Closing Date: 24th February 2020 Denmead Junior School Bere Road Interview Dates: 9th & 10th March 2020 Denmead PO7 6PH 02392 252735

Dear Applicant Thank you for your interest in “building success, inspiring curiosity” at Denmead Junior School as our next Headteacher. Denmead is a large village of approximately 6500 residents with a strong sense of community. We have a bustling village centre, with shops; post office; a health centre; several pubs; vets and the church. With three pre-schools, village hall, community centre, a huge park with wonderful facilities, a busy parish council and numerous clubs and activities for young and old, there is always something going on in Denmead, and always someone to greet you as a friend.

This community feel is reflected in our school where many of the children have known each other all their lives, and in many cases their parents also attended our school. We strive to use growth mind-set language in our interactions with children to create a positive life-long attitude to learning. In addition, we promote the Learning Powers of Resilience, Reflection, Co-operation, Concentration and Curiosity which children need to

recognise, understand and apply in their everyday learning. We are committed to providing the best possible education for all children and preparing them for the next stage of their lives. We are very conscious of the school’s performance prior to the appointment of our current Headteacher who worked relentlessly to bring the school out of special measures in 2014 to Good in 16 months and has continued to build on that through our Ofsted inspection at the beginning of this year where our Good rating was reconfirmed. Our children also achieved outstanding SATs results last year. Mrs Viner has decided to take a well-earned retirement, knowing she is leaving the school in a great position while giving the new Headteacher plenty of time to further develop the school before our next inspection.

We are keen to recruit a new Headteacher that is able to build on the ethos and systems in an evolutionary not revolutionary way in order to lead the school to the next level. We want to expand on our initiatives like the Art of Brilliance and community activities in order to deepen the bond with the village. It is essential that you possess a drive for self-improvement as well as a coaching style to help develop staff at all levels from student teachers to SLT members.

We have an experienced and committed Governing Body dedicated to supporting the Headteacher and all the staff to continuously drive the school forward. Governors can often be found helping out at school events, attending residentials, trips and performances. We have strong links with our feeder Infant and secondary schools. We undertake joint activities with both of these so that when

the children progress to their new school they are already familiar with staff and pupils there. Denmead Junior School is a Local Authority Maintained school. I hope you enjoy reading through this information pack and as a result have a good insight into the ethos of the school. However, nothing can give a better feeling of the school than visiting which we strongly encourage you to do. Visits can be arranged by emailing s.rogers@denmead-jun.hants.sch.uk or by telephoning 02392 252735. Glenn Taylor Chair of Governors

Some information from our current Headteacher: Whilst you can gain a picture of the history of the school by reading past Ofsted reports, the following will give you a deeper understanding of our school. Following the retirement of the long-standing Head in July 2011, the school decided to Federate with Denmead Infant school. This had just been finalised when the school was rated Inadequate in October 2011. An Executive Head Teacher had been appointed to oversee both schools. The capacity under this model for the leadership of improvement was greatly reduced as the role of the Head of the Junior school also had a significant teaching load. The Ofsted inspections in 2012 and 2014 confirmed this lack of progress. Standards and progress at the end of year 6 had not been good enough for several years and children were not adequately prepared for secondary school. Many of these families remain in the village and some have younger siblings coming through the school now. On my arrival in September 2014 I found a very dispirited organisation who had lost all their trust in leaders, Governors, the Local Authority and HMI/Ofsted. However, underneath this was tremendous spirit and determination and together we rebuilt the school into a strong team with distributed leadership throughout. I am incredibly proud of the staff and the team spirit and I would ask the new Headteacher to continue to nurture this! One of the challenges along the way was a looming deficit budget due to the low number of pupils on roll. With the focus on rapid school improvement, leaders and Governors believed that the number on roll would naturally increase once the school was out of special measures and its reputation locally restored. This has taken longer than we thought and in June 2017 we took the decision to move the school to a mixed age class structure throughout the school. Numbers in classes had traditionally been low (22-26 in each of the 3 classes from year 3 to year 6) which equated to a loss of income of up to 77 empty school places. We are now into our 3rd year of this structure: currently the lower school phase comprises 6 classes of equally mixed year 3 and 4 children; and the upper school phase is 5 classes of equally mixed year 5 and 6 children. This means that the school has completely embraced mixed age teaching and that all the children, staff and families experience it together and make it work. (We expect the school budget to be back on track by April 2022, however there are other pressures on the budget including funding undiagnosed SEND provision. The percentage of SEND has increased significantly this year from 12% to 17%.)

