Headteacher
Ranikhet Academy, Reading, Berkshire, RG30 4ED27 days remaining to apply
Start date details
April 2026
Closing date
17 December 2025 at 9am
Date listed
20 November 2025
Job details
Job role
- Headteacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Working pattern
- Full time
Contract type
- Permanent
Full-time equivalent salary
- £73,105.00 - £84,699.00 Annually (FTE) Leadership Pay Scales L15 - L21
Headteacher job summary
Are you an experienced educational leader looking for an exciting opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of our children?
Ranikhet Primary Academy are seeking a dynamic and inspirational Headteacher. The successful candidate will have a proven track record of excellence in educational leadership, with experience in managing highly effective teams. You will be committed to providing every child with an exceptional educational offer, ensuring they are supported, challenged, and inspired to reach their full potential.
Ranikhet Primary Academy is a vibrant, inclusive school at the heart of the Tilehurst community in Reading. Part of REAch2 Academy Trust, we cater for children aged 3-11 and currently have around 205 pupils on roll. Our ethos is built on strong values, high expectations, and a commitment to providing every child with the best possible start in life.
Ranikhet offers a nurturing environment where pupils feel safe, respected, and inspired to achieve. We prioritise core skills in reading, writing, and mathematics while developing a broad and engaging curriculum that fosters curiosity, creativity, and resilience. Our dedicated staff work tirelessly to ensure that all children, including those with additional needs, receive tailored support to thrive academically and personally.
We are proud of our diverse community, where over 40% of pupils speak English as an additional language, and we celebrate this richness through inclusive practices and cultural awareness. With strong safeguarding, positive behaviour, and a focus on personal development, Ranikhet is a school where children love to learn and staff love to teach.
This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious leader to build on our successes and drive the next stage of our journey.
What we are looking for in our next Headteacher:
We are seeking an exceptional senior leader with the resilience, drive, and enthusiasm to build on our strengths. You will lead, motivate, develop, and inspire a team of staff and governors who are committed to providing pupils with exceptional opportunities for learning. We welcome applications from existing headteachers and talented deputy headteachers who have the knowledge and expertise to help us raise outcomes and consistently deliver excellence.
You will have a clear understanding of what it takes for a school to achieve the highest standards of teaching and learning, whilst having the expertise to embed a culture of continuous improvement. Additionally, you will demonstrate the ability to manage, prioritise, and organise your workload, show flexibility and resilience, and recognise the need for pastoral care for all members of the school community.
Community engagement is vitally important at Ranikhet Primary Academy, and we seek a headteacher who will work to further raise the school's profile in the local community to improve family engagement and pupil attendance. A commitment to supporting wellbeing and mental health is essential.
We are a caring employer who invests in the future of our employees, as only through their excellence can we deliver excellence for the children and families we serve.
As a member of REAch2 Academy Trust, a national family of primary academies, Ranikhet Primary Academy is committed to raising standards and achieving excellence for all pupils, regardless of their background or circumstances. The Trust provides a strong culture of collaboration and support, with high expectations for staff and pupils alike.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic leadership by setting and communicating a clear vision for the school, aligned with REAch2’s values and priorities.
- Drive school improvement by leading on raising standards in teaching, learning, and pupil outcomes across all key stages.
- Ensure safeguarding excellence by maintaining a strong culture of safeguarding and wellbeing for all pupils and staff.
- Develop and inspire staff by building and leading a high-performing team, fostering professional growth and collaboration.
- Manage resources effectively by overseeing budgets, staffing, and facilities to ensure efficient and sustainable use of resources.
- Promote inclusion and diversity by championing equality of opportunity and ensure provision for pupils with SEND and EAL.
- Engage with stakeholders by building strong relationships with parents, governors, the local community, and external partners.
- Lead curriculum and innovation by ensuring a broad, balanced, and creative curriculum that meets statutory requirements and inspires learning.
Requirements:
- An excellent and highly experienced headteacher or deputy headteacher in a primary setting, with a proven track record of raising educational standards; or of sustaining educational standards above the national average.
- Experience in managing highly effective teams
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with a strong track record of securing accountability.
- Commitment to providing exceptional educational opportunities for all children.
- Experience of successfully engaging with families in disadvantaged communities.
