- School type
- Academy, ages 11 to 16
- Education phase
- Secondary school
- School size
- 590 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 11 to 16
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- The Rudheath Senior Academy website
Director of Secondary Education
More than one location, North West Academies Trust Limited31 days remaining to apply
Start date details
As soon as possible
Closing date
16 March 2026 at 9am
Date listed
13 February 2026
Job details
Job role
- Other leadership roles
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Part time: Part Time (0.4 FTE: 2 days per week)
Contract type
- Permanent
Actual salary
- Competitive
What skills and experience we're looking for
About the North West Academies Trust (NWAT)
The North West Academies Trust is a growing and ambitious multi-academy trust, united by a clear purpose: to deliver exceptional education that transforms lives and strengthens communities.
We believe that outstanding education is rooted not only in academic excellence, but in kindness, integrity, inclusion and ambition. Our schools are places where young people are known, valued and challenged, where staff are supported to thrive, innovate and lead with confidence.
The educational landscape is evolving rapidly, shaped by increased accountability, changing inspection frameworks, workforce challenges and growing complexity in student need. In response, NWAT is committed to being forward-thinking, evidence-informed and relentlessly focused on quality.
We aspire to be best in class across curriculum, teaching, inclusion, leadership and culture.
To support this ambition, we are seeking to appoint a Part-Time Director of Secondary Education to play a pivotal strategic and operational role across our secondary provision. The role will have an initial focus on Rudheath Senior Academy, alongside a wider Trust remit, particularly in strengthening our readiness for future multi-academy trust inspections, external review, and ensuring our secondary offer reflects the highest standards of excellence.
About Rudheath Senior Academy
Rudheath Senior Academy is a mixed secondary school (ages 11–16) serving the Northwich community. Since joining NWAT in November 2018, the Academy has continued its journey of improvement and is currently rated Good by Ofsted (2023).
The Academy is proudly underpinned by the core values of Excellence and Kindness. These are not slogans, but lived principles that shape curriculum design, relationships, behaviour, pastoral care and leadership.
Our mission is to open children’s eyes to possibility, through a broad, ambitious curriculum, with high expectations for all, and a strong commitment to inclusion and wellbeing.
Key Features:
- A values driven culture balancing high academic ambition with strong pastoral care.
- A broad, balanced and knowledge-rich curriculum designed to empower all learners.
- An inclusive approach to SEND, where every teacher is responsible for every learner.
- A community focused ethos, with strong relationships between staff, students and families.
Role Title: Director of Secondary Education
Terms and Conditions
Contract:Permanent, Part Time (0.4 FTE; 2 days per week)
Start Date: Flexible (term dependent)
Renumeration:Competitive and commensurate with experience
Location: Rudheath Senior Academy, Central office and other school settings as required
Responsible to:Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
Closing Date:16thMarch 2026
Interview Dates:W/b: 23rd March 2026
Role Purpose
This is a high-impact leadership role for an experienced, values driven educational leader who places education at the heart of their work and recognises the transformative power of a great education.
The Director of Secondary Education will provide strategic direction, professional challenge and practical support across the Trust’s secondary provision, with a particular focus on:
- Sustaining and strengthening the quality of education at Rudheath Senior Academy.
- Embedding consistency and excellence across teaching, curriculum, behaviour, assessment and inclusion.
- Developing confident, reflective and resilient leaders at all levels.
- Ensuring the Trust is inspection ready at all times, including preparation for evolving MAT inspection frameworks.
- Supporting NWAT’s ambition to be sector leading, not merely compliant, in a changing national education context.
This role blends strategic oversight with hands on school improvement, requiring credibility, empathy, rigour and the ability to lead through influence.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Shape and lead the Trust’s strategy for secondary education, ensuring alignment with NWAT’s vision, values and long-term ambitions.
- Work in partnership with the CEO, Headteachers and school leaders to set clear, measurable and ambitious improvement priorities.
- Champion a culture of continuous improvement, equity and professional learning, ensuring no group of students is left behind.
- Respond proactively to national and local policy developments, inspection changes and sector challenges.
School Leadership & Development
- Provide high quality coaching, challenge, accountability and support.
- Support the development of the Senior Leadership Team and middle leaders, building leadership capacity and succession.
- Strengthen self-evaluation and improvement planning so they are accurate, evidence-informed and impact-driven.
Curriculum, Teaching & Pedagogy
- Champion an ambitious and inclusive curriculum that reflects best practice and the needs of the community.
- Lead and support curriculum evaluation, using outcomes, work scrutiny and pupil experience to identify strengths and priorities.
- Promote evidence informed teaching, effective assessment and responsive intervention that secures strong progress for all learners.
