Deputy Principal
Bedford Free School, Bedford, Bedfordshire, MK42 9AD31 days remaining to apply
Start date details
September 2026
Closing date
23 February 2026 at 9am
Date listed
22 January 2026
Job details
Job role
- Deputy headteacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £70,248.00 - £75,753.00 Annually (Actual) A Leadership 13-16 £70,248-£75,753
Deputy Principal job summary
Dear Applicant,
Thank you for your interest in joining Bedford Free School.
BFS is a very successful school. In the last three years the measure has been available, pupils achieved progress 8 scores of 0.9, 0.99 and 1.11, placing us amongst the top 40 to 50 schools in the country. Our last Ofsted report, in January 2025, reaffirmed that we are outstanding in all categories.
But the successful candidate for this role must be very clear, as I am: we can be even better, and must be if we are to achieve our goal of ensuring that every one of our pupils achieves extraordinary things.
This is a unique and potentially career-defining opportunity. As Deputy Principal, you would have the chance to build on BFS’s well-established foundations and have the backing to drive the school forward to even better outcomes (in the broadest sense of the word) for our pupils and families. It is also a chance to shape educational standards in Bedford (the Department for Education having recently announced the building of our brand-new sister school in the town) and more widely, through your contributions to our work as a lead school in the RISE attendance and behaviour hubs programme.
The successful candidate will be smart, determined, and knowledgeable, but above all must have the highest possible expectations for all pupils, believing that they can master a knowledge-rich, academic curriculum and have excellent conduct regardless of their social circumstances or any special educational needs they may have. These high expectations must extend to staff, and yourself, too: our Deputy Principal must model their belief that all pupils can achieve amazing outcomes through their words and actions and have the professional candour to support staff and hold them to account for the quality of their teaching and performance.
We want to appoint an outstanding individual who has the breadth of experience and expertise to shape the strategic direction of the school and get things done, successfully implementing the evidence-informed strategies which will see BFS become the best school in the country in the next few years.
Thank you again for your interest in leading at BFS. We encourage prospective candidates to come and visit the school to see it for themselves. I look forward to answering any questions you might have, and to receiving your application in due course.
Tom Wood, Principal
JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Title: Deputy Principal (Quality of Education)
Reports to: Principal
Salary range: Advantage Leadership 13-16 £70,248-£75,753
CORE PURPOSE:
- To support the principal in the smooth running of the school.
- To deputise for the principal as and when required.
- To drive improvements to pupils’ academic outcomes at KS3 and KS4 with an explicit focus on ensuring GCSE outcomes are consistently amongst the best in the country.
- Strategic leadership of curriculum, quality of teaching and learning and quality assurance.
POST RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Lead all staff to maximise achievement for all pupils.
- Develop and monitor a world-class curriculum for all pupils based on their entitlement to access the knowledge taken for granted by members of ‘the community of educated citizens’. Do so through leading on the school’s participation in the Advantage Schools curriculum development project.
- Drive pedagogical excellence by researching, trialling, and embedding evidenced-based best practices that enhance curriculum delivery and long-term retention of core knowledge, and ensure high levels of pupil attentiveness, thought and participation.
- Lead the assistant principal responsible for professional learning to ensure that teaching is consistently of the highest standard, and that staff of all levels of experience engage in effective professional development.
- Lead on quality assurance of the curriculum, teaching and impact
- Lead on analysis and reporting of pupil progress data, ensuring that this informs effective interventions and strategic improvement planning at subject and whole school levels
- Oversee the production of the school timetable, working with the principal to ensure it guarentees pupils’ curriculum entitlement whilst also maximising efficiency and cost effectiveness.
- Lead on reporting to parents.
- Lead the KS4 options process.
FURTHER DUTIES AT BEDFORD FREE SCHOOL (BFS)
- Contribute to the strategic vision of Advantage Schools by working collaboratively with other senior leaders across the trust to align school improvement initiatives and be a model of cross-trust collaboration for all staff at BFS.
- Hold senior and middle leaders to account for the impact of their work, ensuring high standards in curriculum, teaching, learning, behaviour and school operations.
- Maximise progress and outcomes in Year 11 via rigorous analysis of data and action planning.
- Ensure positive and comprehensive parental engagement.
- Ensure every opportunity to minimise staff workload without an impact on standards is taken.
LINE MANAGEMENT OF:
- You will be asked to line manage senior leaders, a number of heads of department, and other middle leaders and support staff as required by the principal.
LEADERSHIP DUTIES AT BEDFORD FREE SCHOOL:
Senior leaders at Bedford Free School are highly visible and often lead by example. As we are a small school, the deputy principal will be operationally involved, at the direction of the principal, in a large number of varied duties to ensure that the school, it’s systems and routines run smoothly. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Delivering a Morning Address to the whole school on a weekly basis.
- Greeting pupils at the door and checking the uniform and equipment of every pupil before they enter the school.
- Monitoring the corridors during each transition to ensure a calm, purposeful transition.
- Regularly delivering assemblies and staff training sessions.
- Liaising with external agencies and services.
- Taking collaborative responsibility for implementing behaviour systems, including daily supervision of after school corrections, parent meetings, involvement in processes around suspensions and exclusions.
SAFEGUARDING:
- To be responsible for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of pupils and for raising any concerns in line with school procedures.
EQUALITY & DIVERSITY
- To be responsible for promoting equality and diversity in line with school policies and procedures.
HEALTH & SAFETY
- To be responsible for following health and safety requirements in line with school policies and procedures.
TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
- To participate proactively in training and development including qualification development required in the job role.
OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Play a full part in the life of the school community, both curricular and extra-curricular, to support its mission and ethos and to encourage and ensure staff and pupils follow this example.
- To undertake as required other duties and responsibilities relevant to the job as directed by the principal.
Safeguarding
We believe in the safeguarding and welfare of children and expect all staff to share this view’.
The Academy is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service. We are an equal opportunities employer.
The Department for Education (DfE) has set out statutory guidance ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ for schools and colleges on safeguarding.
Safeguarding is defined in paragraph 4 as:
“Protecting children from maltreatment; preventing impairment of children’s health or development; ensuring that children grow up in circumstances consistent with the provision of safe and effective care; and taking action to enable all children to have the best outcomes.”
The definition of 'children' includes everyone under the age of 18.
The Trust reserves the right to interview and appoint a suitable candidate before the deadline date.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
Safeguarding children enrolled at the School is of paramount importance, and we are fully committed to the protection and safe care of our pupils. The successful applicant will be required to undertake appropriate checks as well as providing proof of your right to work in the UK.
Applying for the job
This school accepts applications through their own website, where you may also find more information about this job.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on external website (opens in new tab)About Bedford Free School
- School type
- Free School, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- School size
- 525 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Bedford Free School website
Set up in 2012 by local teachers and parents, Bedford Free School exists to offer families a choice in Bedford.
Bedford Free School is a unique school with a fantastic educational offer. We really do believe that our pupils can go on to achieve extraordinary things. In our young history, we have proved they can and we are now one of the highest performing secondary schools not only in the area, but in the country.
BFS is a small school of only around 500 pupils, so staff get to know each pupil as an individual and we have a family feel. This allows us to encourage, demand and collectively strive for academic and personal success.
We believe that all pupils deserve a ‘grammar-school’ style education, with access to an academic curriculum, strong discipline, high expectations and access to highly selective universities, and a wide range of extra-curricular activities.
School location
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