Welcome, and thank you for your interest in our Headteacher opportunity
Dear Applicant,
Welcome, and thank you for your interest in our exciting Headteacher opportunity. We hope that the information we have provided encourages you to make an application to our warm and welcoming school.
At Filey Junior School we are proud to live out our vision of being a “happy, healthy and positive learning community”. We are deeply committed to fostering a vibrant, inclusive, and high-achieving learning environment where every pupil is encouraged to thrive. We are proud of our strong community, supportive staff, and dedicated governors, all of whom are driven by a shared commitment to excellence in education.
Part of our vision and values is to ensure “Widening Horizons” for all our children. We strive to equip our pupils with the skills, confidence, and compassion they need to succeed in an ever-changing world.
We believe that schools should be learning centres for both children and their parents, for teachers and local community. The school is situated in the charming seaside town of Filey on the North Yorkshire coast, and we recognise the important part we play in our community: children, parents, staff and the wider community are encouraged and supported to learn new skills and develop themselves to achieve the best they possibly can.
We have been recognised for our SEN provision, use of IT, our curriculum and the creativity we put in personal development for both our staff and children. The incoming Headteacher will have the opportunity to lead a very well resourced and maintained school building and site with a healthy financial balance, a well-established and reliable IT infrastructure and a very positive Ofsted report on which to build.
For an informal, confidential conversation about the position please email Helen Poole, who has been engaged to support us with recruitment to this key role, or call on 01609 532254. We would encourage you to come and visit in advance of your application and see for yourself the enthusiasm that our pupils have for their education. Such a visit is not part of the selection process, and whether applicants have visited will not influence the outcome. We would also encourage applicants to have a look at the school website (opens in a new tab) and newsletters (opens in a new tab) to get a feel for our school.
I hope you find the information provided useful and informative and that it will encourage you to apply. On behalf of the governing body, thank you again for your interest in Filey Junior School.
Yours faithfully,
Lucy Deighton,
Chair of Governors
Learn more about our Headteacher opportunity
Post: Headteacher
Number on Roll: 250
Commencing: September 2025
Salary: L14-20 £68,586 - £79,475
Contract Term: Permanent
Our Opportunity:
Filey Junior School is a unique and innovative school, with a willing and capable team of established staff, engaged and happy pupils in a beautiful coastal location with a forward-thinking commitment to technology and strong SEND provision. Our new Headteacher will be a positive role-model for teachers, parents and pupils whilst continuing to embed our curriculum.
About You:
We are looking for an experienced school leader who will bring creativity, positivity and strategic vision to our school. Someone who is passionate about education with high educational standards to enable every pupil to achieve their full potential. You will have a good understanding and empathy for children, especially for those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will consider and shape how we can adapt and enrich our practices innovatively to promote and enhance the wellbeing of our children and staff. You will be eager to make an impact but take a step to reflect first, ensuring the right working partnerships are put in place.
You will be an outstanding teaching practitioner able to set and achieve ambitious goals, continually seek to raise standards by developing staff and ensuring the quality of teaching and learning and develop a clear vision to move the school towards excellence and continue its further improvement.
Our new Headteacher will foster a supportive and inclusive atmosphere where all pupils feel valued and encouraged to express themselves. They should prioritise the well-being of both pupils and staff, creating a positive school culture that promotes academic excellence but also social and emotional development.
We can offer you:
- A happy and friendly school, with delightful children who respect each other and have a thirst for learning.
- A culture which allows all staff to thrive and develop.
- An opportunity to see the huge potential that exists and the time to make Filey Junior School a beacon of excellence in primary education.
- Significant levels of support from the Local Authority Governing Board and a staff team who are experienced, committed and passionate about our school.
- A Governing Body committed to providing support on all matters including more sensitive or difficult issues and including the wellbeing of all staff members.
For an informal, confidential conversation about the role please call Helen on 01609 532254 or email. Helen has been engaged to support us with recruitment to this exciting opportunity.
Visits
We strongly recommend that you visit us so we can share with you why we are so proud of our school, and you will have the opportunity to see what we have to offer. If you would like the opportunity to visit, please email Helen.
Key dates
Application closing date: Midnight on Monday 21st April
Shortlisting: Wednesday 23rd April
Interviews: Tuesday 29th and Wednesday 30th April
Information About Our School
Filey Junior School (FJS) is in the popular seaside destination of Filey, known for its historic promenade, colourful beach huts and impressive 5 mile golden sandy bay. Close to other seaside towns on the North Yorkshire coast, Filey offers water sports, nature reserves, art galleries and Edwardian architecture to both residents and visitors. It is also connected by regular trains to Scarborough and York making it a popular place for many in Yorkshire to visit.
