Headteacher

East Midlands Councils/East Midlands Jobs; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

Dale Community Primary and Stonehill Nursery in Derby seeks an exceptional Headteacher to provide strategic direction and strong educational leadership for two thriving schools. You will guide the federation, uphold high standards, and sustain the nurturing ethos that defines the schools.

The role demands an experienced leader with a proven track record, a commitment to inclusion and the ability to engage families and staff while driving continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experienced and inspirational school leader with a proven track record of improving outcomes.
• Committed to inclusion and ensuring success for every child.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills; lead with integrity and resilience.

Responsibilities

• Provide clear strategic direction and educational leadership for both schools.
• Champion high standards while maintaining a nurturing, inclusive ethos across the federation.
• Collaborate with staff, governors and families to build on achievements and drive the federation's next chapter.

Skills

School leadership

Inclusion

Communication

Integrity

Resilience

Job description

Dale Community Primary and Stonehill Nursery are thriving and welcoming schools located in the heart of Derby. We are well established and popular schools with a happy and enthusiastic school community. Both schools have rising standards and are graded as ‘Good’ by OFSTED. We are seeking an exceptional leader to build on our achievements and lead the school into its next exciting chapter.

This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious and values-driven leader to work alongside a dedicated staff team, supportive Governing Body, engaged families and enthusiastic pupils. We are looking for someone who shares our commitment to ensuring every child feels valued, challenged and inspired to achieve their very best.

As Headteacher, you will provide clear strategic direction and strong educational leadership, ensuring that both schools continue to flourish. You will champion high standards whilst maintaining the nurturing and inclusive ethos that lies at the heart of our school.

The successful candidate will:

• Be an experienced and inspirational school leader with a proven track record of improving outcomes for children.
• Be passionate about inclusion and committed to ensuring success for every child, regardless of background or starting point.
• Have high expectations for achievement, behaviour and attendance.
• Demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Lead with integrity, compassion and resilience.
• Have a good understanding of the local area, demographics, and opportunities present in the local area surrounding the federation
• Have the vision and ambition to shape the next stage of the federation’s journey.

Dale Community Primary and Stonehill Nursery is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All appointments are subject to satisfactory references, online checks, pre-employment and Disclosure Barring Service checks. The possession of a criminal record will not necessarily prevent an applicant from obtaining this post, as all cases are judged individually according to the nature of the role and information provided.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare any cautions, convictions, reprimands and final warnings that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013 and 2020).

We welcome the responsible use of AI tools to support your application process. However, your letter of application must authentically represent your own thinking, experience, and voice.

If you choose to use AI tools (such as generative AI) to help draft, structure, or refine your letter, you must:

• Ensure the final content genuinely reflects your own ideas, experiences, and professional approach
• Carefully review and personalise all AI-generated content
• Take full responsibility for the accuracy and authenticity of everything you submit

We value applications that demonstrate genuine personal insight into our school and the role. During the interview process, we will explore your application in depth and expect you to speak confidently and authentically about everything you've written.