Headteacher
St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Malmesbury, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, SN16 9BB32 days remaining to apply
Job start date
1 January 2026
Closing date
13 October 2025 at 11:59pm
Date listed
11 September 2025
Job details
Job role
- Headteacher
Visa sponsorship
- Visas cannot be sponsored
Key stage
- Early years, Key stage 1, Key stage 2
Working pattern
- Full time (Can be done as a job share): Full time Headteacher or job share considered.
Contract type
- Permanent
Pay scale
- L6 - L12
What skills and experience we're looking for
We are looking for a practising Catholic Headteacher or ambitions to become a Headteacher to take our school forward.
What the school offers its staff
We have a wonderful opportunity for a dynamic and inspiring Head Teacher to join our dedicated and supportive team at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Malmesbury. We are a small school with capacity for growth and a nursery launching in September 2025.
We welcome applications from candidates who are enthusiastic about working in a school where children are at the heart of all we do, and our vision is rooted in the Catholic values of respect, resilience, stewardship, curiosity, forgiveness and love.
The successful candidate will have:
- a commitment to Catholic Education
- a track record of school leadership
- the ability to think strategically and be outward looking
- a knowledge of the business of running a school
- a friendly and fair approach to stakeholders Compassion and empathy and the
- the ability to make tough decisions
- a desire to work collegiately with staff, parents, governors and the broader community
- a child-centred approach to decision-making
- the ability to navigate the changing educational landscape
As a school we offer:
- A strong and supportive ethos
- Happy, enthusiastic and friendly pupils
- An excellent community spirit which fosters collaboration with its parents and carers and parish
- Friendly and dedicated staff who are committed to embracing new ideas to improve teaching and learning
- A programme of CPD and support
- The potential in future to be supported within a Multi-Academy Trust
Flexible working opportunities
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
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)Upload additional documents
If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.
About St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Malmesbury
- School type
- Local authority maintained school, Roman Catholic, ages 4 to 11
- Education phase
- Primary
- School size
- 82 pupils enrolled
- Age range
- 4 to 11
- Ofsted report
- View Ofsted report
- School website
- St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Malmesbury website
- Email address
- admin@st-josephs-malmesbury.wilts.sch.uk
- Phone number
- 01666 822331
About our school
St Joseph’s is a well-established Catholic primary school serving the parishes of Malmesbury, Tetbury and Cirencester. Parents choose us because they recognise the value of a faith-based education and prefer the intimacy of a small school where every child is known and valued by every member of staff.
The school, while in the heart of the town, feels like a village school. It is full of warmth and love; a nurturing environment where our children can learn and feel safe and valued.
The first St Joseph’s school was founded in 1868 shortly after a Catholic mission arrived to establish a church in the town. As the parish grew, pupil numbers increased and a new school, for up to 150 pupils was built at our existing site in Holloway. Today, with a diminishing birth rate, the school is somewhat smaller, and we need an ambitious leader as we compete for pupils and prepare for numbers to increase as the town grows.
Our site appears traditional with our 1930’s school buildings, but it is much more than that.
We are uniquely positioned on part of Malmesbury’s ancient Iron Age fortifications with the Nuns’ Walk running from the school to St Aldhelm’s Church along the summit of the earth work and beside the town walls. We celebrate the ancient and have hosted archaeological digs, but we are mindful of the future too. Recent work to install green technology, alongside our extensive riverside outdoor spaces, reflects our spiritual desire to care for God’s creation and the children’s access to an outdoor learning environment and places for reflection and spiritual growth.
The Daily Telegraph has described St Joseph’s as Very Good in the September 2025 review of schools.
We were rated as ‘Good’ by Ofsted in 2023 and were commended for enabling our receptive and well-behaved pupils to thrive through an ambitious strategic plan that aimed to meet the needs of all
“Relationships between adults and pupils” were seen as “warm and nurturing.” “Pupils appreciate that staff know them well and care about them.” OFSTED (March 2023).
We would challenge anyone to walk into the school and not get a sense of the calm, warm and nurturing environment.
One of our strengths is music and the whole school recently put on a production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. This was performed in the wonderful setting of Malmesbury Abbey. Pupils also regularly take part in the town carnival and visit community homes to entertain residents.
The school prides itself in the role it plays in the growing community, and we are committed to developing the whole child with an enriched academic curriculum and personal spiritual growth.
As a Catholic primary school this latter is manifested in the strong, established Christian tradition that permeates the day-to-day life of the school. One of the key strengths is the strong links with the parish priest and St Aldhelm’s Church, supportive staff who provide distributive expressions of worship and an outstanding ethos where singing and music are visible celebrations of faith and community.
The school is popular with parents and well supported by a Parent and Friends Association (PFA) with events, resourcing and the support of opportunities. Our teaching staff have a range of experience with some who have been at the school for many years and others at an early stage in their careers.
Beyond those who are directly involved with children, the school has a strong administration team who provide a welcoming outward facing reception as well as experience with respect to financial management. The school business manager is dedicated, creative, understands finance and has strong and proactive relationships with the local authority’s finance team.
The new headteacher would be supported by a strong and experienced governing body with a variety of appropriate skills and an understanding of the school, its strengths, areas for improvement and is supportive of all that the school does.
A new governing body was appointed in the autumn of 2024 and includes a number of very experienced governors including from an education and school finance background. The chair of governors and vice chair have been consistent post holders for the last three years. The school has a governor who liaises with the parish and the RE lead is highly experienced and has provided significant support to another school facing an inspection.
We start September 2025 with three classes and 76 pupils and a new nursery on the cusp of launching.
A snapshot of our last year, which is likely to be replicated in 2025-26 would show a pupil composition in 2024-2025 of 38 boys and 43 girls. Of those, and allowing for some children being in more than one group, 21 were EAL, 18 were PPG, four were service, 25 were SEND and four had an EHCP with two pending. Thirty-four children were Catholic with an additional 24 of other Christian denominations (total = 58%). Some are other religions and 36% made no declaration of faith.
Pupils like coming to school and our attendance was 96.45%, well above the national level recorded in May of 94.7%
We have worked with the children to develop the virtues which underpin our school life:
• Aspiration
• Love
• Resilience
• Giving/Service
• Curiosity
• Respect
• Kindness
Arranging a visit to St Joseph's Catholic Primary School, Malmesbury
To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email admin@st-josephs-malmesbury.wilts.sch.uk.
School location
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