Job Description

Deputy Principal

Leadership Framework | EFE-JD-2026

The successful candidate will take a primary role in monitoring progress towards the achievement of the school’s aims, ensuring that the Dynamic Development Plan (DDP) is not a static document but a living framework for awakening. You will manage resources effectively to deliver an unashamedly ambitious curriculum, ensuring that every interaction within our clinical sanctuary remains restorative and grounded in relational safety.

The Deputy Principal may also maintain a timetabled teaching commitment as agreed, modelling the highest standards of developmental coaching for others within the provision. You will undertake other delegated specific duties from the Principal, acting as the operational lead during their absence and ensuring that the Elevation Arc remains the golden thread of our personal development strategy.

Support the Principal with the day to day clinical management of the provision, communicating and demonstrating the school’s vision compellingly to all stakeholders. You will lead by example, focusing on providing an excellent education for all pupils while maintaining a high density, specialist knowledge of developments in neuro affirming education.

Build positive, restorative relationships with all members of the school community, demonstrating the DDP pillar of Mutuality in every interaction. You will demonstrate a culture that supports and facilitates pupil engagement in and ownership of their own learning, ensuring that the “Voice of the Child” is the primary driver of school improvement and environmental attunement.

Key Responsibilities

Pupils, Staff, and Operational Systems

Ensure ambitious standards for all pupils, instilling a strong sense of accountability in staff for the clinical impact of their work on student outcomes. You will ensure that excellent teaching is the baseline across the provision, establishing a culture of “Open Classrooms” as a basis for sharing restorative best practice and the awakening of the workforce.

Create an ethos where all staff are motivated and supported to develop their skills and knowledge in neuro affirming practice. You will identify and support emerging talents, providing coaching and support for current and aspiring leaders through the EFE Coaching Cycle. You will direct, question, and support staff to ensure they deliver outstanding teaching and professional conduct that reflects the intrinsic worth of every creation in our care.

Participate in the holistic focus on pupil achievement, utilizing data from the Dynamic Insight Screener and DDP profiles to monitor progress in every child’s learning. You will support the distribution of leadership throughout the school, empowering staff to act as Architects of Inclusion in their own right.

Ensure the school’s systems, organisation, and processes are well considered, efficient, and fit for a neuro affirming purpose. You will provide a safe, calm, and well ordered environment for all pupils and staff, focused on relational safety and the development of exemplary self regulation skills.

Implement and undertake systems for managing the performance of all staff, addressing underperformance through the DDP coaching cycle while valuing and celebrating excellent practice. You will work with the Board of Governors where appropriate and support strategic, curriculum led financial planning to ensure the effective use of budgets and resources.

Create an outward facing school that works with other organizations and provisions to secure excellent outcomes for all pupils. You will model entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to school improvement, inspiring others to believe in the fundamental importance of neuro affirming education. You will work with other schools in a climate of mutual challenge, ensuring that each pupil is championed to reach their unique potential.

Statutory Accountability

Assessment, Pastoral, and Safeguarding

Lead on the whole school assessment strategy, ensuring it is rigorous, asset based, well evidenced, and easy to communicate to pupils and parents. You will track and analyse pupil performance data, paying particular attention to the longitudinal progress of superpowers and disadvantaged groups, including those with special educational needs or who speak English as an additional language.

Plan and implement interventions for those pupils who are not progressing through the Elevation Arc as expected. You will maintain an expert awareness of best practice in assessment and provide training for staff on administering the EFE assessment system effectively, ensuring that student competence is celebrated through the DDP Showcase.

Establish and implement whole school systems for pupil wellbeing rooted in the pillar of Appreciation. You will conduct regular pupil voice surveys to ensure students feel happy, safe, and validated in their identity, championing the importance of pupil agency to the Senior Leadership Team and fostering personal development for all.

Promote and evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s relational behaviour policy and strategies, ensuring that attendance is improving continuously through pastoral casework and the identification of environmental barriers to engagement.

You are required to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and young people, following school policies and the staff code of conduct with forensic precision. You will take responsibility where required for appropriate safeguarding policy and procedure on behalf of the Principal, ensuring that the welfare of children is promoted in line with KCSIE 2026.