We are often asked how we therefore organise teaching. All teachers in each phase are released together for PPA and they plan together. They will look at a unit of teaching, e.g. fractions in maths and look at what each year group needs to understand and achieve by the end of the 3-4 week unit. As there is considerable overlap in the current national curriculum with expectations only published for end of year 4 and 6, this is not a significant problem. Teachers will use fluid groupings throughout the day to enable children to move from Novice, through to Apprentice, Master and Expert in their learning in all subjects. Today our number on roll is 320 children, and whilst numbers do fluctuate from year group to year group, the school is expected to grow steadily to 335 in 2020-21 and 350 in 2021-22. This will present great challenges for our hall capacity and physical space around the school.

The children at Denmead school are delightful and they all have the potential to be utterly amazing young people! We have battled over the years with what we named the 'Denmead Passivity' and today in classes you now mainly see children taking ownership of their learning and aiming to better their personal best. Many children are now embracing metacognitive skills to get themselves out of the pit, but this is not yet the case for all children. Children are not 'spoon fed' including those with learning difficulties and

they are keen to see who will be recognised for acting on adult or peer feedback in our weekly celebration assemblies - where the 'Feedback Fox' is given out (amongst other awards). As the children can know one another too well as they have grown up together in the village, our most important school value is that of Friendship. Every year the children are mixed up into different classes and so have the opportunity to make new friends. They need to understand that to have good friends they need to be a good friend. All the staff support this and use Restorative Justice to help them resolve friendship issues. Children are increasingly understanding and taking responsibility for the part that they can unwittingly play in escalating a situation. The school community has become better at welcoming new families from outside the village and at understanding children with SEND. This is just a brief overview for now - I look forward to working with the successful candidate to hand over the stewardship of this lovely school. Elaine Viner Headteacher

Our Mission Statement Our Vision: We are committed to improving the quality of education at Denmead Junior School so children:

• Have the necessary skills and competencies in reading, writing and maths to flourish at secondary school and in the wider community

• Have learnt from a broad-based curriculum • Are socially skilled and good communicators in all forms • Have understanding, empathy and care for others • Are healthy, confident, resilient and happy • Will look back on their learning at DJS with affection, pride and a recognition of the

solid foundations for life-long learning and citizenship that were laid here

We will aim to do this by:

1. Having aspirational expectations in all areas of school life

2. Delivering outstanding teaching every day to ensure that all pupils make accelerated

progress

3. Teaching growth mind-sets for learning, learning skills and values education

4. Delivering a relevant, inspiring and demanding curriculum which embeds core skills,

develops personal, social and health understanding and allows for individual talents

to grow

At Denmead Junior School we strive to create a growth mind-set for learning and life for all our children by using growth mind-set language in our interactions with children. In addition, we promote the Learning Powers of Resilience, Reflectiveness, Co-operation, Concentration and Curiosity, which children need to recognise, understand and apply in their everyday learning. In everything that we strive to do and the way that we do it, we promote, model and teach the children the Values of: Friendship and Understanding with PRIDE (Positivity, Respect, Inspiration, Determination and Excellence). In addition, our four House Captains have chosen a value to represent their House each year: Courage; Responsibility, Care and Honesty (for 2019-20).

