We, at Woodside Group, are excited to announce that we have a vacancy for an SEN School Leader at our Salford base.
Woodside Group specialise in educating young people with an Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), crafting a unique and fulfilling experience for each student by putting each individual at the centre of their learning journey, thus allowing each learner to independently contribute to society, embrace life long learning and achieve without a ceiling.
Want to know what it’s like to work for us? Watch our video: https://vimeo.com/906049692/ccd5de44ae?share=copy
We’re looking for a dedicated, passionate and experienced individual who is passionate about ASC, with a track record of excellent leadership and management in this area. This role will, with the support of the Woodside Group team, create a therapeutically appropriate environment to enable all students to progress in line with their academic and pastoral plans, whilst nurturing and developing staff, creating exceptional autism practitioners.
The successful candidate should have a working knowledge of the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework and be able to demonstrate how they have constructed plans and progressed an educational establishment in line with the descriptors contained within this framework.
We welcome conversations with potential candidates and, therefore, should you wish to learn more about this job, please call (01509) 415474 to request a return call from our Executive Headteacher.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Lead the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), maintaining accountability for all staff members.
• Collate and analyse attendance data, creating and implementing attendance improvement plans, as necessary.
• Liaise with Local Authority, ensuring partnership and collaboration, including providing sole point of contact for student related concerns.
• Collate and analyse data in line with behaviour, providing strategic partnership for Assistant Headteachers, ensuring responsive behavioural planning and staff adherence to plans.
• Provide first line query support for Assistant Headteachers.
• Oversee data collection for any Subject Access Request (SAR).
• Liaise with Director of Operations, when necessary, to organise and facilitate arrangements relating to the investigation procedure, fulfilling a component role, where appropriate.
• Provide training relating to autism, comorbid conditions and behaviour for all staff.
• Control, monitor and analyse spend of budget.
• Ensure EHCP dissections are in place for all learners, with plans for continued interaction evident.
• Proofread academic reports and ensure dissection of any incoming reports from SMEs.
• Undertake analysis of current school practice during the construction of the Self Evaluation Form (SEF) alongside the Director of Education, ensuring continued school adherence to identified strengths.
• Contribute, and adhere, to the School Improvement Plan (SIP), ensuring fulfilment of all identified developments within the academic year.
• Liaise with Regional Education Manager to ensure high standards of education within the school, understanding and implementing any new Woodside Group initiatives.
• Manage and facilitate quality assurance visits.
• Contribute to and oversee timetabling responsibilities ensuring full curricular coverage for all students, in line with the relevant stage in their school education journey.
• Analyse staff and students behavioural presentations and abilities in order to appropriately allocate school resources.
• Lead regular SLT meetings, ensuring discussion of key areas of focus and alignment with strategic plans for improvement.
• Constantly keep up to date with latest research in the field of ASC and communicate this to staff team.
• Ensure the Woodside Group’s Autism Progression Tool (APT) is interacted with by parents, students and staff, with each child’s individual manifestation of ASC focused on and worked on in a distinctively individual way, as a result of the findings.
• Oversight of all trips, ensuring full risk assessment and analysis and consequent maximisation of learning opportunities.
• Undertake Learning Walks alongside Assistant Headteachers (Heads of Base), utilising Woodside Group tracking log, providing developmental feedback and ensuring adherence to best practice.
• Foster and harness positive relationships with families, colleges, work experience placements, future employers, local community members and all other stakeholders of Woodside Group.
• Embed our Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) methodology across all subjects, in line with the Woodside Group ethos.
• Take responsibility for all student referrals into the school.
• Lead Emergency Annual Reviews for students, or any meeting which is classed as critical for the child and/or the placement.
• Create individual transition plans and pathways to adulthood for each individual student.
• Facilitate a culture commensurate with Woodside Group’s standards, ethos and practices, using the matrices as a central part of this.
• Ensure whole teaching staff are compliant with the DfE Teaching Standards.

People Management responsibilities (generic and applicable to leadership roles only)

• Leadership, day to day support and coaching of team members
• Regular check ins with team members
• Management of all first line queries from team members
• Performance Management
• Working in collaboration with other Line Mangers & the Head, effectively manage time table coordination for the team
• Management and maintenance of good working relationships between colleagues
• Conflict and dispute resolution
• Team Member Time Management
• Team Member Attendance Management
• Communication to team members
• Change Management
• Development of team members

COMPLIANCE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Compliant with all requirements of the Woodside Group Ofsted readiness checklist
• Uphold Safer Recruitment practices in recruitment activities
• Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) for the base(s) under leadership.
• Read and understand the health and Safety Policy
• To inform and advise the organisation and its employees about their obligations to comply with the GDPR and other data protection laws.
• To monitor compliance with the GDPR and other data protection laws, including managing internal data protection activities, advise on data protection impact assessments and conduct internal audits.
• To be the first point of contact for the SLT, Base Managers, staff, students and parents whose data is processed by Woodside Lodge Outdoor Learning Centre.
• To manage and maintain a relationship with 3rd party Data Protection agencies
• To lead on any future audits

HEALTH & SAFETY RESPONSIBILITIES

• All employees are responsible for ensuring they take every reasonable action to keep themselves and everyone in the school environment safe and well.
• Responsibility for base H&S Compliance,
• Work in partnership with the Safeguarding and Compliance lead to undertake internal audits and complete actions arising from the internal action log.
• Conduct risk assessments of base activities in line with the risk assessment policy.
• Maintain an up to date electronic record of all matters pertaining to health and safety and risk assessments.
• Ensure each base has the right basic health and safety equipment such as first aid boxes, signage etc.
• Direct contractors and workmen to repair and maintenance jobs and quality assure their work.
• Ensure emergency procedures are in place for in the event of fire, flood, break-in accident or major damage, using LRB to help you get a system in place across each and to educate staff.
• Take appropriate action to prevent trespass on the school grounds and report incidents of trespass or vandalism.
• Ensure that all grounds are litter and hazard free, ensure all staff understand they share this responsibility
• Ensure that all drains and gullies are inspected so that they are flowing free and clean and any defects reported.
• Create and maintain H&S induction for staff
• Ensure all staff receive a health and safety induction
• Monitor severe weather warning reports and alert staff with instructions
• Organise annual H&S training refreshers
• Work with Managers to ensure new starters receive a H&S induction
• Clarify and communicate to all staff the security procedures for the school and its grounds.
• Attend relevant training as and when necessary in order to secure the most up-to-date knowledge and skills to carry out the duties of the post.
• When required, perform any additional duties necessary to maintain the school building and grounds to a high standard of cleanliness and safety.
• Ensure the efficient maintenance, safety, risk assessments and security of the school and its grounds at all times in accordance with HSE guidance and standards, working with LRB to achieve this
• Ensure staff know your role and responsibilities
• Ensure staff know their H&S responsibilities
• Build a relationship with LRB and seek advice on H&S topics