Demonstrate knowledge and effective experiences of addressing the every child matters agenda and safeguarding issues. You will maintain a forensic chronology on the SENTINEL portal, ensuring that opportunities for abuse are minimized through proactive reporting and a culture of relentless vigilance.

Leadership Standards and Behaviours

Professional Attitudes, Aptitudes, and Capabilities

Attitude	Aptitude	Functional Capability
Build relationships between yourself and the team. Unify not divide the workforce. Promote a culture of respect and restorative repair, modelling unconditional appreciation during difficult restorative repairs. Manage conflict well and proactively.	Ensure effective workforce development and training for all. Spot and nurture talent in yourself and others. Positively engage in development opportunities.	Ensure clear roles and accountabilities are understood. Develop mutual accountability between colleagues. Deploy resources effectively across the provision.

Attitude	Aptitude	Functional Capability
Build trust within your teams and across the provision. Create a psychologically safe environment where staff flourish. Value compassion and encourage a “can do” approach, maintaining unconditional appreciation even when faced with complex behavioural presentations.	Be self reflective on your own strengths. Be proactive in seeking support via reading or CPD to understand areas for improvement. Stay awakened to the DDP.	Display professional credibility to team, peers, and governors. Be highly and consistently visible across the provision with calmness.

Attitude	Aptitude	Functional Capability
Celebrate and acknowledge the success of self and others. Create an abundancy culture where all can be successful without threat. Demonstrate drive and ambition, grounded in the unconditional appreciation of every superpower.	Engage in wider networking and reading to gain inspiration. Understand and share your “why” and revisit it regularly to maintain strategic focus.	Communicate a precise and clear vision. Set the journey ahead so it is understood by all. Evidence sharp goal setting and ensure oversights are rare.

Leadership Standards and Behaviours

Reflection, Accountability, and General Duties

Attitude	Aptitude	Functional Capability
Demonstrate transparency and integrity. Accept responsibility and be vulnerable, avoiding a blame culture. Give and accept feedback with grace, always reflecting through the lens of unconditional appreciation for professional growth.	Take time to know yourself and engage in self reflection. Ask thoughtful questions and seek the truth in every clinical or academic scenario.	Encourage your team to reflect on efficiency and effectiveness. Strive to gain a constantly improving approach to neuro affirming practice.

Attitude	Aptitude	Functional Capability
Give generously with your time. Be true to your word. Provide support and remove barriers to success for staff and students alike, anchored by a deep commitment to the DDP pillars.	Have high expectations of yourself and others. Seek out best practice. Be willing and able to have challenging conversations when required.	Ensure absolute clarity in terms of expectation and the “ask”. Allocate resources effectively to support KPI delivery and student progress.

Represent the agreed values and vision of the Senior Leadership Team to the school community and be seen to be translating the school vision into practice. You will promote, contribute to, and lead any staff INSET or induction as required, ensuring that all staff are supported and their welfare is prioritized.

You will lead school assemblies and organize major school events, helping to maintain standards of pupil dress and punctuality. You will contribute to the School Development Plan, perform staff appraisals, and participate in the school holidays on call rota as required to fulfill the responsibilities of the post.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Experience, and Attributes

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and Degree educated.
• Evidence of regular and appropriate professional development towards a senior leadership role.
• Evidence of recent management development and leadership training.
• Hold the NASENCO Award or be willing to undertake it within the first year of employment.

• Sustained and successful senior leadership and management experience in a comparable secondary, AP, or specialist setting.
• Significant teaching experience within a neuro affirming or specialist educational environment.
• Proven involvement in school self evaluation and strategic development planning.
• Line management experience with a track record of contributing to staff development and curriculum innovation.
• Understanding of high quality teaching and the ability to model this for others using asset based methodologies.
• Advanced skills in data analysis and the ability to use the DDP to set targets and identify areas for provision improvement.
• Understanding of school finances, procedures, and the development of an exemplary curriculum for pupils with complex needs.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships inside and outside of school.

In addition to the candidate’s ability to perform the duties of the post, the interview will explore issues relating to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, including: your motivation to work with neurodivergent children, your ability to form appropriate relationships and personal boundaries, and your attitudes to the use of authority and maintaining relational safety.