Headteacher (also DSL) Senior Leadership Team

Assistant Head Teacher and Head of Upper school (year 5 and 6) and Maths and class teacher (leadership time: 1 day a week plus ½ day PPA) Assistant Head Teacher and Head of Lower school (year 3 and 4) and English and class teacher (leadership time: 1 day a week plus ½ day PPA) Inclusion/SENDCO Leader (3 days a week; cover teacher 2 days a week) (DDSL and CLA responsibilities) Curriculum Leader (leadership time: ½ day) School Business Manager (4 days)

Teaching teams

Lower school 6 classes, (one job shared) supported by LSAs or HLTAs every morning. There is additional LSA support for those children who either have an EHCP or where one is being applied for. Upper school 5 classes, supported by LSAs or HLTAs every morning. There is additional LSA support for those children who either have an EHCP or where one is being applied for. The Assistant Head Teachers’ leadership time is covered by one part-time teacher to ensure consistency for the classes. Student teachers In September 2019 we joined the SCITT programme being run by our local teaching school: Solent Teaching Alliance. Our student is based in the upper school. We are very pleased with this programme so far and would want to continue this next year.

We have developed our relationship with both Chichester and Winchester Universities and every year we take a number of students from both organisations. There are many staff who enjoy mentoring students throughout the school. We have a full programme of support for any NQTs, this year we have two, one in the upper school and one in the lower school. We are delighted with their progress to date.

Lunchtime Support team

We have 10 Mid-day Supervisors. The majority are also LSAs working in the school. Some children have one to one support at lunchtime due to their needs.

ELSA support

We have two trained ELSA support workers who between them provide ELSA support every afternoon. They also work as LSAs/HLTAs in the morning.

Office team

School Business Manager – 4 days Welfare Manger (and DDSL) – full time Marketing and Communications Administrator – 4 days Administration Assistant – 3 days Library Manager – ½ day

Site team

Site Manger – full time 3 part-time cleaners

Kitchen staff

We have a large kitchen which cooks both for us and for the infant school. It is run by Hampshire Catering Services (H3C)

Denmead Day Care

On site there is wrap around care provided by an external company Denmead Day Care.

• Is passionate.

• Is child centred and recognises the positives in every child and the importance of an

inclusive ethos.

• Has a desire to teach our children in the classroom and loves doing so.

• Has the ability to know when to make an immediate decision and when to take time

to reflect and be open to team decisions.

• Someone who models the importance of wisdom and experience and uses it

effectively for the benefit of all.

• Continually strives to make our school the very best for children and adults.

• Takes time to recognise how the ‘Denmead Way’ works for our school.

• Won’t be bound by any preconceived ideas of what a junior school should look like

and to recognise and enjoy the uniqueness and special qualities of DJS.

• Values the contributions of each member of staff.

• Values the involvement of all stakeholders in the school community.

• Recognises the value and moral imperative of working with other schools to impact

positively on a wider community of children and families.

• Respects the importance of family life alongside work for all.

• Wears happy pants everyday (that’s an Art of Brilliance reference!)

“Teachers have developed an ambitious and interesting curriculum. Series of lessons start by introducing the knowledge that pupils are expected to remember. Pupils revisit their learning often, meaning that they remember the most important facts and concepts. This helps them to quickly recall their knowledge when they need it. Teachers use every opportunity to help pupils to think clearly. They share their own thinking in class to demonstrate how to work things through. Many pupils told us this had helped them solve their own problems and that they were never ‘spoon-fed’ the answers. This helps pupils to enjoy the challenge of learning.” Ofsted October 2019.

The individual curriculum subjects are organised around topics which are on a two-year rolling programme so that children do not repeat lessons as they move through the mixed age structure of the school. (Please visit our school website for further information.) Over recent years the school has worked hard to embed interesting and connected learning journeys in English and maths to cover our two-year cycle in order to account for mixed age teaching, and we are seeing the benefits of a well-planned learning journey to children’s understanding and progress in these subjects. Over the last year this focus on learning journeys has been directed to non-core subjects, and this work is ongoing, led by our Curriculum Leader.

The Curriculum Leader has also worked very effectively to secure a plan of progression in skills and knowledge in all subject areas by working with each subject leader. The school focuses on different curriculum drivers as it moves through each year to continue to improve the curriculum provision at DJS. Current drivers for this year’s work include ‘challenge for all; quality outcomes for all’ and ‘Enquiry fuels curiosity’. This work is monitored closely by our Curriculum Link Governors.

Whilst we are proud of our children’s results in year 6 over the last two years, this is only achieved with a focus on high quality teaching and learning and staff development throughout the school. Progress measures across KS2 were positive for reading (0.03) and maths (0.95) but negative for writing (-1.04). The school was moderated in Writing in 2019 and all teacher assessments were agreed with one being moved up from WTS to EXS. Closing the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged remains a constant challenge.

