SENDCo

Ashwood Spencer Academy, Derby, Derbyshire, DE24 8FT

22 days remaining to apply

• Start date details

  January 2027

• Closing date

  9 October 2026 at 12pm (midday)

• Date listed

  7 September 2026

Job details

• Job role:
  • Teacher or lecturer
• Visa sponsorship: Visas cannot be sponsored
• Working pattern: Full time
• Contract type: Permanent
• Full time equivalent salary: £51,771.00 - £57,134.00 Annually (Actual) L1-L5 Full Time

SENDCo job summary

This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious and passionate leader to join Ashwood Spencer Academy as Vice Principal for Inclusion. As a key member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping and delivering our vision for inclusion, ensuring every child receives the support, challenge and opportunities they need to thrive.

As the school's Named SENDCo and strategic lead for attendance, you will lead the development of high-quality SEND provision, champion inclusive practice and drive improvements in attendance, engagement and outcomes for all pupils. Working closely with staff, families and external agencies, you will remove barriers to learning and ensure every child feels valued, supported and able to succeed.

This role offers a unique opportunity to focus on whole-school leadership, with no class-based teaching responsibility, enabling you to have maximum impact across the academy. You will have the opportunity to innovate, influence practice and make a lasting difference to the lives of children and families within our diverse and thriving school community.

We are looking for someone who:

Holds Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).

Holds, or is working towards, the National Award for SEN Coordination (NASENCO) or NPQ for SENCOs.

Has successful experience of leading SEND, inclusion or pastoral provision.

Has a strong understanding of attendance and inclusion and their impact on pupil outcomes.

Is passionate about removing barriers to learning and improving life chances for all children.

Can inspire and develop staff to deliver exceptional inclusive practice.

Builds positive relationships with families and external agencies.

Has high expectations for all pupils and an unwavering belief that every child can succeed.

Is committed to our vision that every child is entitled to an exceptional education.

Ashwood Spencer Academy joined Spencer Academies Trust in 2018 and has gone from strength to strength. With approximately 640 pupils from Nursery to Year 6, we are proud of our diverse and inclusive community and our commitment to ensuring every child flourishes.

Our commitment to inclusion has been recognised through our IQM Inclusion Quality Mark Centre of Excellence Status and, most recently, IQM Flagship School Status. We were judged to be a Good school by Ofsted and continue to strive for excellence in everything we do.

We are fully committed to our ethos of Working Together to Believe and Achieve and to making Ashwood a place where children and staff can DREAM:

Determined risk-takers who want to succeed

Resilient and respectful learners

Expressive communicators

Ambitious achievers, unafraid of mistakes

Magic happens when you dream

Early application is strongly encouraged as we reserve the right to interview and close the advert ahead of the closing date.

The Trust and its member academies are committed to promoting equality and diversity in both employment and education provision. We aim to ensure that students, parents, governors, employees, contractors, partners, clients and other stakeholders within the Trust community are treated fairly, and with dignity and respect regardless of Protected Characteristics.

Spencer Academies Trust is a Disability Confident Committed Employer.

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

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.

About Ashwood Spencer Academy

• Organisation type: Academy, ages 3 to 11
• Education phase: Primary school
• Size: 659 pupils enrolled
• Age range: 3 to 11
• Ofsted report: View Ofsted report
• Website: Ashwood Spencer Academy website
• See more jobs: teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/organisations/ashwood-spencer-academy

Ashwood Spencer Academy part of Spencer Academies Trust
Amber Street, Derby, DE24 8FT.
Ashwood is a friendly primary academy in the Southern Derbyshire community of Osmaston. The Principal is Mrs Baines-Chambers. Children are welcomed from early years through to 11
We are dedicated to providing exemplary teaching and learning for all our children. Our DREAM curriculum ensures creativity is at its heart- encouraging oracy, tolerance and collaboration. Our aim is to develop respectful individuals, who aspire to follow their DREAMs.

Ashwood is a magical place that offers enriching experiences within a loving and stimulating environment. At Ashwood we value our close relationships with our parents, governors and the community; working in partnership to enable our pupils to have the best possible start in their educational journey.

Spencer Academies Trust is an educational charity and academy sponsor, which is committed to ensuring that every child, regardless of background, has access to an outstanding education and real choices in life. We have a successful track record of providing high quality teaching and learning which ensures improved outcomes for children and young people. The Trust mission statement reflects our vision and aim for all Trust schools. Our highly-successful network of 17 schools (8 Secondary and 9 Primary) educates students across Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Nottingham City, Derby City and Leicestershire:

Vision
Spencer Academies Trust is an exceptional Trust, which provides an outstanding education for local children. Our Trust is a model of national excellence. We work collaboratively to achieve the best possible outcomes for all young people, in an environment where partnership is valued and success is celebrated. Our education delivers real life experiences for students, promotes independent enquiry and stimulates intellectual curiosity; whilst developing a strong sense of individual responsibility and a personal belief and confidence. All of our students fulfil their potential and make unparalleled progress. They are fully prepared for the next phase of their education and have unrivalled opportunities to become future leaders.

We Believe:
 All children have a right to a quality education regardless of background or ability, and have an entitlement to the opportunity of a secure progression route in their learning and development.
 Schools are stronger when they work in collaboration with each other, operate within a ‘family’ and are open to a true sense of partnership.
 We grow the effectiveness and sustainability of our schools by developing the people within them, and that through shared and equitable responsibility for quality and outcomes; we achieve more.

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