Deputy Headteacher

First Steps Together; Huddersfield; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Mount Havelock is a new specialist school opening in January 2027 in Milnsbridge, Huddersfield, and will be part of the First Steps Together Group. We are seeking an exceptional Deputy Headteacher to join the senior leadership team and help shape its culture from the outset.

You will provide strategic leadership, drive high quality teaching, and oversee safeguarding, inclusion and pupil outcomes in a developing environment.

Qualifications

• QTS or an equivalent recognised teaching qualification is essential.
• Previous senior leadership experience in a specialist school or SEND setting is valuable.
• Strong knowledge of safeguarding, child protection and inclusion.
• Experience contributing to Ofsted readiness and school improvement.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic and operational leadership across Mount Havelock.
• Lead the quality of education, teaching, learning and assessment.
• Line manage and develop school staff, recruitment, induction and appraisal.
• Drive safeguarding, behaviour, attendance and inclusion.
• Collaborate with parents, local authorities and external professionals.

Skills

Strategic leadership

People management

Safeguarding

Education leadership

Inclusion and SEND knowledge

Communication

Education

QTS or equivalent

NPQ or equivalent leadership qualification

Job description

Mount Havelock is part of the First Steps Together Group, and is our newest specialist school, located in Milnsbridge, Huddersfield, opening in January 2027.

Providing education for young people across Key Stages 3 and 4, Mount Havelock will offer a nurturing, inclusive and aspirational environment where pupils are supported to feel safe, understood and able to succeed. Joining Mount Havelock is an exciting opportunity to be part of a brand-new school from the beginning – helping to shape its culture, establish its team and create an exceptional learning environment for our young people.

For every journey, let’s take first steps together.

At First Steps Together, we believe every child and young person deserves to feel safe, understood, included and able to succeed.

We are a growing group of specialist independent schools providing nurturing, inclusive and aspirational education for children and young people with a range of additional needs, including SEND, SEMH and complex presentations. Across our schools, strong relationships, individualised support and high expectations are central to helping pupils engage in learning, develop confidence and achieve positive outcomes.

As we prepare to open Mount Havelock, we are looking for an exceptional Deputy Headteacher to join the school’s senior leadership team and play a key role in establishing and developing an outstanding specialist provision.

This is a significant leadership opportunity for someone who wants to help shape a school from the outset, establishing a strong culture, high expectations and consistently excellent practice for pupils and colleagues.

Working closely with the Head of School and wider leadership team, you’ll provide strategic and operational leadership across the school, helping translate the School Improvement Plan into effective everyday practice and ensuring that quality of education, safeguarding, behaviour, attendance, inclusion and pupil outcomes remain at the heart of everything we do.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll provide a highly visible and positive leadership presence across Mount Havelock, modelling our expectations and helping create a safe, nurturing and aspirational culture where pupils and colleagues can thrive.

As Deputy Headteacher, you’ll work alongside the Headteacher to lead the day-to-day operation and continued development of the school, taking delegated responsibility for key areas of school improvement and providing leadership in the Headteacher’s absence.

A major part of your role will be driving the quality of education. You’ll support the development, implementation and evaluation of high-quality teaching, learning and assessment, using learning walks, observations, pupil progress information and other quality assurance activities to identify strengths and areas for development.

You’ll coach, challenge and support colleagues to continually strengthen their practice, ensuring teaching is responsive to individual pupils and that appropriate strategies, interventions and adaptations are embedded across the school.

You’ll also provide leadership across behaviour, attendance, inclusion and pastoral practice, helping ensure pupils receive consistent, relational and individualised support. You’ll work with colleagues, families and external professionals to understand and remove barriers to engagement, attendance and learning.

As a senior leader, you’ll contribute significantly to safeguarding and the wider culture of the school, ensuring safeguarding is understood as everybody’s responsibility and that effective systems, professional curiosity and strong practice are embedded throughout Mount Havelock.

People leadership will be central to the role. You’ll line manage and develop members of the school team, contribute to recruitment and induction, lead appraisal and professional development, and ensure colleagues are effectively supported, challenged and deployed.

Working alongside the Headteacher, you’ll use pupil, attendance, behaviour, safeguarding and performance information to understand the school, identify priorities and drive continuous improvement.

You’ll contribute to the preparation for Ofsted and other external scrutiny, ensuring the school can clearly demonstrate the quality and impact of its provision and that improvement activity leads to meaningful outcomes for pupils.

You’ll also build strong relationships with parents, carers, local authorities and external professionals, representing Mount Havelock professionally and ensuring effective partnership working around the needs of individual children and young people.

Bring your difference

We’re looking for an experienced education professional who is ready to take significant responsibility for the leadership and development of a specialist school.

You’ll be an experienced and effective teacher, with a strong understanding of teaching, learning, assessment and curriculum development, alongside demonstrable experience of leadership within an education setting.

You’ll understand how to translate strategy into excellent everyday practice and be confident leading colleagues, evaluating performance, identifying areas for improvement and holding others to account while creating a supportive and developmental culture.

You’ll have a strong understanding of SEND, SEMH and the barriers that can affect children and young people’s engagement with education, together with the ability to create environments in which pupils feel safe, understood and able to make progress.

You’ll be confident interpreting and using pupil progress, attendance, behaviour and wider school performance information to identify priorities, evaluate impact and inform improvement.

A strong knowledge of safeguarding and child protection is essential, alongside an understanding of the regulatory and inspection expectations applying to schools.

QTS or an equivalent recognised teaching qualification is essential for this role. Previous senior leadership experience within a specialist school, SEND setting or alternative provision would be particularly valuable, alongside leadership qualifications or development such as an NPQ.

We’re looking for someone with integrity, resilience, sound judgement and emotional intelligence; someone who can remain calm under pressure, make difficult decisions when required and balance high expectations with empathy and understanding.

Above all, you’ll be a visible, credible and child-centred senior leader who can inspire confidence in pupils, colleagues and families and who shares our commitment to safeguarding, inclusion, continuous improvement and achieving positive outcomes for every pupil.

Why Mount Havelock?

This is an opportunity to join Mount Havelock at an exciting stage in its development and play a significant role in shaping the culture, practice and future of the school.

Rather than simply stepping into an established way of working, you’ll have the opportunity to work alongside the Headteacher to build strong systems, develop the team, establish high expectations and create an exceptional specialist learning environment from the outset.

You’ll also become part of First Steps Together Education, a growing specialist education organisation where collaboration, professional development and continuous improvement are actively encouraged.

As First Steps Together continues to grow, there will be opportunities to broaden your leadership experience, contribute to wider development and progress professionally within the organisation.

If you are an ambitious and experienced school leader who wants to help build a school where children and young people feel safe, understood, challenged and able to succeed, we’d love to hear from you.

Bring your difference. Take your next step with First Steps Together.

Safeguarding

First Steps Together is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. Appointment to this role will be subject to appropriate safer recruitment and pre-employment checks, including an Enhanced DBS, satisfactory references, online checks and overseas police checks where required.

Get in Touch

If you would like to arrange an informal discussion about the role with the Head of School or a member of our People Services Team, please contact us by emailing [e-mail].

We reserve the right to close applications early should we receive a sufficient number of suitable applications which meet the essential criteria.