DJS Reading Writing Maths Combined SPAG

Disadvantaged 12 children

(2018 results)

7/12=58.3% (6/7=85.7%)

9/12=75% (5/7=71.4%)

9/12=75% (1/7=14.3%)

4/12=33.3% (0)

7/12=58.3% (6/7=85.7%)

Non-disadvantaged (54 children)

86.1% 81.4% 94.4% 75.9% 83%

Gap -27.8% -6.4% -19.4% 42.6% -24.7%

We have set ambitious targets for our year 6 results in 2020 which are in line with this year’s national data (78% for individual subjects). This is a lower prior attaining cohort and so we are expecting a dip in results in July. We have developed our own internal data tracking system which is based on the Hampshire Assessment Model (HAM). We are very lucky to be able to use Governor expertise in the design and maintenance of this system which is Excel based. The system is used by teachers at the end of each unit of work to record each pupil’s progress. The school regularly attends moderation sessions in writing and maths with our School Partnership Programme group of schools. Our system is based on children moving from Novice, to Apprentice, through to Master and Expert. Both the children and the teachers assess against the success criteria in each lesson using these codes. At the end of a unit of work teachers will input the data into their class tracking sheets and this generates a cumulative report on progress during the year. We are constantly refining this system so that it provides us with accurate information to identify those children at risk of not making enough progress. Regular pupil progress meetings are held to identify barriers and to make changes to provision to enhance progress.

The school seeks every opportunity to further challenge and extend all children both within the curriculum and lessons in school and outside. Recent successes have included reaching the finals of an inter-school gymnastics competition and coming second (with our squad mainly made up of children whose only prior experience of gymnastics was school curriculum lessons); and coming third in the annual maths competition at a local secondary school. We celebrate children’s achievements outside school too, for example including junior championship positions in Enduro motocross and in the new sport of scootering.

Alongside our curriculum we also work hard to enrich children’s experiences of school and to deliver our mission statement: School trips/visitors Each term teachers organise school trips or visitors in to enhance the topic and subjects currently being studied. Lower school will visit for example: Fishbourne Roman Palace, Kew Gardens, Butser Hill Farm and enjoy Egyptian dancing and Upper school will visit: Southampton Mosque, Paulton’s Park; Marwell Zoo and quiz the local MP on their experiences of Power and the Law. In addition, there are whole school events and visitors e.g. regular Outdoor Days, our annual Armed Forces Day, assemblies and workshops by the NSPCC, and local businesses in connection with local Denmead Events (e.g. Apple Day). Residentials We firmly believe that residentials are an essential part of DJS and we would like for every child to be able to attend every opportunity. We offer:

• 3 day/2 night residential in year 4 at the Calshot Centre on Southampton Spit in April

• 5 day/4 night residential in year 6 at the PGL Centre in Tregoyd, Wales

This year we are trialling a new residential experience: A Bushcraft residential (think of a Forest School experience, where you cook your own food over a real fire, and camp in tents or even in your own made shelter!). This will take place in June and is open to all children. Initial uptake has proved very popular.

Pupil responsibilities Children at DJS undertake a wide range of responsibilities and contribute significantly to the ethos of the school. We have the following groups of pupils:

House Captains: Every July 2 children are elected from year 5 to represent their House. They have to prepare a speech and decide on a value that they would like their House to promote during the year. There are 4 houses (named from areas around Denmead village): Anmore, Anthill, Barn Green and Kidmore. Every week they read out the certificates in the Celebration Assembly. These representatives also carry out additional duties during the year. School Council: 2 representatives are elected from each class every year. They have an elected Chair and Secretary. They work with a teacher to bring about improvements to the school. For example, they have introduced a termly film night to raise money for wet play games. Eco Team: The Site Manager runs the Eco Team, comprising volunteers from each class. They monitor the energy use of the school; promote more efficient recycling and grow vegetables. A very successful recent initiative was to remove plastic cups from the mid-morning snack shop. Happiness Ambassadors: In January 2018 the school led a movement to instil more happiness into the local community. We arranged for the Art of Brilliance team (google this and Andy Cope to find out more) to lead a series of workshops with 8 local schools. This reached over 350 children and around 200 staff. Each year the Happiness Ambassadors lead an assembly on ‘Blue Monday’ followed by activities with parents and carers and the wider community throughout the morning. They also carry out various activities throughout the school year to encourage children to remain positive and to ‘bounce back’ from set-backs. Tour Guides: Whenever we have visitors to the school, children from the upper school give tours. They will give you one when you come and visit!