We are one of three schools in the town - an infant school, ourselves and a secondary school. The schools serve the town and surrounding villages. Our demographic is a diverse socio-economic community but primarily white British. We work in partnership with a local care provider to offer wrap-around care before and after school and during school holidays.
Our Pupils
Our children are happy, eager to learn and enjoy coming to school. We believe in an inclusive environment; providing support, understanding and empathy to everyone within our learning community. Behaviour in school is very positive with pupils and staff showing respect and understanding to each other.
Our children have opportunities throughout the year including residential visits, attending a live drama production as well as performing in a production themselves, taking part in sporting events and visiting and interacting with a range of people from different backgrounds and cultures. These are just some of the activities we encourage our children to be a part of during their time at the school.
The School Council provides a voice for the pupils within the school. They meet on a weekly basis to discuss matters of concern to the pupils of the school. Decisions supported by the School Council include a range of charities; lunchtime provision; giving input to Scarborough Council; and fundraising and organising the purchase of a defibrillator for the school and the local community. Council members are elected each year with each class having a representative on the Council.
We offer a range of ‘clubs’ that children can attend after school and during lunchtimes. The activities and range of these clubs can vary but usually consist of a range of sports and creative activities such as football, running, dance, mountain biking, cookery, art, homework, drama and drumming.
Ofsted recognised 2023 - Pupils behave extremely well around school and in class. They are polite and engage maturely in conversations with others. Playtimes and lunchtimes provide a time for pupils to take part in the impressive range of games and activities available to them, including basketball, skateboarding and scooters. Pupils enjoy spending time in the reading and art sheds where they take part in creative activities. Pupils use the resources respectfully. They play well with pupils from different year groups. This contributes to a positive sense of community in the school.
Our Staffing Team
As Headteacher of Filey Junior School you will be leading an established staffing team, including an Assistant Headteacher, SENDCo, 14 Teachers and 8 Support staff with 3 in our clerical team. Our effective and proven teaching team mean we have the freedom to pursue our educational vision. We are part of the Scarborough Teaching alliance, providing our staff with good links for training.
Our Governing Body
Made up of 12 Governors, we benefit from a forward-thinking and supportive Governing Body that encourages Headteacher professional development and who are committed to providing support on all matters including more sensitive or difficult issues and including the wellbeing of all staff members.
Our vision and values represents what we wish to achieve as a school. They have been created after consultation with everyone involved with our school (parents, pupils, teachers, and governors).
Widening Horizons & Reaching Our Potential.
Respecting the World and Each Other.
A Happy, Healthy and Positive Learning Community.
Read more about our vision and values here. (opens in a new tab).
Learning at Filey Junior School
Our children and staff benefit from a ‘Specialist Teacher’ model that we believe is quite unique. Since 2020/2021 each year group in school has a teacher that is responsible for Maths, one for Literacy, and one for subjects in the wider curriculum. In addition, French, Music, Computer Coding and RE are taught across the school, by specialists in those subjects. This approach sees our children move from class to class throughout the day. We believe this method of teaching gives children the best available teacher for every aspect of the curriculum
The school concentrates on the teaching of skills and understanding through a series of ‘themes’. This allows teachers to adapt their lessons to the children’s own needs and interests and to the school’s individual context. The themed approach to curriculum also allows opportunity for cross-curricular planning, where a number of different subjects can be delivered as a block of learning under one theme. This approach may lead to some subjects taking a focus over one term and not being taught the following one.
In addition to the ‘specialist’ approach, we also employ a great deal of information technology within the school. We think of ourselves as very innovative and forward-thinking and this is reflected in our commitment to technology. We have been using 1:1 Chromebooks since 2014 and the use of this technology permeates all lessons. Our use of technology has been recognised by being made a Google Reference School – One of less than thirty such schools across the UK and the only one in North Yorkshire.
Ofsted recognised 2023 - Pupils demonstrate high levels of independence when using technology. Teachers regularly record video clips that highlight important parts of pupils’ learning or explain tasks to complete. Pupils’ mature approach to using the digital resources available to them supports their learning effectively. For example, during the inspection, some pupils used a tutor
Wellbeing of Pupils
SEN provision was acknowledged as a strength of the school in the last inspection. There are a number of children with complex SEMH needs at FJS. As part of being an inclusive school, we have recently introduced a Nurture space to enhance our SEN provision and we would look to the incoming Headteacher to help develop this into an integral part of the school.
Ofsted recognised 2023 - The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the school. Established processes are in place to identify pupils’ needs swiftly. The school provides timely and focused support to individual pupils when it is required. Leaders regularly review this support to ensure that it meets the needs of pupils. In class, pupils with SEND are supported effectively.
You can read further information on our SEN Provision (opens in a new tab).
