Founding Headteacher - SEMH / SEND in City of London

Full-Time, On-Site Contract

Location: Crouch End

Salary: £70,000 - £80,000 (Flexibility for Exceptional Candidates)

Overview: We are exclusively partnered with a sector-leading specialist in therapy and education for children and young people who have experienced adverse childhood experiences. Since 2012, they have led the way in delivering therapeutic education. Their expert team of teachers and therapists ‘work as one' with pupils aged 5 to 16 who benefit from a therapeutic curriculum focused on meeting their social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs. They are now seeking an exceptional Headteacher to lead the opening of a brand-new KS2/3 specialist school in Crouch End. This is a rare opportunity to shape a school from the ground up, overseeing its final development, ensuring inspection readiness, and leading a successful launch. As the founding Headteacher, you will play a pivotal role in making a genuine difference to pupils' lives at their trauma-centred therapeutic schools.

The organisation has an exceptional track record. Recent Independent School Inspectorate’s routine and material change inspections recognised a rare Significant Strength across its schools. This is in addition to their previous outstanding Ofsted reports which demonstrate the strength of their provision across all sites and the success of their specialist therapeutic approach.

Key Highlights:

• Rare equity stake - highly unusual at this level
• Small school settings - meaningful impact on every pupil
• Strong wellbeing culture
• Exceptional staff retention (leaders with 10+ years’ service)
• A rare chance to become the founding Headteacher of a brand-new specialist school
• Significant autonomy over staffing, operations and school development
• Opportunity to join a growing organisation at the right time

This is a senior role supporting pupils with ACEs, complex SEMH needs, and associated SEND, combining strategic oversight with hands-on operational leadership. You will play a pivotal role in establishing a safe, therapeutic and high-performing learning environment for pupils, ensuring the school launches with excellence, clarity of purpose, and a strong culture from day one.

The organisation operates a relationships-first approach, moving away from traditional behaviour management and focusing on building consistent, positive relationships that enable pupils to thrive. It is a demanding position, but one where the impact is clear and the reward - both professionally and personally - is significant.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the successful opening and establishment of a brand-new specialist school, providing strategic and operational leadership to ensure the school is fully prepared for inspection, pupil intake and long-term success.
• Oversee all aspects of school operations, including safeguarding, compliance with Independent School Standards (ISS), admissions, placements, staffing, budgets and resource planning, ensuring the highest standards of education, care and governance.
• Drive exceptional outcomes for pupils by creating safe, structured and therapeutic learning environments, championing high attendance, positive behaviour, and a culture where every pupil can thrive.
• Recruit, develop and inspire a high-performing team, providing visible leadership, effective performance management and professional development while fostering a positive, values-led culture.
• Build strong partnerships with families, local authorities, placing partners and other stakeholders, maintaining excellent communication and strengthening the school's reputation for delivering outstanding specialist education.
• Lead inspection readiness and continuous school improvement, ensuring the school remains compliant, quality-assured and prepared for both announced and unannounced inspections.
• Lead safeguarding practice, likely acting as Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) during the initial phase of growth.
• Work collaboratively with the Executive Leadership Team and People & Culture function to shape the school's strategic direction, supporting organisational growth, workforce planning, policy implementation and continuous improvement across the wider organisation.
• Champion the organisation's relationships-first approach, leading with integrity, empathy and accountability to create a collaborative school community where pupils, families and colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to achieve their best.

About You:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS), with substantial leadership experience within SEMH educational settings.
• A proven track record of leading or contributing to successful inspections, with a strong understanding of Independent School Standards (ISS), safeguarding, SEND legislation and the wider regulatory framework.
• Experience working collaboratively with local authorities, placing partners and other external stakeholders.
• A confident and visible leader who is equally comfortable shaping strategic direction and leading day-to-day school operations. You have the ability to lead people with clarity, consistency and accountability while remaining calm, organised and decisive in high-pressure environments.
• An excellent communicator with a collaborative leadership style, able to build trust, influence others and develop high-performing teams through coaching, constructive challenge and meaningful feedback.
• You foster a culture of accountability, openness and continuous improvement, always assuming positive intent and encouraging collaboration over blame.
• A strong understanding of trauma-informed and therapeutic practice, with a genuine commitment to creating safe, structured and nurturing environments where pupils, families and colleagues feel valued, supported and empowered to achieve the very best outcomes.
• Resilient, proactive and solution-focused, with a positive outlook, a good sense of humour and a genuine passion for helping build an exceptional school community where relationships, inclusion and the wellbeing of every child and colleague are at the heart of everything you do.

Contact Details

To apply, or for more information and an informal confidential discussion please contact Madeleine Crosley at 0161 507 5060 or mcrosley@compassltd.co.uk

Referrals

Compass Associates Ltd is acting as a Recruitment Consultancy for this permanent vacancy. We offer a £500 voucher for successful referrals following completion of probation.