Pastoral Integration & Culture
- Provide strategic leadership to ensure pastoral systems are fully integrated with the curriculum, so that behaviour, attendance, inclusion and wellbeing directly support strong academic outcomes.
- Champion a safeguarding culture that goes beyond compliance, placing professional curiosity, staff confidence and pupil voice at the centre of school improvement and leadership evaluation.
- Ensure pastoral and safeguarding intelligence is effectively triangulated with qualitative evidence to inform improvement planning, targeted interventions, curriculum design and staff deployment.
- Promote inclusive practice by ensuring the needs of vulnerable pupils are clearly visible in strategic decision-making, with a sustained focus on narrowing gaps in attainment, engagement and opportunity.
- Support leaders to establish strong routines, high expectations and purposeful relationships that reflect the Trust’s values of excellence and kindness, creating calm, safe and focused learning environments where students achieve highly.
Quality Assurance & Inspection Readiness
- Lead preparation for inspection and external review, including Trust-level and regulatory frameworks.
- Support the development of high-quality self-evaluation documentation grounded in evidence and impact.
- Strengthen internal quality assurance processes to ensure consistency and clarity across secondary provision.
Trust Collaboration & System Leadership
- Contribute to Trust-wide strategy groups, leadership forums and professional networks.
- Facilitate collaboration and sharing of best practice across secondary settings.
- Play a key role in shaping NWAT’s Trust-wide approach to secondary education as the organisation grows.
Person Specification
Essential
- Significant senior leadership experience in secondary education (e.g. Headteacher, or Trust-level role).
- A proven track record of school improvement and raising educational outcomes.
- Strong experience of coaching, developing and holding leaders to account.
- Deep understanding of curriculum design, implementation and evaluation.
- Strong knowledge of teaching, learning and assessment best practice.
- Experience of inspection frameworks and inspection readiness.
- An excellent communicator with the ability to build trust, influence and collaboration.
- A clear alignment with NWAT’s values of excellence, kindness and inclusion.
Desirable
- Experience as an Ofsted inspector or in an equivalent external evaluation role.
- Experience working within or alongside a multi-academy trust.
- Strong understanding of SEND, inclusion and vulnerable learners at secondary level.
Why This Role?
This is a rare opportunity to:
- Make a genuine, lasting impact on secondary education across a growing Trust.
- Work with value driven colleagues who believe excellence and kindness are inseparable.
- Shape future facing practice in a changing educational landscape.
- Combine strategic influence with meaningful, hands-on leadership
If you are a senior leader who still believes deeply in the power of education and in doing it well with a human touch, we would welcome an application from you.
Recruitment Information
Please submit:
- A CV
- A covering letter
- A leadership statement outlining your vision for secondary education within a Trust context, and how you would embody excellence and kindness in this role.
Prospective candidates are invited to visit the school between 23rd February and 16th March. Please register your interest for a visit by emailing cbooth@nwatrust.co.uk
If you have any questions regarding the role,please contact Claire Booth atcbooth@nwatrust.co.ukby the closing date.
Safeguarding Commitment: The North Wes tAcademies Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
Diversity in the Workplace: The North West Academies trust values diversity in the workforce and is committed to ensuring that throughout the recruitment and selection processes no applicant is disadvantaged or discriminated against because of the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender re-assignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief and sexual orientation.
What the school offers its staff
For our staff, we offer:
- Enrolment to the Medicash Proactive Health Plan to help with costs of everyday healthcare.
- Bespoke professional development opportunities.
- Access to 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme.
- Accredited counsellor to offer wellbeing support for all staff. Positive recognition culture.
- Open door policy for communication across the Trust.
- Opportunity to contribute to the growth and development of NWAT.
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
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment.
Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance.
Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant):
childcare disqualification
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
medical
online and social media
prohibition from teaching
right to work
satisfactory references
suitability to work with children
You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
Applying for the job
Apply for the job by following the link below.
CVs will not be accepted for this application.
View advert on school website (opens in new tab)About North West Academies Trust Limited
- Type
- Multi-academy trust
- Email address
- cbooth@nwatrust.co.uk
- Phone number
- 01244 566167
At NWAT we believe that as aspirational and inspirational education is the right of every child. Our success is driven by a commitment to improving standards and outcomes for pupils. We are passionate about supporting schools within their communities and helping to ensure outstanding learning opportunities for every child. We focus on driving standards up and have the experience to improve education by providing outstanding learning environments for children and young adults, enabling them to reach their full potential
School Details
The Rudheath Senior Academy
Arranging a visit to North West Academies Trust Limited
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email cbooth@nwatrust.co.uk.
School locations
Similar jobs nearby
Get a job alert when similar jobs are listed
Find more school jobs in Chester