Group Director of Inclusion

The Group Director of Inclusion is the strategic lead for learning support and inclusion across the Forest School Group. This is a senior, group-wide leadership role with responsibility for shaping vision, policy, consistency, and quality of inclusive provision from Pre-Prep through to Sixth Form. The postholder leads at group level rather than running day-to-day provision in any one phase. Operational delivery, such as assessment of individual pupils, intervention timetabling, parent meetings, day-to-day case management, and phase-specific specialist teaching, remains with the SENDCo teams based in the schools across the Group.

The Group Director of Inclusion line manages the school-based SENDCos, supports their professional development, and is accountable for the coherence and quality of inclusive practice across the Group. Forest is appointing this role at a significant moment in the wider SEND landscape. The number of pupils identified with neurodevelopmental differences, including autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other specific learning differences, developmental language disorder, and co-occurring profiles, has risen markedly across UK independent schools. The recent SEND reform agenda, and the work of the Neurodivergence Task and Finish Group, are reframing inclusion as a whole-school, needs-led responsibility rather than a specialist parallel system.

The successful candidate will lead Forest School Group's strategic response to this shift, ensuring that inclusion is understood as a core academic priority shared by every teacher and every leader across the Group. The Group Director of Inclusion sits on the Group Leadership Team and reports to the Warden. The postholder will liaise and collaborate regularly with the heads of each school within the group.

Why work at Forest?

• Generous CPD budget
• Comprehensive Professional Development Review system
• Opportunities to contribute to the wider community via our extensive Outreach Programme
• Free hot lunch (takeaway sandwich lunch also available) and refreshments throughout the day
• 20% fee remission (pro-rata for part-time staff) for children attending Forest which is applicable Y3-Y13
• Subsidised membership to the Sylvestrian Leisure Centre
• Membership of the School's Group Life Assurance scheme and Personal Accident Scheme
• Contribution towards private medical insurance fees
• Membership of a pension scheme

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, so early applications are encouraged. Forest School reserves the right to make appointments at any stage. Please note that if you have previously applied for this position and were not successful, your application will only be reconsidered if there have been significant changes to your qualifications, or skills that align more closely with the person specification.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. We are an equal opportunities employer. Safeguarding checks will be undertaken on all successful candidates in accordance with School policy. The safeguarding responsibilities of the post can be found in this job description and person specification. NB The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.