Principal

Lift Shafton, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S72 8QA

13 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  January 2027 or April 2027

• Closing date

  10 November 2026 at 9:48am

• Date listed

  27 October 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Headteacher
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: Up to £75664 per annum

Principal job summary

Lead with purpose. Build on success. Shape Shafton's next chapter.

We are looking for an exceptional Principal to lead Lift Shafton, a friendly and ambitious primary school at the heart of its Barnsley community.

With supportive families, strong early years outcomes, a newly opened nursery and an established curriculum, there is plenty to build on. This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious leader to shape the school's next chapter and make a lasting difference to its children, colleagues and community.

About the role

As Principal, you will build on Lift Shafton's strengths while bringing the ambition, energy and leadership to drive its continued improvement.

You will:

• Set a clear and ambitious vision for the school
• Build on strong early years provision
• Lead excellent teaching, learning and outcomes for every child
• Develop and inspire a strong, collaborative staff team
• Be a visible and trusted leader for children, colleagues and families
• Work alongside other Lift leaders, sharing expertise and contributing across our wider network

You will lead the strategic direction and day-to-day management of the school, with responsibility for ensuring every child receives an excellent academic and co-curricular experience.

About you

We are looking for an excellent practitioner and inspiring leader who combines ambition with warmth and strong moral purpose.

You will:

• Have successful senior leadership experience and a strong track record of improving outcomes
• Understand what excellent curriculum, teaching and learning look like
• Be ambitious for every child, regardless of background or starting point
• Develop people and build a positive, high-performing culture
• Build strong relationships with families and the wider community
• Bring the resilience, curiosity and collaborative approach to lead improvement

Above all, you will be kind, warm and brave, an ambitious leader who cares deeply about people and what is possible for every child.

About Lift Shafton

Lift Shafton is a friendly, inclusive and well-resourced primary school with supportive families and a strong sense of community. With a newly opened nursery, strong early years and phonics outcomes, embedded English and maths curricula and a rich enrichment offer, there are excellent foundations to build on. As part of the wider Barnsley region, the school also benefits from strong Trust support and opportunities to collaborate and develop alongside other Lift schools.

This is a real opportunity to shape Shafton's next chapter and make a lasting difference to its children, colleagues and community.

About Lift Schools

We are a diverse, inclusive network of 62 schools united by one mission: to deliver an excellent education to every child, in every classroom, every day. We believe every child deserves the best, regardless of background or ability, and we need outstanding leaders to make this happen.

How we'll support you

At Lift Schools, we believe talent drives performance. You'll benefit from:

• An individual development account of up to £100,000 over five years
• Experiential learning opportunities, including study tours
• One-to-one unlimited executive coaching
• High-quality, evidence-informed professional development
• A year-long induction programme
• The option of a professional sabbatical after five years
• A relocation package if moving for the role

If you are an experienced senior leader or existing Principal ready for a new opportunity, if you are driven, determined, and committed to creating lasting change, we would love to hear from you.

Salary: negotiable for an exceptional candidate + relocation package + wellbeing cash plan + pension scheme (TPS) + additional Lift Schools benefits

Start date: January 2027 or April 2027

Closing date: Wednesday 11 November 2026, 5:00 pm

Interview dates: Wednesday 18 November 2026 (Shafton) and Thursday 19 November 2026 (EdCity)

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

Lift Schools is committed to ensuring the highest levels of safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our pupils, and we expect all our colleagues and volunteers to share this commitment. We adopt a fair and consistent recruitment process which is inline with Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance. This includes online checks for shortlisted candidates. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, references, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check.

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.

About Lift Shafton

• Organisation type: Academy, ages 3 to 11
• Education phase: Primary school
• Size: 247 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 3 to 11
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• Website: Lift Shafton website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/shafton-primary-academy

Welcome to Lift Shafton and thank you for your interest in our school. Shafton village is a small rural community easily reached from Wakefield, Barnsley, Rotherham and Sheffield.

Here at Lift Shafton, we are a proud member of Lift Schools and have just been judged as a good school with outstanding leadership and outstanding Early Years.

Our very creative staff have a real love of teaching and we are looking for a future member of our team who can develop that sense of awe and wonder in children. The children at our school are happy, confident, fun-loving and energetic. They are passionate about their learning, be it in the traditional classroom or through drama, music, dance and painting. We are looking for someone who can embrace these aspects of the curriculum as well as literacy and numeracy.

Leadership at our school is forward thinking - and the well-being and work-life balance of our teachers is very important. We give autonomy to teachers and will not dictate planning, marking or teaching styles. We want you to give us your best and our non-negotiables are outstanding attainment and progress for every child, coupled with kindness and warm-heartedness, not what colour pen you use to mark books!

Our school has been recently refurbished and is a modern, bright and attractive place for us all to work. We have a new Early Years classroom and outdoor learning environment.

We welcome visitors and hope that you will come and see for yourself what a happy place Lift Shafton and what makes us the school of choice in our local area.

Thank you for your interest in our school and we look forward to meeting you.

Our aims and expectations

We have a high expectations for all children and a commitment to ensuring all children achieve high standards. We will achieve this by -

Supporting the development of children who –

Feel safe and know that if they have concerns they are listened to and are supported so that they thrive
Who can create, reflect, persevere, are resilient and aspire
Are able to work independently, collaboratively, as part of a team and to lead
Are thoughtful, have the ability to listen, are responsible and supportive of each other and have a strong work ethic
Are creative, analytical, critical and innovative
Have high expectations of themselves and each other
Respect themselves and others
Have endless curiosity, enthusiasm – who want to experience as much as possible and find out all they can
Creating a staff team who –

Are an expert workforce with shared determination to do their best for every child
Question practice and continually try to better meet the needs of all children and are supported in this by a detailed professional development programme
Equip children with the life skills they will need to be independent, reflective, resilient and resourceful learners as well as continuing to raise standards in literacy and numeracy
Provide exciting opportunities for children to use and apply their learning to enquiry and problem solving so they develop their understanding of the world
Plan, monitor and evaluate teaching, learning, the curriculum and progress in the school to ensure the development of the whole child
Are proactive and highly skilled at identifying vulnerable children and collaborating with other agencies so that barriers to learning are removed and all children succeed
Help children acquire a range of personal, social and emotional attributes essential to their health and well-being and to life as a responsible citizen
Develop children so they can actively participate in and contribute to the school where they feel respected, safe and supported
In a school which –

Provides a caring, stimulating and enjoyable learning environment in which all children feel respected, safe and supported
Provides a flexible, challenging and purposeful curriculum that is relevant to our children and prepares them for the responsibilities and experiences of life
Offers opportunities to engage with a wide range of cultural experiences
Provides a broad rich curriculum that excites them about learning and the world, is rich in IT to help children participate fully in a constantly changing world
Equips children with the life skills they will need to be independent, reflective, resilient and resourceful learners as well as continuing to raise standards in literacy and numeracy
Values and develops a supportive partnership between home, school and the community
Provides opportunities to engage in a wide range of activities – social, the arts, sports and cultural, that will enrich their lives and develop their confidence, social and moral skills and self-belief
So that the local community has pride and confidence in our school and trusts that their children will succeed and do well here.

Who is Lift Schools?

Lift Schools is made up of 57 primary, secondary and special schools, educating more than 33,000 pupils across the country. We believe education can transform lives – and we want every child in our schools to achieve their full potential.

Our mission:

We will provide an excellent education to every child, in every classroom, every day.
With excellent leadership and teaching in every school, we will help children go on to lead successful and happy lives.
We will work with others beyond our network to benefit more children and communities.

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