Relationships with parents, carers and the local community
The outgoing Headteacher works collaboratively with staff, parents, governors and the wider community giving the school has a strong relationship with them. For example, the school’s community choir is a visible presence at events such as carol concerts and Armistice Remembrance Day and at Christmas time local radio has featured the singing from the school. We also enjoy good links with Police Community Support Officers, Filey lions and local Tesco.
We ensure there is frequent communication with parents and carers, providing regular updates about school event. Weekly newsletters include valuable information about supporting pupils to keep safe, including online. Parents benefit from being informed about what is happening in school and how they can support their child’s learning.
Ofsted
Our last Ofsted inspection (opens in a new tab), saw us rated “good”.
'Filey Junior School is a place that lives out its vision to be ‘a happy, healthy and positive learning community’. The school’s high expectations of all pupils are seen throughout its work. Its engaging curriculum, as well as the range of opportunities and experiences on offer to pupils, provides a stimulating place to learn. Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are proud to be members of its community. One pupil told the inspector: ‘We have a lot of fun here – and we learn things too!’
Our Strengths:
- A well-designed curriculum.
- Pupils demonstrate high levels of independence when using technology.
- The provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the school. Established processes are in place to identify pupils’ needs swiftly.
- The school prioritises the development of reading.
- Governors know the school well. They ask challenging questions of leaders to ensure that the decisions they make are having the intended impact. Governors regularly check that staff’s workload and well-being are not adversely affected by the school’s efforts to achieve and maintain high standards.
Areas for development:
- Strategies to support pupils’ fluency in reading are not fully embedded. Some pupils do not achieve as well in reading as they do in other aspects of the curriculum. The school should ensure that they provide the training staff need to develop pupils’ fluency in reading effectively across the school.
Budget position
There is a large revenue balance to carry over and although we currently have an In-year deficit forecast for the school, this is ‘worse case’ scenario and can easily be addressed.
Experience of handling a school budget and knowledge of how to budget effectively will be an advantage in this role. We are looking for a candidate who will be able to manage the school's resources effectively and ensure financial sustainability.
Short and Mid-term Priorities
- Recruitment for new SENDCo due to the progression of our current SENDCo.
- A smooth transition of leadership as the new Headteacher is appointed
Long term Ambitions
- Ensure school data is at least in line with National for combined subjects
- As a Google Reference School, there are opportunities to provide training and other events for other schools in the area.
- To be exemplary in our next Ofsted inspection and report card
Future Challenges
- Taking over from a well established Headteacher
- Raising standards at end of KS2
- Number of children with complex SEMH needs
North Yorkshire is England's largest county and one of the most rural. The area comprises the Yorkshire Dales (opens in a new tab) and North York Moors (opens in a new tab), three Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a stunning coastline around Scarborough and Whitby. There are ruined castles and abbeys, serene gardens, unique breweries, thrilling rides and industrial heritage. The area hosted the phenomenal Tour de France ‘Grand Depart’ in 2014 and has since created the Tour de Yorkshire, an annual event with global recognition. Our success in supporting these events led to Harrogate hosting the UCI Cycling World Championships in 2019.
North Yorkshire has plenty to offer the outdoor enthusiast. From the hard gritstone of Almscliff and Brimham rocks to the limestone of Malham, Gordale and Kilnsey climbing venues are in abundance. The Yorkshire Dales is the premier area for caving and for mountain biking; there are the bridleways of the Dales and North York Moors as well as the renowned trail centre at Dalby Forest. There are a small number of sailing clubs on reservoirs around the county and fantastic surfsport venues and sea kayaking on the east coast.
While the county is rightly known for its wide open spaces, it also incorporates attractive market towns including Pickering and Helmsley, traditional seaside towns, the Spa town of Harrogate and the ancient city of York - the most visited city outside of London. There are a wide range of shopping, leisure and cultural facilities as well as excellent schools, universities, road and rail links, there really is everything to offer you and your family as a place to work, live and enjoy!
Travelling further afield we have convenient connectivity, with close proximity to metropolitan cities of Leeds and Newcastle, with little over two hours commute on the main train line to London. We border the Lake District, Lancashire, County Durham, and Yorkshire & Humber regions with all they have to offer.
Information About Application and Guidance
When applying please consider the following supporting documents:
Download Person Specification - Headteacher (.docx) [90 KB] (opens in a new tab)
Download Job Description - Headteacher (.docx) [67 KB] (opens in a new tab)
Application guidance, including policy statement on the recruitment of ex-offenders
The supporting information section of your application should clearly evidence your ability to meet the requirements we have outlined in the person specification. This will be used to shortlist applicants for this role and therefore it is imperative that you provide evidence as requested.
References
When completing your application, please provide two employment referees.
