Headteacher

Horizon Care & Education; Greater Manchester; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading SEN educational provider in Greater Manchester seeks an experienced Head Teacher to lead a new school set to open in January 2026. The ideal candidate will have significant experience in a SEND environment, a strong commitment to values-based leadership, and the motivation to support both staff and students. This role offers an excellent opportunity to make a lasting impact on the educational experiences of students with diverse needs.

Benefits

Occupational sick pay

Christmas bonus

Financial wellbeing service

Excellent training opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience as a Head Teacher in a specialist SEND environment.
• Thorough understanding of Independent School Standards.
• Ability to support staff and pupils with a person-centred approach.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the new school effectively.
• Inspire and motivate the team for academic excellence.
• Ensure high-quality education for diverse SEND needs.

Skills

Leadership in SEND environment

Communication

Motivating staff and pupils

Understanding of School Improvement

Education

Qualified Teacher status

Job description

Benefits

• Occupational sick pay
• Christmas bonus
• Blue Light Card
• Colleague referral scheme with cash rewards earn up to £2500 per referral!
• Financial wellbeing service
• Life Assurance
• Tastecard - spectacular savins on dining, pizza, cinema tickets, supermarkets, and UK attractions!
• Opportunity to progress in your career through our Education Academy, and ongoing training and professional development.
• Comprehensive and tailored induction programme including face-to-face training, online modules, shadowing, and local induction period.
• Face-to-face therapeutic training and support for all colleagues via our SHINE programme.
• Access to a wide range of free online courses for all colleagues on a variety of topics
• Employee assistance programme free, confidential support via Bupa.
• Supportive management and senior leaders.
• High quality CPD opportunities.
• Free eye checks.
• Community and wellbeing- Your wellbeing matters to us, and we are committed to ensuring you get all the support you need to feel good about what you do. We re in this together.

Application Requirements

Please note we will not interview for this role without a fully completed application pack.

Closing Date

Closing date for this role will be 8th December.

We reserve the right to close the advert before the closing date stated if we receive a high volume of applicants.

Values & Personality

Want to work for a company with great values? Are you compassionate? Inspiring? Dependable? Collaborative? Then we want to hear from you!

Resilience: Exhibit resilience in the face of challenges, driving forward with determination and adaptability.

Empathy: Show genuine care and understanding for the needs of both our staff and students, creating a supportive and inclusive atmosphere.

High Support & High Challenge: Strive for academic excellence while providing unwavering support to students, ensuring they reach their full potential.

Qualifications

• A wealth of experience working as a Head Teacher in a similar SEND environment or setting.
• Have a good understanding about the School Improvement process, effective curriculum models and the development of process, maintain and build your understanding of requirements, helping the school move towards an outstanding rating.
• Have a thorough understanding and knowledge of the Independent School Standards.
• Ability to motivate, drive and support staff and pupils, using a person-centred approach.
• A real can do, will do attitude, with the desire to succeed and improve our school.
• Excellent communication and top-quality relationship building skills.
• Hold Qualified Teacher status.

About the School

Horizon Care and Education have an opportunity for an experienced Headteacher to lead the team at our new school based in Oldham. Ideal start date will be January 2026, but no later than February 2026 with a view to the school opening after the Easter holiday.

Thorneycroft School is an independent specialist day school providing high-quality education for boys and girls. Based in Oldham, the school meets the diverse needs of pupils aged 5-16 with a variety of SEND needs.

This will be the 14th school ran by Horizon Education, giving you an excellent support network and basis to run and develop the school as part of a market leading SEN educational provider.

Your support network will include a forward-thinking senior management team focused on quality of education and continuous development.

Horizon operates with a set of core values Compassionate, Inspiring, Dependable and Collaborative. We expect our leaders to exemplify our values in every aspect of their role. A true leader is one who uses these values as a compass, guiding actions, decision-making, and fulfilling our collective mission of providing the very best outcomes for our young people.

Ideal Candidate

We are thrilled to announce an exciting opportunity for an experienced and dynamic individual to join us as our Head Teacher. As a leader in our organisation, you will play a pivotal role in inspiring, motivating, and empowering our dedicated staff and students.

We are seeking a leader who embodies our core values and can guide our community towards success. The ideal candidate will demonstrate