INTERVIEWING: Headteacher - St Francis Catholic Primary School

INTERVIEWING: Headteacher - St Francis Catholic Primary School - Kent

Competitive for the right candidate + Relocation support - Catholic - Head/Principal
Ref: 137 Date Posted: Tuesday 16 Apr 2024

Headteacher vacancy - St Francis Catholic Primary, Maidstone

Location: Maidstone, Kent
Contract Type: Full Time
Contract Term: Permanent
Start Date: September 2024

St Francis Catholic Primary School, a highly regarded 2FE VA (Group 3) Catholic primary, rated Good (Ofsted 2018) and Outstanding (S48 2016), is a truly remarkable school with extraordinary potential to build upon and further advance its well-earned reputation as a child-centred catholic school community where all are welcomed, loved and nurtured irrespective of background and faith (55% of our children are baptised Catholics with 50% on our role speaking English as an additional language).

The school is well known for its strong links with the parish of St Francis and the catholic community it serves, and as a result is oversubscribed across many year groups. The school is a truly authentic and vibrant community - with happy, well cared for children enjoying the support of committed staff, knowledgeable and supportive Governors and a dynamic School Association. 

Pupils exceed national averages for attainment and progress. The school also has an excellent provision for sports, music and arts therapy, offering more than 12 different extra-curricular activities each week; all located within a spacious site with excellent facilities.

The school looks with confidence to another successful chapter in its story, including charting a course for a future in which academisation plays its part.

If, as a first-time or existing Head, you believe you can offer the outstanding pastoral and leadership qualities which inspires and motivates others towards excellence and ensures the very best education for all our learners, then we would love to hear from you.

A requirement of the post is that applicants must be practising Catholics.

Closing date: Wed 3 April at 12 Noon

Interviews: Wed 17 April (one day)

We would encourage you to come and visit us and see us at work.

For an initial informal chat (in complete confidence) please call Liam Dowds, our Emmaus Advising Consultant, on 01737 652 043 or email him at ldowds@emmausleadership.me in the first instance for an Application pack.

Our school is an equal opportunities employer and committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. DBS check required.

"Emmaus were instrumental in persuading me to apply for the post of Headteacher. I had seen the school advertising in the past but nothing inspired me to get in touch. Once Emmaus advertised I felt intrigued and keen to learn more about the school. I was supported throughout the whole process, which was a very personal and positive experience. I would highly recommend Emmaus to any school thinking of recruiting, and candidates considering registering. If my new school had not used Emmaus I probably wouldn’t have applied."

Hannah Walters, Headteacher, Platt CE Primary School - Kent

"I’m delighted with the way it went and the successful outcome (third SLT placement now!) helps confirm to Governors that your approach is right for these levels of appointment. It’s difficult to quantify the costs of recruiting and failing to get the right candidate ourselves - we’d only find out the true cost and also lost opportunities if we tried and failed. Altogether better to invest in getting it right first time, so thank you for all your hard work on this. The other side is the perception we leave with all candidates and I think we’ve worked together to do an excellent job (using your Assessment support). The communication, logistics and the care given I think is really important and Emmaus are a big part of that - you work as an extension of the school. I am fairly sure that all of the candidates will go away having had a great experience and that will help our reputation spread in a positive way."

Dave Cobb - School Business & Development Manager, Saint Cecilia's CE School, London

"Thank you for everything you did to successfully support our recruitment of an outstanding Headteacher and Deputy Headteacher. Using Emmaus Leadership to manage the recruitment to the post was much debated and was the subject of intense scrutiny by our Governing Body who were somewhat reluctant to use a leadership recruitment specialist. However, their confidence was reinstated as a result of your professional approach, your insightful knowledge and the resulting candidate pool produced for both appointments. I have no hesitation in recommending Emmaus to other schools."

Annie Sutton - Executive Principal, St Joseph's RC Specialist School and College

"We considered TES, but the critical factor for us was that Emmaus are not only specialists in recruiting Headteachers, they are Christians focused exclusively on recruiting for Church Schools."

Canon Bob Baker, Chair of Governors,The Bishop’s CE School - Thetford

"We are delighted with the appointment we made and I have reported to the whole community that we could not have been more thorough in the search or more rigorous in the selection process. Thank you Emmaus Leadership."

Jacqui Feely, Chair at All Hallows Catholic College, Macclesfield

"Emmaus brings a level of professionalism, seen in other industry sectors, to church schools’ recruitment."

The Rt Rev Nick Baines - Anglican Bishop of Leeds

"We had been cold called by a few other companies but chose Emmaus as it specialised in Church schools. We were impressed by Liam and his team coming to the school and burrowing in to what the school wanted and needed. He asked searching questions and we were satisfied this was the way forward. I had not been a fan of head hunters before, but I have to say this process and its result was a hugely better experience than going out on our own and was totally professional throughout."

Bridget Prentice, Chair of Governors - Trinity School, Lewisham

"We tried going it alone to find a CEO for our MAT but had only 2 applicants who didn't meet our requirements. We approached Emmaus and from the start their professionalism was reassuring."

Barry Leyland, Chair - Blessed Edward Bamber Catholic Multi Academy Trust

"We came across Emmaus by accident after our own attempts to recruit a Headteacher failed. We would not hesitate to engage them again to find a suitable candidate for a leadership position."

Michael Tennant - Chairman of the Board, St Edward's School

"Could we afford it? My belief, as Chair was that we couldn’t afford not to. We needed strong school leaders to be drawn to apply. Our success was down to using Emmaus and definitely money well spent."

Carry Lynott - Chair of Governors, Our Lady and St Brendan's Catholic Primary School, Bradford

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