Your application plays an important part in your selection. As part of the application process, you may have been asked to demonstrate within this application form how you meet some or all of the criteria or key competencies outlined in the person specification. The supporting information section of your application should clearly evidence your ability to meet these requirements. This will be used to shortlist applicants for this role and therefore it is imperative that you provide evidence as requested. Rather than simply repeating your career history, look at the skills and experience required by the job and provide evidence that you possess them by giving specific and detailed examples which include a focus on outcomes and on your own contribution to the scenario. Try to use different and varied examples wherever possible.
When completing these sections, do not forget the skills and experience you have gained outside full-time work. Outlining your previous work experience or other responsibilities may help you to uncover skills which you have taken for granted and which are clear signs of your ability to do the job.
Should you require the application form in a different format, please contact Resourcing Solutions.
Canvassing
Should your application be for a local authority school, you must not try to influence an elected Council Member, any council employee or a member of the school governing body, to act in your favour, as this will disqualify you. If you are related to a Councillor, a Council employee or a governor you must indicate this in the relevant section of the application form.
Data Protection
North Yorkshire Council (NYC) advertise vacancies and process applications on behalf of schools and external organisations (third parties) in North Yorkshire. NYC are not responsible for the recruitment/employment practices of third parties and accept no liability in relation to the vacancy and any subsequent recruitment/employment processes. Further information on how we process your data can be found by reading our privacy notice.
Rehabilitation of Offenders
The post you are applying for requires you to have an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service criminal records check for work with children, with a barred list check if you work in regulated activity. This check for disclosure of criminal history will include spent convictions, pending prosecutions / current court proceeding and police enquiries.
Should you be shortlisted, you will be asked to disclose full details of your criminal history prior to your interview. This includes any information deemed relevant as part of Keeping Children Safe in Education which may arise in an online search undertaken on shortlisted candidates. This information may be discussed with you at your interview in order to assess job related risks, but we emphasise that your application will be considered on merit and ability and you will not be discriminated against unfairly. Failure to disclose this information will result in any offer of employment being withdrawn.
Please also see the policy statement on the Recruitment of Ex-offenders below.
Policy Statement on the Recruitment of Ex-offenders (Source www.gov.uk)
- As an organisation assessing applicants’ suitability for positions which are included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order using criminal record checks processed through the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), this school complies fully with the DBS code of practice and undertakes to treat all applicants for positions fairly.
- This school undertakes not to discriminate unfairly against any subject of a criminal record check on the basis of a conviction or other information revealed.
- This school can only ask an individual to provide details of convictions and cautions that it is legally entitled to know about. Where a DBS certificate can legally be requested (where the position is one that is included in the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) order 1975 as amended, and where appropriate Policy Act Regulations as amended) this school can only ask an individual about convictions and cautions that are not protected.
- This school is committed to the fair treatment of its staff and potential staff, regardless of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, responsibilities for dependents, age, physical/mental disability or offending background.
- This school has this written policy on the recruitment of ex-offenders, which is made available to all DBS applicants at the start of the recruitment process.
- This school actively promotes equality of opportunity for all with the right mix of talent, skills and potential and welcome applications from a wide range of candidates, including those with criminal records. Candidates are selected for interview based on their skills, qualifications and experience and criminal record information is only requested from short-listed candidates.
- A disclosure is only requested from the DBS after a thorough risk assessment has indicated that one is both proportionate and relevant to the position concerned. For those positions where a criminal record check is identified as necessary, all application forms, job adverts and recruitment briefs will contain a statement that a DBS certificate will be requested in the event of the individual being offered the position.
- This school ensures that all those who are involved in the recruitment process have been suitably trained to identify and assess the relevance and circumstances of offences.
- This school also ensures that they have received appropriate guidance and training in the relevant legislation relating to the employment of ex-offenders, e.g. the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974.
- At interview, or in a separate discussion, this school ensures that an open and measured discussion takes place on the subject of any offences or other matter that might be relevant to the position. Failure to reveal information that is directly relevant to the position sought could lead to withdrawal of an offer of employment.
- This school makes every subject of a criminal record check submitted to DBS aware of the existence of the code of practice and makes a copy available on request.
- This school undertakes to discuss any matter revealed on a DBS certificate with the individual seeking the position before withdrawing a conditional offer of employment.
References
When completing your application, please provide two employment referees. One of these must be from your most recent employer.
We are committed to meeting the needs of our diverse community and aim to have a workforce reflecting this diversity. We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and adults. We have a robust child protection and safeguarding policy. and all staff will receive training relevant to their role at induction and throughout employment at the school. We expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Please note this post is in regulated activity and exempt from the rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and subject to satisfactory references and an enhanced DBS criminal records and barred list check for work with children. An online search may be undertaken as part of the recruitment process on information available in the public domain. Candidates should disclose anything that may be relevant in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.