Deputy Headteacher - Inclusion

Start date: September 2025

Closing date: Monday 28th April 8:00am

Shortlisting date: Wednesday 30th April 2025

Interview date: Friday 9th May 2025

Salary Range: L20-L24

Kingsdown School has much to offer and we are at an exciting stage in our journey. Across every team in the school, we are all extremely proud of what we have achieved in the last 5 years for our students. That said, we remain ambitious for the future direction and further development of the school. We had a positive visit from Ofsted when they visited on 18th March and their report is due to be published during the first week back after Easter.

This is a post where you will lead on the strategic direction of the school and specifically in the area of Inclusion. Your commitment to improving the Quality of Education and thereby improving outcomes for all students is pivotal to the role.

Where next:

The vision for Kingsdown School was defined by all stakeholders - a school of excellence bursting with pride and ambition. The wheel of excellence is our visual representation of the school’s three strategic priorities and the nine strategic foci areas. Our mission statement / what Kingsdown is all about is that we “champion each and every student”.

Our Deputy Headteacher has been at Kingsdown School since September 2023 and has recently been promoted to Headteacher. As a result, we are looking for a new strategic lead to join our Senior Leadership Team and the Kingsdown Family to champion all aspects of Inclusion.

Swindon & Kingsdown:

Kingsdown is an 11 to 16, mixed school for 1035 students. We have close on 30% who are DA and 23% who are SEND. We have an on site SRP for Autism with a provision for 15 students. Our students behave well and have high expectations and aspirations for their futures. We are full and over subscribed in Years 7 - 10.

We are proud to serve our community. Our parents work with and in partnership with us. On the whole, our students come from Stratton, Penhill & Pinehurst. 

What are we looking for in our new Deputy Head:

We are seeking an intelligent, driven, and visionary professional, someone who thrives on challenge and thinks creatively. Our ideal candidate is deeply committed to removing barriers to success and making a meaningful difference in the lives of students and staff alike.

You will be someone who builds strong, authentic relationships with ease and who leads with both empathy and high expectations. As a leader of School Leaders, you will inspire, motivate, and unlock the potential in others—leading not just by direction, but by example.

Do please take a look at our website and if you would like to arrange a visit please contact Jude Ellis (email address in attached document). We would like to offer you the following three times:

Tuesday 22nd April - 11.00am - 12.30pm

Wednesday 23rd April 9.00am - 11.00am

Thursday 24th April 2.00pm - 3.30pm

What we can offer you:

Join our Kingsdown Family and you will join a team who genuinely care and champion each and every student and each and every member of the Kingsdown team.

At Kingsdown, we know that staff and students thrive in a ‘healthy work culture’ and the wellbeing of staff and student outcomes is inextricably linked. We are committed to providing the best working and learning environment for all. The RLT has a staff charter and strong values, we uphold these values and commitments, and further build on these with our Wellbeing Strategy.

One of the core values of the RLT is that ‘everyone is learning’ and at Kingsdown we ensure each person has the personalised CPLD that they deserve. We do this through a variety of programmes, including our Restless Teacher Programme that allows all staff to take a lead on their own professional development, with the support of colleagues within the school. We are also very excited to be launching our coaching model this year, to allow staff the opportunity to be coached and develop their teaching practice further, whatever stage of their career they are in. High quality CPLD and training are an integral part of our meeting schedule and time is given to curriculum teams to collaborate and learn from each other. Alongside this we have a personalised induction programme that allows for new staff members to join us feeling supported and welcomed from day one. All ECTs have time with their mentors each week and with our team of Professional tutors.

Education has the power to change lives, communities and society for the better. At RLT we believe that we can achieve more for our pupils, trainees, staff and communities by working together rather than alone. Schools in RLT are united by a common belief in the benefits of working together, and by our commitment to shared principles.

OUR VISION is for our schools and SCITT to improve rapidly, continuously and sustainably: to be better faster together.

OUR ‘WHY?’ is that children and young people ‘only get one go’ in school and therefore as part of RLT we aim to ensure the best possible ‘go’ for our pupils.

OUR ‘HOW?’ is through the highest support and challenge for our schools and each other, underpinned by our principles.

Our employees benefit from a wide variety of support including extensive continuing professional learning and development opportunities, wellbeing and staff networks and access to Defined Benefit Pension Schemes (TPS and LGPS) for all staff. For more information on what it is like to work for the Trust, and the benefits you could access, please see our “Working in RLT” guide.

This role includes regulated activity relevant to children.

The River Learning Trust and Kingsdown School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and preventing extremism. The Trust is required to conduct a variety of checks and online searches about you as part of their recruitment process in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. It is an offence to apply for certain roles within schools if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children.

For all RLT Safer Recruitment Documentation candidates should click on the RLT Safer Recruitment Documents for Candidates link in the attached document.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. For further guidance for applicants click on the List of offences that are not filtered link in the attached pack.