Lead SENDCo ( Community role) in Ripon

This is a Community Role with Real Influence. This is not a traditional SENDCo post. We are seeking an experienced and values driven Lead SENDCo to take on a community led role across three Outwood academies: Ripon, Easingwold and Normanby (Middlesbrough). With Ripon as your base, your time will be strategically split across all three schools, enabling you to shape SEND provision at both academy and community level. This role is for someone who wants to make a wider impact, developing people, practice and provision.

The Purpose of the Role

At its heart, this role is about strengthening inclusive practice across a community of schools while maintaining operational SEND leadership in Outwood Academy Ripon.

Your work will focus on three core priorities:

• A Community Led SEND Role: You will operate as the community SEND leader across Ripon, Easingwold and Normanby, ensuring strong collaboration, shared standards and a coherent SEND offer across very different contexts. These schools are intentionally different — rural, market town and neighbourhood — and this role exists to connect them, not standardise them. You will help each academy deliver inclusive excellence that meets its unique community needs while benefiting from shared expertise and support.
• Developing SSP’s and SEND practice across the schools: A central focus of the role is the development and consistent implementation of SSP’s (Student Support Plans) across the three academies. You will lead the strategic development of SSP practice, ensure high quality, meaningful and impactful plans that support teachers to deliver Quality First Teaching, and evaluate impact and refine provision to ensure students with SEND thrive academically, socially and emotionally.
• Growing People Through Supportive Leadership: This role places people development at its core. You will provide supportive line management, coaching and CPD for Assistant SENDCos, SENDCos within the school community, and Inclusion and SEND teams. You will be a visible leader who builds confidence, capability and consistency, modelling best practice and creating space for others to grow into strong SEND leadership roles.

The School and Community

Outwood Academy Ripon, Outwood Academy Easingwold and Outwood Academy Normanby form a connected community of secondary schools across North Yorkshire and Redcar & Cleveland. This role offers a breadth of experience rarely found in one post:

• Ripon – a historic market town, competing alongside a selective grammar school
• Easingwold – a rural academy serving a close knit community
• Normanby – a neighbourhood school with deep local roots in Middlesbrough

Because these schools are at different points in their journey, the opportunity to make a meaningful impact is significant.

Why Join Outwood?

Outwood Grange Academies Trust is one of the largest and most established MATs in the country. Our scale allows us to invest heavily in SEND leadership development, trust wide CPD and networking, and specialist support for vulnerable learners. You will also work closely with community executive leadership, trust strategic leads for inclusion and SEND, and SEND school improvement partners. Above all, you will be part of a Trust that is unapologetically focused on Students First, Raising Standards and Transforming Lives.

Commitment to safeguarding

Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification, Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), medical, online and social media, prohibition from teaching, right to work, satisfactory references, suitability to work with children. You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.