development

1.Develop a strategic view for the school within its Church community, identifying and determining its philosophy, overall aims and targets.

2.Create and develop a strategic plan for the school, which is underpinned by sound financial planning and management, identifies priorities and targets aimed at raising achievement and is critical to sustaining school improvement.

3.Consult, develop, implement, monitor, review and evaluate policies for the delivery of the overall aims and objectives, ensuring these take account of national and global trends, local and school data, and inspection and research findings.

4.Create an ethos which provides a collaborative educational vision of excellence and direction which secures effective teaching and successful learning and achievement for pupils including sustained improvement in their spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development.

5.Ensure the commitment of all those involved in the school to its vision, aims and objectives.

6.Ensure that the management and organisation of the school supports its vision and aims and objectives.

B.Learning and Teaching

1.Determine, organise and implement a diverse, flexible appropriate curriculum for the school and implement an effective assessment framework.

2.Create and maintain an environment and code of behaviour which promotes and secures good teaching, effective learning, high standards of achievement, good behaviour and discipline.

3.Secure and sustain effective teaching and learning throughout the school by monitoring and evaluating the standards of learning and teaching, ensuring that appropriate standards of professional performance are established and maintained and that underperformance at all levels is challenged and addressed.

4.Assess, monitor and evaluate the curriculum in order to identify and act upon areas for improvement and to develop a personalised learning culture within the school which promotes independent learning.

5.Produce and revise, as appropriate, a School Development Plan (SDP) relevant to the needs of the school, the development of the pupils and within the potential resources available to the school.

6.Monitor and evaluate the quality of learning and teaching in the school, including those pupils with special educational needs, using data to support and implement strategies for ensuring inclusion, diversity and access.

7.Develop and maintain effective partnerships with parents, carers, the community, other schools, clergy and the local worshipping communities. Extend pupils’ learning experiences, their achievement and personal development, by creatingeffective links with business and industry, and promote outdoor learning through trips, residential visits and related opportunities.

8.Participate, to such an extent as may be appropriate, and in consultation with the MAT Executive Leadership Team and the schools Local Governing Board, in the teaching of pupils in the school, including the provision of cover for absent teachers.

C.Leading, Managing and Deploying Staff

1.In consultation with the Local Governing Board and the MAT Leadership Team, take the lead role in the selection and recruitment of the teaching and support staff in seeking to ensure the best available people are appointed.

2.Manage the arrangements for the deployment and effective allocation of work to and supervision of all teaching and support staff in the school, to maximise their skills and contribution to the improvement of the quality of the education provided and the standards achieved.

3.In accordance with MAT policies implement and sustain effective systems for the effective induction of staff and the management of staff performance, participating in arrangements for the appraisal of own performance and the appraisal and performance management of teaching and support staff as appropriate.

4.Lead professional development of the staff by example, ensuring that all staff have access to advice, training and development opportunities appropriate to their needs, including needs identified through performance management systems in accordance with the policies of the Local Governing Board, the School Development Plan and the MAT, as appropriate.

5.Ensure that teachers at the school receive information they need in order to carry out their professional duties.

6.Ensure that professional duties and conditions of employment as set out in local and national conditions of service, as modified by the MAT, for Headteachers, teachers and support staff are fulfilled.