School Plays and performances All classes in the lower school give two assembly performances every year, both to the school (dress rehearsal) and again to parents (the next morning). Parents are then welcomed into the class to ‘stay and learn’ afterwards. In the upper school there is one class assembly in the year but also additional opportunities: In year 6 there is a traditional end of year production which is eagerly anticipated. In year 5 there is a performance organised through The Cowplain School which involves all year 5 children from all the local schools. This is either at the Kings Theatre in Portsmouth or The Cowplain School. The school attends All Saints Church in Denmead once a year. The lower school perform the nativity at Christmas and the upper school performs the Easter story. Music provision The school provides external musical instrument tuition via Hampshire Music Services. They hold regular assemblies to promote classical instrument learning such as the violin. Rocksteady are an organisation that provide band music tuition every Friday and this is highly popular at DJS with termly concerts to both parents and to the rest of the school. External clubs

The school has a number of external providers offering a range of different opportunities for children including Forest Schools, Gymnastics, Karate, Football. In addition, staff run lunchtime and after school clubs e.g. Drama club and Fencing.

Job Title: Headteacher Salary Range: LDR 34 to LDR 46 £61,662 to £71,433

The post holder is subject to the conditions of employment for headteachers contained in the current School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document.

The core purpose of the headteacher is to provide professional leadership and management for Denmead Junior School.

The Headteacher is accountable to the Governing Body for achieving the National Standards of Excellence for Headteachers (2015) at an appropriate level based on previous experience, induction, and on-going professional development.

Key Tasks During the first year, the Governors would like the new Headteacher to:

• Continue to deliver the strategic direction and improving performance of the school.

• Promote the reflective and collaborative learning culture with both staff, pupils and parents (The Denmead Way).

• Drive further inclusion across the wider curriculum.

• Continue to promote Denmead Junior School both within and beyond the local community.

Professional qualifications &

experience

• Qualified teacher status (NPQH Desirable)

• Successful experience as a Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher, Head of School or Assistant Headteacher

• Experience in a successful leadership role in KS2

• Evidence of continuing and relevant professional development in leadership

• Excellent teaching practitioner, capable of overseeing the coaching and mentoring of less experienced teachers

Qualities & Knowledge

• Emotionally strong and determined to safeguard vulnerable pupils with up to date knowledge of safeguarding requirements and current legislation.

• Hold and articulate clear values and moral purpose, focussed on providing outstanding education for pupils.

• Demonstrate analytical aptitude to listen and observe, recognise strengths and opportunities to improve and translate them into incremental improvement plans.

• Ability to develop positive and productive relationships with pupils, staff, parents, governors, members of the local community and outside agencies.

• Proactively employ a collegiate style and be a true team player, with the ability to demonstrate flexibility.

• Lead by example – with integrity, creativity, resilience and clarity, drawing on your own expertise and skills, and those around them to drive school improvement.

• Communicate the school’s vision and drive the strategic leadership, empowering all pupils and staff to excel.

Self-improving School System

• Create an outward-facing school which works with other schools and organisations (for example School Partnership Programme), in a climate of mutual challenge, to champion best practice and secure excellent achievements for all pupils.

• Shape the quality of the staff in school through high quality training and sustained and sustained professional development for all.

• Use and model entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to school improvement, leadership and governance, confident of the vital contribution of internal and external accountability. Evidence of raising achievement for all pupils, especially vulnerable groups.

Systems & Processes

• Ensure that the school’s systems, organisation and processes are well considered, efficient and fit for purpose, upholding the principles of transparency, integrity and probity.

