Principal

More than one location, Ark Schools

25 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  September 2026, or sooner if possible

• Closing date

  12 March 2026 at 9am

• Date listed

  13 February 2026

Important

This teaching role is at more than one school in the trust. You can find out more in schools overview.

Job details

• Job role:
  • Headteacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Key stage: Early years, Key stage 1, Key stage 2, Key stage 3, Key stage 4, Key stage 5
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Pay scale: Significant and generous salary, including potential relocation allowance

What skills and experience we're looking for

Ark John Keats Academy seeks to appoint a new Principal who will lead the school through the next stage of its journey. The new Principal will lead a genuine all-through school (from reception to 6th Form), and have oversight of the primary phase, led by the Head of Primary. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced Headteacher who seeks a new challenge in a large, all-through school with a solid foundation and lots of potential to build on. This is also a great opportunity for proven Deputy Headteacher, with experience of leading in a large school, who is looking to step into their first headship. The appointed Principal will join Ark John Keats this September (2026), or sooner if possible.

The Ark John Keats community is united by a shared vision, and our families and young people support our high expectations. We are ambitious about ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to an excellent education that will enable them to lead a life of genuine choice. We are incredibly proud of the outcomes that our students achieve academically, both in terms of their progress and attainment. Our outcomes in all key stages meet and exceed national averages and Pupil Premium students consistently achieve outcomes that exceed national averages for their peers. Ark John Keats is on a strong and exciting trajectory of improvement and we are confident and ambitious for the next few years of its development. 

What the school offers its staff

• Influence across network-wide issues through our principal meetings and regional collaboration  

• Guidancefrom a supportive Regional Director  

• On-handexpertisefrom our dedicated network education and operations teams who are ready to support you and your school  

• Bespoke teacher development programmes supported by the Great Teacher Rubric  

• Excellent career development opportunities across both the region and wider Ark network

• Access to excellent senior leadership training  

• Highly competitiveremuneration.  

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.

We warmly welcome and encourage confidential conversations about the role and visits to our school for suitable candidates. If you are interested in finding out more about this opportunity, please contact our Head of Talent, Lexy di Marco, on Alexia.diMarco@arkonline.org  

To apply, please submit an application via the Ark recruitment portal by 9am on Thursday 12thMarch. If you have any questions, concerns or time constraints with applying please contact us directly.  

School visitsand interviewsare to be arranged as suitable for the candidate.

For more information about the role, the school and Ark, please view the full job pack.  

Commitment to safeguarding

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people. In order to meet this responsibility, we follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

All employees must undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred.

Applying for the job

Apply for the job by following the link below.

CVs will not be accepted for this application.

Additional documents

If you need these documents in an accessible format, please contact the school.

Ark John Keats Principal Candidate Pack.pdf - 1.54 MB (opens in new tab)

About Ark Schools

• Type: Multi-academy trust
• Website: Ark Schools website
• Email address: shevonnae.sokoya@arkonline.org
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/ark-schools

We’re an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 28,500 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

School Details

Ark John Keats Academy

• School type: Free School, ages 3 to 19
• Education phase: All through school
• School size: 1765 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 3 to 19
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• School website: Ark John Keats Academy website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/ark-john-keats-academy

Arranging a visit to Ark Schools

To arrange a visit and increase the chance of a successful application email shevonnae.sokoya@arkonline.org.

School locations

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