Head of School
Cherry Oak School, Birmingham, West Midlands, B29 6PB14 days remaining to apply
Start date details
13/04/2026 or earlier can be negotiated
Closing date
17 November 2025 at 4pm
Date listed
3 November 2025
Job details
Job role
- Headteacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £75,049.00 - £82,654.00 Annually (Actual) Leadership scale 16-20
Head of School job summary
Federation of Cherry Oak School, Victoria School and Victoria College
Head of School - Cherry Oak School
Full Time
Based at: Cherry Oak School, 60 Frederick Road. Birmingham B29 6PB
The Federation comprises two special schools and one 19-25 specialist College in Birmingham. The schools are LA maintained, whilst the College is an Independent Specialist Provider, with its own Board of Trustees. The College is in a soft Federation with the two schools.
Cherry Oak School
Cherry Oak is a Primary Special School for children aged 3-11 years and is based in Selly Oak. Our pupils have Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties and/or Cognition and Learning Difficulties. Approximately half of our pupils are diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. All have Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs), and are referred to the school via Birmingham City Council’s Special Education Needs Assessment and Review service, known as SENAR. We cater for 111 pupils.
Victoria School
Victoria School is an all age 2-19 special school based in Northfield; supporting pupils with cognition and learning needs, profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), physical disabilities and complex medical health and learning needs. We cater for 228 pupils.
Victoria College
Victoria College is based on the same site as Victoria School in Northfield. We support young people with PMLD and complex medical and health needs. The college opened in 2013 and we have 30 learners on roll.
The Federation’s vision is to ‘inspire and empower students through collaborative working and to promote their holistic development.” Our values statement is “We R.I.S.E Together - Respect, Inspire, Support, Empower”.
The Board of Governors is seeking to appoint an inspirational and dynamic Head of School to support us in our continuous journey of self-improvement and to work in collaboration with the Executive Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team.
We are rightly proud of our Federation and each setting. We’re looking for the right person to lead a vibrant, highly committed and caring community where children are at the very heart of all that we do. Our recent Ofsted inspection (March 2024) found that:
“The school and federation have driven forward improvements since the last inspection so that pupils now receive a good quality of education.”
“Leaders are determined to give all pupils a voice to communicate, especially pupils who do not yet use verbal language.”
“The school has created a carefully planned curriculum across all subject areas. The knowledge and skills that leaders want pupils to learn are planned to build in a logical order over time.”
Cherry Oak pupils have said the following about the school:
“I think our school is amazing, because I can learn things and become successful in my future”
“I think it's good that we have a school for children with Autism, so we have somewhere to go and do things like Sensory Integration and play that can help us”
The successful candidate will:
- Promote outstanding classroom practice for pupils with a range of learning difficulties and disabilities, including Autism
- Provide inspirational and supportive leadership to the team of teachers and support staff
- Have an in-depth understanding of SEND, relevant curriculum and safeguarding
- Demonstrate excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Have a track record of leading whole school initiatives
- Motivate and support colleagues and work collaboratively across the Federation and with other professionals
- The ability to lead with clear direction, building on the success of the Federation
- The strategic innovation and drive to help build on the exciting plans that have been established and are in place for future development
- A commitment to ensure that all pupils achieve the very best outcomes
- Implement a clear vision, combined with highly effective communication skills that will inspire, motivate and lead the community forward for further success.
Our school offers:
- An opportunity to work with our fantastic pupils and staff team!
- A happy and caring community that always puts our pupils first
- A highly motivated staff team who are committed to getting the very best outcomes for our pupils
- Excellent opportunities to further develop your leadership skills and career pathway
- A commitment to continuing professional development
- A strong and supportive Governing Body
- A culture of promoting positive mental health and wellbeing through a well-planned strategy
The Governing Body actively encourages all candidates to visit the school prior to interview. Please contact Gary Coffey to arrange an informal visit to the Federation on 0121 464 2037 or email recruitment@cherryoak.bham.sch.uk.
Safeguarding
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and to share this commitment. The successful candidate will be subject to all necessary pre-employment checks, including: an enhanced DBS; medical fitness; teacher prohibition check, identity checks and right to work.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975, 2013 and 2020. Which means that when applying for certain jobs and activities certain spent convictions and cautions are ‘protected’, so they do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account. Further information about filtering offences can be found in the DBS filtering guide.
An online search will also be carried out as part of due diligence on all shortlisted candidates
References
All applicants will be required to provide two suitable references.
This post is covered by Part 7 of the Immigration Act (2016) and therefore the ability to speak fluent spoken English is an essential requirement for this role.
Further information about the job
Commitment to safeguarding
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expect all staff and to share this commitment. All shortlisted candidates will be subject to an online search. The successful candidate will be subject to all necessary pre-employment checks, including: an enhanced DBS; medical fitness; teacher prohibition check, identity checks and right to work.
All applicants will be required to provide two suitable references.
ALL Shortlisted candidates will subject to an Online Search in line with KCSIE 2023.
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 Cherry Oak School
- School type
- Special school, ages 3 to 11
- School size
- 112 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 3 to 11
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Cherry Oak School website
Cherry Oak School is a primary school for children with special education needs (SEN). All pupils have an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The school has specialist provision for children with severe cognition and learning difficulties and those with Speech, Language and Communication Difficulties. Approximately half of the pupils are diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum. With capacity for 110 pupils, Cherry Oak School caters for pupils from Birmingham and beyond.
School location
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