• Provide a safe, calm and well-ordered environment for all, focussed on safeguarding pupils and developing exemplary behaviour in school and in the wider society.

• Maintain rigorous, fair and transparent systems for managing the performance of all staff, addressing any under-performance. Supporting staff to improve and valuing excellent practice.

• Ability to manage the tail end of a deficit budget plan and possess a vision for effecting opportunities to strengthen the School’s financial position by being financially astute.

• Embrace strong governance and encourage the governing body to understand its role and deliver its functions effectively. In particular, its functions to set school strategy and hold the Headteacher to account for pupil, staff and financial performance.

Pupils & Staff

• Demand outstanding standards for all pupils, overcoming disadvantage and advancing equality.

• Instilling a strong sense of accountability in staff for the impact of their work on pupil’s outcomes.

• Secure excellent teaching through an analytical understanding of how pupils learn.

• Establish a learning culture of ‘best practice’ within and between schools, drawing on research and robust data analysis.

• Create an ethos within which all staff are motivated, supported and challenged to develop their own skills and subject knowledge, as well as supporting each other.

• Identify emerging talents, coaching current and aspiring leaders in a climate where excellence is the standard, leading to clear succession planning.

• Hold all staff to account for their professional conduct and practice.

Candidates should complete the application form and return it so that it is received no later than noon on Tuesday 25th February 2020 to:

Education Recruitment Education Personnel Services 3rd Floor, Hampshire House 84-98 Southampton Road

Eastleigh, SO50 5PA

Telephone: 02380 383537 Email: eps-recruitment@hants.gov.uk

You should provide a full statement in support of your application. For each of the five areas of the Headteacher person specification applicants should provide the evidence of how they fully or partially satisfy each requirement. Please do not restate the factual details already included elsewhere on the application form.

Selection procedure

The shortlist will be drawn up on Thursday 27th February and the selection process will take place on Monday 9th and Tuesday 10th March 2020.

Applicants will be advised within 3 working days after the shortlisting date whether they have been successful or not. Further details will be sent to those candidates invited for interview.

Failure to send your application form to the above postal or email address may invalidate your application.

Equality monitoring

All applications will be required to complete an Equality Monitoring form.

Receipt of application

Applications are acknowledged (by email whenever possible) within three working days of receipt. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within this time, please contact the Recruitment Team immediately on the number above.

Safer recruitment

Denmead Junior School are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We will ensure that all our recruitment and selection practices also reflect this commitment. All successful candidates will be subject to Disclosure & Barring checks along with other relevant employment checks.

Privacy notice

Denmead Junior School collects information about you in order to provide you with recruitment and employment services. We will use the information for the recruitment and selection process and, if successful, to activate employment with the School.

The legal basis for processing your personal data is that it is necessary for the performance of the employment contract or in order to take steps before entering into a contract and is necessary for the County Council to comply with a legal obligation.

The legal basis for processing special category data is that processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the rights and obligations in the field of employment, that it is necessary for the reasons of substantial public interest and that it is necessary for the purposes of the assessment of the working capacity of the employee.

You have some legal rights in respect of the personal information we collect from you. Please see the School’s website for further details on our privacy notice and data protection policy.

You can contact the School’s Data Protection Officer if you have a concern about the way we collect or use your data.

Choosing to teach in Hampshire may be the best move you can make. As one of the largest authorities in the country, we can offer an unrivalled diversity in teaching opportunities; from the challenges of the urban and city school through to the rural primary which will provide a vibrant environment for development and promotion. Hampshire schools are encouraged to operate and develop in a way which serves their local community, reflecting the cultural diversity the county has to offer. We feel this is best achieved through local management, with the Local Authority providing a supporting role wherever needed. Hampshire LA has an established network of advisors who provide a responsive and flexible service to the schools. There is also a strong ethos for collaboration and liaison, with regular meetings of Headteachers in phase, cluster and area groupings, aimed at maintaining a policy of communication and cooperation with the LA and between schools. In Hampshire, we pride ourselves on providing first-class learning opportunities for our teachers both internally and with outside course providers. For new Headteachers, in partnership with Governors, the LA operates a structured induction development programme which also helps develop close working relationships with other Headteachers and LA colleagues.