Head of Education and Early Years - West Essex

Head of Education and Early Years - West Essex

Permanent, Full Time

£73,576 to £86,561 per annum

Location: Harlow, Epping & Uttlesford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

*This role will cover the West Education Quadrant of Essex (Epping,
Harlow and Uttlesford) and will involve going out to schools and home
working as well as coming into the office for meetings, which could be
at Goodman House, Harlow and County Hall, Chelmsford.

Job start: January 2025 however can consider a later start date for the
right candidate.

Interviews will be held in person at County Hall in Chelmsford on 18th December 2024.

ECC has transformed how it delivers education services across one of the
largest counties in the country in order to continue to improve and to
ensure the best possible outcomes for every single child and young person.
We are determined to build on our journey of improvement which has seen 92%
of schools being rated Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, and to focus more
effectively on areas such as our more vulnerable children and young people
to ensure Essex provides a wholly inclusive education which can meet the
needs of all of our children and young people.

Key to our approach is a decision to bring together our services and group
our expertise around schools in geographical quadrants – allowing us to
focus on local detail whilst delivering a joined-up approach on a
county-wide scale. As a result, there is an Assistant Director of
Education for each of our four quadrants, who deliver locally but
collaborate effectively to deliver our holistic Education agenda. The Head
of Education and Early Years post reports into the Assistant Director.

This leader will be passionate about education and the opportunities it
creates, with extensive experience as a Head teacher or Deputy Head
teacher, as well as significant experience in developing quality
improvement frameworks to enhance education standards and drive the
achievement of a good or outstanding Ofsted ratings across education
provision. A proven track record of leading change is also key to the
success of this role.

This is an outstanding opportunity for an experienced high-level
Education professional to really make their mark, through driving
innovation, commerciality, and strategic thinking, all whilst
delivering the service that the children of our county deserve.

If you would like to have an informal conversation, please contact
Nicola Woolf 07872 869522 (Assistant Director of Education - West).

Responsibilities include:

• Leading improvement in Early Years Childcare Settings (EYCS),
  schools and other educational providers, across the West Quadrant of Essex.
  
• Effective leadership of the Early Years and School Effectiveness
  teams, working collaboratively with EYCS, schools, Teaching School Hubs and
  other educational providers to identify areas for improvement, identify
  solutions and provide support to achieve these.
  
• Delivery of the educational strategy and overall performance of
  the quadrant.
  
• Leading the development and supporting the maturity of school
  partnerships as part of the School Partnership Strategy, to share
  expertise, enhance learning outcomes and broker support as required.
  
• Contributing to meeting income generation targets by maximising
  traded opportunities with schools.
  
• Collaborating with the SEND Quadrant Manager and to strategically
  influence inclusive educational practice in schools and school
  partnerships.
  
• Leading the quadrant attendance team to monitor the effectiveness
  of schools to manage attendance and reduce exclusions, offering advice and
  guidance and developing supportive plans to assist them.
  
• Managing the strategic development of intensive school
  improvement support to Essex schools identified as underperforming to make
  rapid improvement to ensure rapid progress to secure positive outcomes for
  children and young people.
  
• Ensuring innovative approaches are widely shared to improve
  quality of teaching, learning and effective partnerships.
  
• Delivery of a robust system of monitoring school performance and
  the outcomes of support and challenge, as a key driver in ensuring all
  Essex schools achieve a good or outstanding rating.
• Embedding safeguarding procedures across schools and settings
  within a specified geographical area to ensure the protection of vulnerable
  children from 0 to 25.
  

You will bring:

• Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) or equivalent with extensive
  experience preferably as a Head teacher or Deputy head teacher in
  education.
  
• Evidence of continuing professional development and expert
  knowledge of legislative framework in relevant professional area.
  
• Experience at senior leadership level within an education
  setting, preferably in the roles of Head teacher or Deputy Head teacher.
  Ofsted training is desirable.
  
• Deep understanding gained through significant experience in
  developing solutions to improve standards within Early Years, schools, and
  other educational providers.
  
• Exemplar leadership and behavioural skills with the ability to
  focus on results, forging a strong workforce team from diverse backgrounds
  to achieve strategic objectives.
  
• Experience, knowledge and understanding of school practice and
  management of provision for pupils with the full range of education needs.
  
• Proven track record of building effective partnership and inter
  agency working, which is collaborative and influential in supporting the
  achievement of strategic objectives.
  
• Proven ability of proactively influencing, leading and delivering
  major cultural and organisational change in a complex environment.
  

Please note that the job role requires you to be mobile throughout an
operational area. Therefore, the post holder will need to have a
driving licence and access to a vehicle,

or the ability to meet the mobility requirements of the role through other
means.

To read more about us please visit:

Education

What’s in it for you?

• 
  Generous Time Off: Starting with
  
  27 days of holiday,
  
  which increases with your length of service, plus
  
  8 bank holidays
  
  and up to 4 paid volunteer days each year to give back
  to your community.
  


• 
  Secure Your Future: Benefit from enrolment in the
  Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS), ensuring your
  financial security for the future.
  


• 
  Health and Wellbeing: Access to comprehensive
  medical insurance to keep you and your family healthy.
  


• 
  Travel: Choose between our
  
  car provision scheme
  
  or an annual allowance to suit your needs.
  


• 
  Professional Growth: We cover the
  
  payment of professional fees
  
  for approved professions, supporting your career development.
  


• 
  Work-Life Balance: Enjoy the flexibility of
  
  hybrid working
  
  arrangements, allowing you to balance work with your personal life.
  

To read more please visit our

Pay & Reward page on our careers site.

Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud
of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames
Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts
of Clacton and Walton. England’s oldest town, Colchester, and two of its
newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the City of
Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population centres. It
means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your career. Read
more about us.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re
committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under
our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job.
Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments
during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet
the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) this role will
require an enhanced DBS check and you will be required to register with the
DBS update service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS
certificates are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the
status of your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will
be responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on
the DBS update service please go to

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees
and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities,
blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council,
please join
The
Essex Talent Community.

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email

resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk.

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