Vice Principal: Inclusion in Portsmouth

At Beacon View Primary Academy we are passionate about shaping the lives of our children. As a school, we are positive, we work as a team and have a number of initiatives to ensure that our staff’s wellbeing is looked after. As OFSTED recently recognised, our staff know the pupils extremely well and use this information to form strong relationships with our families, which is essential to the work we do. We are determined that all our children are able to access learning and work to remove any barriers.

From bagels on the gates to breathing techniques and Zones of Regulation, we work with both children and parents to support our children’s SEMH needs across the school, so that they can get on with the essential skill of learning. We expect the highest standard of behaviour, children to attend every day and welcome full support from our families.

Beacon View Primary Academy is part of United Learning, a large and growing group of schools aiming to offer a life-changing education to children and young people across England. United Learning is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All positions are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring check from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) and shortlisted candidates will be subject to an online check.

Are you looking for your next challenge? Do you want to make a difference to the lives of young people whilst working with a team of like-minded staff who are dedicated and enthusiastic and know how important it is to look after their own well-being at the same time? At Beacon View, we are dedicated to providing positive, quality education while fostering a culture of excellence, inclusivity, and ambition to inspire and nurture students to reach their full potential and contribute positively to the community.

We are currently recruiting for a new Vice Principal: Inclusion to join our school family. This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified SENCO with leadership experience to join our team and further develop their own skills. This would suit someone who is looking for their next stepping stone towards headship as there is the potential to be involved in leading the school on a regular basis due to flexible working within the senior leadership team. We are also advertising for a deputy SENCO within the academy.

The successful VP: Inclusion would mentor the deputy and support them whilst they complete their SENCo qualification, further developing the school’s capacity within SEND. The new VP: Inclusion would have responsibility for SEND, Inclusion and Behaviour as detailed within the job description. This includes line management of our Inclusion Officers Team, including the Behaviour Lead and our team of dedicated TAs both class-based and one-to-ones.

Over the last three years, we have done extensive work around provision redeveloping our universal, targeted and specialist support. We have introduced zones of regulation and Conscious Discipline, delivered training to staff on trauma-informed approach, PACE, Zones, CD and much more to ensure that the team are able to adapt and meet the needs of individual children. We have trained staff to deliver Lego-based therapy, have a trained Forest Schools Leader, partnered with Hampshire Garden Trust to develop our Edible Kitchen Garden and are currently working with OPAL to develop our play offer for all children at breaks and lunchtimes.

We have also done extensive work with our families to ensure that they are key collaborators in the support for their children, empowering them to take positive action with our support. We run Family Links and have a wide range of partnerships to support parents beyond the school, including a parent-led stay and play group and multiple groups run by the Parenting Network, supported by our Cluster Community Officer.

As the current post holder moves on to a new school, we are keen to appoint someone who puts children at the centre of all they do, who can bring a new perspective to our leadership team and can support and challenge us to further improve the offer we give to our school family. We welcome potential candidates to visit our school prior to them submitting an application for a tour and a conversation with our Principal, Sally Hodgson. Come and see if this could be the next step for you. We look forward to welcoming you.

Benefits: United Learning schools work as a team and achieve more by sharing than any single school could. The subject specialists, Group-wide intranet, own curriculum, and online learning portal all help us share knowledge and resources, helping to simplify work processes and manage workloads for an improved work-life balance. As a Group, we can reward our staff better: with good career opportunities, better pay, benefits, and ultimately, the satisfaction of helping children to succeed. We invest in our staff wellbeing. We have at least eight INSET days per year (with three of those solely dedicated to planning), and an ongoing group-wide wellbeing programme. It’s an ethos we call ‘the best in everyone’. We are working hard to become a more diverse organisation – which is key to our commitment to bringing out the best in everyone. We welcome applications from everyone committed to this ethos and would particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates, who are currently under-represented in the Group as a whole. We always appoint on merit, and we are open to discussing flexible working options.

Interviews will be held on the 9th May 2024.