- Ability to inspire, challenge, and motivate
The application process and timetable:
School visits: | School visits are encouraged, please contact Tom Twort, Deputy Director of Education (Tom.Twort@reach2.org) to arrange an informal discussion or a school visit (9th December & 15th December 2025) |
Application deadline: | 9am, Wednesday 17th December 2025 |
Shortlisting: | Thursday, 18th December 2025 |
The candidates selected for interview will be informed after shortlisting and full details of the interview programme will be provided. | |
Interviews: | Thursday, 8th January 2026 |
Contract details: | Permanent, full time |
Salary: | L15 - L21 (£73,105 - £84,699) |
Start date: | April 2026 |
Why Work with REAch2 Academy Trust?
Join REAch2 Academy Trust, one of the UK's largest primary academy trusts, with a mission to unlock the potential of every child, regardless of their background. Here’s why joining our team can be an exciting and fulfilling career choice:
- Excellence & Development: We prioritise high standards and offer extensive professional development and career growth opportunities.
- Supportive & Collaborative: Be part of a strong, collaborative community of over 60 schools where every voice is valued, and best practices are shared.
- Well-being Focus: We promote a healthy work-life balance and offer robust well-being support for all staff.
- Diversity & Inclusion: We celebrate diversity and believe that varied perspectives strengthen our schools.
- Innovation & Impact: Bring creativity to the classroom and make a real difference in children’s lives.
- Making a difference: Working with REAch2 means contributing to something bigger than yourself. You’ll be helping to shape the lives of young learners, making a meaningful impact on communities and future generations.
Join us to grow your career, collaborate with passionate educators, and make a lasting impact on future generations.
Benefits
We offer a range of benefits to support your career and well-being:
- Generous Annual Leave: healthy work-life balance.
- Professional Development: Access diverse CPD and training opportunities to grow your skills.
- Flexible & Family-Friendly: We are committed to supporting flexible working and requests will be considered on an individual basis, including options such as part time, term-time, home working, and other options that work for both the employee and the Trust.
- Exclusive Discounts: Benefit from Blue Light Card offers and employee perks.
- Well-being Support: Receive comprehensive well-being and employee assistance for you and your family.
Join REAch2 for a rewarding career with great benefits!
Safeguarding, Safer Recruitment and Data Protection
At REAch2 we recognise that those who work in an academy are in a unique position in their care of children. The responsibility for all staff to safeguard pupils and promote their welfare, as stated in Section 175 of the Education Act (2002) is one that is central to our ethos, our policies and our actions. All children are deserving of the highest levels of care and safeguarding, regardless of their individual characteristics or circumstances, and we are committed to applying our policies to ensure effective levels of safeguarding and care are afforded to all our pupils.
We will seek to recruit the best applicant for the job based on the abilities, qualifications, experience as measured against the job description and person specification. The recruitment and selection of staff will be conducted in a professional, timely and responsive manner and in compliance with current employment legislation, and relevant safeguarding legislation and statutory guidance. An enhanced DBS disclosure will be requested for all successful candidates, including a Children's Barred List check if the role meets the criteria for regulated activity.
For more information about our safer recruitment processes, please click here for our Safer Recruitment Policy.
All information is stored securely, and any information supplied by unsuccessful candidates will be destroyed through a confidential waste system six months after the decision has been communicated, in accordance with our information and records retention policy.
The Trust ensures all applicant data is stored and processed appropriately. For further details on how your information will be managed during the recruitment process please refer to our Privacy Notice for Job Applications.
Further information about the job
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
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 Ranikhet Academy
- School type
- Academy, ages 3 to 11
- Education phase
- Primary
- School size
- 231 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 3 to 11
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- Ranikhet Academy website
Our school belongs to the staff, the children and the community. We have an inclusive culture where we celebrate our diverse community. We have 3 school rules – Be Ready, Be Respectful and Be Safe. All our children, staff and families follow these 3 rules so that we have an inclusive learning environment where we all feel Proud to Belong.
Our school sits in the heart of a community. We warmly welcome visits from members of our local community to build relationships, support local causes and encourage our children to have high aspirations. Parent and pupil voice is incredibly important to us and feedback we get from children, parents and community directly influences our practice.
Our children experience a rich curriculum with excellent teaching and learning. Classrooms are inclusive and we have high expectations of all children. We plan the curriculum that our children need which includes key learning experiences and collaborative projects inside and outside the classroom.
School location
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