Assistant Head Secondary & Post 16

Bexley is an outer London Borough with the best of both worlds, located between the hustle and bustle of London and the Garden of England, Kent. Within the borough we have award winning parks, open spaces and listed heritage sites.

We are seeking an enthusiastic and experienced professional for the role of Assistant Head of Secondary & Post 16 to deliver outstanding educational support for Bexley Children in our Care and Young Adults Leaving our Care within the Virtual School.  This is a unique role, with responsibility for leading and coordinating the statutory Personal Education Plan process within an agreed education phase range and providing wider support to promote the achievement of looked after children and young people leaving care across the wider professional network, including social workers, schools and foster carers.

The Assistant Head of Secondary & Post 16 will be passionate about securing effective support and will have line management responsibilities for at least 3 officers working within their designated area.  The candidate will be required to oversee the implementation of strategic service priorities in their area, and to deliver and report on agreed projects to senior leaders and the Corporate Parenting Board within timescales.

The successful candidate will be knowledgeable about the educational needs of looked after children, and skilled in identifying appropriate routes to assessment and support.  This post is instrumental in helping the local authority deliver an excellent service for looked after children and young people leaving care and the candidate will be able to confidently talk to children and young people about our aspirations for them and to professionals, partners and stakeholders about the high expectations we set for ourselves and others in order to improve educational outcomes for children and young people in our care.

*We welcome and value applications from education professionals from a range of backgrounds with appropriate training or qualifications to meet the requirements of the ‘Assistant Head’ role. Applicants with QTS are encouraged but this is not a prerequisite.

The post is available for an immediate start subject to checks; appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service.   
 

What we offer: 

• Bexley Pension Scheme  
• 23 days paid Annual Leave plus Bank Holidays 
• An excellent working environment at our fantastic new offices 
• Opportunities for flexible working with excellent ICT and staff facilities 
• MyChoice Staff Benefit Scheme – Includes access to high street shopping vouchers and online discount codes. 

For the full list of essential and desirable criteria for this role then please refer to the Person Specification within the Job Description attach.

Appointment to this post will be subject to the outcome of an Enhanced Disclosure obtained through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)

Would you like more information about the role or have any questions? You can contact Rosemarie Zaubzer, Virtual School Head to discuss your interest further on 0203 045 4141 or rosemarie.zaubzer@bexley.gov.uk

This authority is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

This post is considered by the authority to be a customer-facing position; as such it falls within scope of the Code of Practice on English language requirement for public sector workers. The council therefore has a statutory duty under Part 7 of the Immigration Act 2016 to ensure that post holders have a command of spoken English sufficient for the effective performance of the job requirements. The appropriate standards are set out in the JD/Person Specification. These will be applied during the recruitment/selection and probationary stages.    

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Anticipated Interview Date: 3-6th June 2024

Please note that the system has a one-hour time limit. We would advise you to prepare your answers separately and then copy and paste into the online form once finalised and have your CV and/or Supporting statement ready to upload.

If any mandatory fields are missing, a pop-up box will appear at the top of the page advising which sections require completion. Please check your Junk email for any correspondence.

Additional Information

As a disability confident employer Bexley welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the minimum criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on  recruitment@bexley.gov.uk

This role may be available as a development opportunity through secondment for the Council’s existing employees.  The Council’s Secondment Scheme can be found here. If this option is of interest, please contact the recruiting manager.