The posting
Deputy Headteacher – Curriculum and Teaching
Felixstowe School
Contract: Full-time, Permanent
Salary: Leadership Scale 20-24 (FTE: £85,547 - £94,349 per annum)
Start date: January 2027
Inspiration – Aim high. Influence – Work hard. Integrity – Be kind.
We are looking for an exceptional Deputy Headteacher to lead the educational core of Felixstowe School and help shape the next stage of our journey. This is a substantial and exciting senior leadership role for someone who believes that an ambitious curriculum, great teaching, purposeful learning and high expectations can transform young people’s lives.
Working alongside the Headteacher and through senior, curriculum and subject leaders, you will bring clarity, coherence and momentum to curriculum, teaching, assessment and outcomes across the school. You will also lead professional growth, quality assurance and our strategic response to national developments, while building the expertise and accountability of leaders at every level.
This is not a role about maintaining the status quo. In June 2024, Felixstowe School achieved the first Good Ofsted judgement in its history. That was an important milestone, but it was not the destination. We now want to move from improving to routinely excellent: strengthening the curriculum, reducing variation in teaching, securing consistently strong outcomes and ensuring that every pupil benefits from the full ambition of the school.
Our values in action
Inspiration – Aim high. You will set an ambitious educational vision for every pupil, ensuring that curriculum expectations, classroom practice and professional learning open doors rather than narrow choices.
Influence – Work hard. You will turn strategy into disciplined implementation: clear priorities, thoughtful planning, decisive follow-through and collective responsibility for impact. You will lead through others, bringing challenge and support in equal measure.
Integrity – Be kind. You will lead visibly, honestly and with humanity. You will build trust, make evidence-informed decisions, address underperformance sensitively and decisively, and ensure that pupils and colleagues are known, valued and treated with respect.
The opportunity
As Deputy Headteacher – Curriculum and Teaching, you will:
- Provide strategic leadership of a broad, ambitious, inclusive and coherent curriculum from Key Stage 3 to post-16.
- Lead Great Teaching and Purposeful Learning, establishing high whole-school expectations while valuing subject-specific expertise.
- Ensure assessment, data and quality assurance are proportionate, reliable and used intelligently to secure improvement.
- Lead professional growth that develops classroom practice, strengthens leadership capacity and improves pupil outcomes.
- Oversee key strategic areas through nominated Assistant Headteachers, including sixth form, timetabling, literacy, assessment, examinations, pupil premium, tutoring, homework, the house system, stakeholder engagement and digital strategy.
- Maintain a sharp focus on outcomes, particularly at Key Stage 4, while securing strong foundations from Key Stage 3 onwards.
- Ensure disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND, lower-attaining pupils and the most able experience the full ambition of the curriculum.
- Work in close partnership with the Deputy Headteacher – Personal Development so that academic and pastoral strategies are coherent.
- Deputise for the Headteacher when required and contribute fully to the strategic leadership of the school and wider Trust.
Who we are looking for
- You will be a strong and credible classroom practitioner with substantial senior leadership experience and evidence of whole-school impact.
- You will understand how curriculum, teaching, assessment and leadership combine to improve outcomes, and you will be able to translate ambition into clear plans, milestones and measurable impact.
- Just as importantly, you will know how to develop people.
- You will give leaders clarity and ownership, ask the right questions, provide appropriate challenge and support, and create the conditions in which staff can do their best work.
- You will be comfortable with complexity, alert to risk and workload, and determined that no pupil’s background or additional need should limit what they can achieve.
We are interested in your potential as well as the breadth of your current remit. You may already be an experienced deputy, or you may be an exceptional assistant headteacher ready for a larger and more complex role. Either way, you will need the credibility, judgement and ambition to lead at whole-school level.
Why Felixstowe School?
Felixstowe School is a friendly, ambitious 11–18 school at the heart of its community. We are proud of our progress and clear-eyed about the work still to do.
Our pupils are warm, interesting and full of potential. They respond to adults who know them, believe in them and expect the best from them.
We are part of Unity Schools Partnership, giving colleagues access to Teaching School Hub and Research School expertise, high-quality professional development, funded NPQs and opportunities to collaborate and progress across the Trust.
Closing date: 09:00am, 13 October 2026
Interviews: TBC
Please note: We may interview as applications are received and may appoint before the closing date. Applications must be submitted online via our careers website before the deadline, so we encourage early applications and advise checking the job details on our site.
In line with safer recruitment, we cannot accept CVs. Incomplete application forms may result in candidates not being shortlisted.
Unity Schools Partnership is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of pupils. All successful candidates will be subject to rigorous pre‑employment checks, including an enhanced DBS. We are also committed to equality, diversity and fair recruitment practices, and we oppose all forms of unlawful discrimination.
We value inclusive working practices and diverse teams. If you wish to work part‑time or as a job‑share, we will accommodate this wherever possible. We particularly welcome applications from under‑represented groups.
