Assistant Headteacher (Culture & Ethos)

Poole High School, Poole, Dorset, BH15 2BW

18 days remaining to apply

• Job start date

  1 September 2026

• Closing date

  13 April 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  26 March 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Assistant headteacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Pay scale: Twynham Learning Leadership Pay Scale - L15 to L19 £73,105 - £80,655

What skills and experience we're looking for

Following a recent promotion, we are excited to appoint an enthusiastic and driven Assistant Headteacher to join our high-performing and forward-thinking leadership team, leading on Culture and Ethos.

The Assistant Headteacher (Culture and Ethos) will provide strategic oversight of developing a world-class education through the delivery of an exceptional pastoral system.

We teach a rigorous academic curriculum with a clear focus on supporting all students to achieve positive outcomes. You will lead and inspire excellence throughout the school.

We are looking for an outstanding individual who will relish the opportunity:

• To take strategic responsibility for the efficiency and effectiveness of the pastoral systems and structures to ensure excellent attendance, behaviour and punctuality.
• To provide strategic oversight of the development of a world-class education through the delivery of an exceptional pastoral system.
• To be responsible for ensuring that students behave with consistently high levels of respect for others, demonstrating high levels of self-control and consistent positive attitudes to their education.
• To be ultimately responsible for the implementation of an expertly designed ‘personal development curriculum’ and assembly programme that fosters a sense of belonging to the school community and which supports the visions, values and ethos of the school.
• To lead and inspire excellence throughout the school.

We would love to hear from you if you:

• Are a high-energy and passionate individual with a clear moral purpose, driven by a desire to improve the life chances of young people
• Are a reflective practitioner with a history of expertise in classroom pedagogy and the ability to improve outcomes for students
• Have an ability to inspire and relate well to the whole community
• Are an outstanding classroom practitioner across all secondary key stages
• Are able to evidence outstanding teaching and learning in the current role and GCSE results which reflect this through both attainment and progress against national expectations
• Are committed to improving your pedagogical practices
• Are aspirational for career development and eager to seize additional career progression opportunities

You will also be keen to live our Twynham Learning employee values, which are:

• Aim high
• Keep improving
• Don’t leave anyone behind
• See the bigger picture

What the school offers its staff

What we can offer you

• Disruption-free learning and a ‘warm-strict’ behaviour system
• Collaborative planning with centralised, shared units of work and resources
• The opportunity to teach up to A Level
• A feedback policy focused on whole class feedback – no onerous marking policies
• Centralised detentions, including homework detentions (you do not need to organise/chase at all)
• No formal graded lesson observations – just ongoing ‘no-stakes’ feedback, helping you to continuously develop
• Professional development that is continuous and based upon national research schools
• A culture of engaged learners – leaving you free to teach high-quality lessons
• Comprehensive induction process with ongoing support from a dedicated induction co-ordinator
• An exceptional CPD offer from ECT through to preparation for senior and system leadership
• A school and trust with the scale and structure to maximise opportunities and career progression
• Automatic membership of the Teachers Pension Scheme
• Free, confidential access to our Employee Assistance Programme, which offers a range of counselling services plus financial, legal and practical support from qualified professionals on a range of personal issues and access to online health and wellbeing resources
• A trust-wide intranet, where we share our news, information and resources
• Local discounts negotiated on behalf of our staff, e.g. gym memberships, hair and beauty salons, chiropractic care, cycle shops, restaurants, motoring services, and retail/DIY stores
• The opportunity to work within Twynham Learning, a progressive multi-academy trust
• The opportunity to work in one of the most beautiful areas of the South Coast
• Free and easy on-site parking

Further information about the job

The candidate will be required to undergo a full enhanced DBS check and must be eligible to work in the UK.

Visas cannot be sponsored.

If you're interested in teaching or training to teach in England as an international citizen, we can help you understand your next steps.

Commitment to safeguarding

We value diversity and inclusiveness. We want our workforce to be representative of all sections of our community, so we give equal opportunities. We don't discriminate on age, disability, gender reassignment, marital status, pregnancy/maternity, race/colour/nationality, religion/belief, sex or sexual orientation. We'll only consider people who can evidence their right to work in the UK. We're committed to robust Safer Recruitment processes to safeguard children. We undertake enhanced criminal records checks before appointment. Candidates must disclose all unprotected spent and unspent cautions and convictions. It is an offence to apply if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity with children.

Applying for the job

Apply for the job by following the link below.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Additional documents

If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.

Assistant Headteacher (Culture & Ethos) Job Description (PHS).pdf - 178 KB (opens in new tab)

Assistant Headteacher (Culture & Ethos) Advert March 2026.pdf - 140 KB (opens in new tab)

About Poole High School

• School type: Academy, ages 11 to 18
• Education phase: Secondary school
• School size: 1875 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 11 to 18
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Poole High School website
• Email address: recruitment@twynhamlearning.com
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/poole-high-school-poole

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