The posting
Principal
Contract: Permanent
Actual Salary: L20 – L24 (£82,654 - £91,158)
Start Date: January 2027 or at the earliest opportunity thereafter
Your opportunity to run a specialist SEMH provision where every staff member is proud to support students to develop a sense of self, sense of place and sense of community:
Cabot Learning Federation is seeking to appoint a dynamic leader who is committed to driving academic improvement for its students at The Brook Academy in Gloucester. This role involves supporting the leadership of the academy, a happy school filled with wonderful students and staff. The successful candidate will collaborate with other leaders across specialist and alternative provisions to ensure that children with an EHCP are supported to ‘level up’ their educational outcomes and remain actively engaged in learning through tailored facilities and programmes.
Brook caters for secondary aged pupils from Year 7 to Year 11.
Young people will have the same learning opportunities as their peers in mainstream schools, however in addition to that, young people will have access to a mechanics workshop onsite which includes a working garage, hair and beauty salon, extended music opportunities with a recording studio and a separate 1:1 music lesson space, extended art opportunities with a facility for pottery and art design. We have separate areas for KS3 and KS4 to have lunch and breaks with outdoor areas that will allow them to be physically active or relax in a calm space before lessons.
Full role information and requirements, including the job description and person specification, can be found in the attached candidate information pack.
Why CLF?
We are a diverse and inclusive community of 37 academies across five cluster regions in the South West that is committed to excellence and making a positive impact. Our people bring unique perspectives, but we’re all driven by a shared moral purpose and a passion for making a positive impact, whether in a teaching, leadership or support role. We’re proud to foster a culture where everyone can thrive, feel valued, and make a meaningful difference to the lives of others.
We are an equal opportunity employer and proud to serve a diverse student population and our communities. We strongly believe that representation matters. We particularly encourage applicants from those groups in order to represent the students we serve, as well as wider underrepresented groups including gender, transgender, age disability, sexual orientation or religion.
What we can offer you:
- Access to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.
- Comprehensive induction and ongoing support for career development and wellbeing.
- Sector-leading professional development entitlement and opportunities.
- Collaboration with colleagues across the trust through subject communities and specialist networks.
- Shared CLF curriculum, written and curated by trust experts, reducing individual teacher workload.
- Career enhancing and progression opportunities within the trust and through the CLF Institute.
- A collaborative culture which supports workload.
- Well-being support through an Employee Assistance Programme.
- Health benefits, including wellness sessions, gym discounts, and flu jabs.
- A range of generous family leave options, including above industry average occupational maternity pay.
- Additional benefits like cycle to work scheme, on-site parking and many more!
Recruitment timeline:
KEY DATES
*Academy tours: w/c 21st & 28th Sept 2026
Closing date: 8th October 2026 at 11:59pm
Shortlisting: 9th October 2026
**Interviews: 16th & 20th October 2026
*We welcome visits from potential candidates. If you would like to arrange a school visit prior to the closing date, please contact the academy/site directly to arrange a suitable appointment.
**This is a two-day process (a first full assessment day, with the final interview on day two).
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early, should we receive a high level of interest in the role. Therefore, candidates are advised to apply at their earliest convenience to avoid missing out.
How to apply:
Please complete a full application form via the Eteach website. As part of our commitment to Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE), we do not accept CVs – a full education and employment history must be provided through the application form.
Please note: there is a requirement on page 24 of the Candidate Information Pack for you to include requested information within the Supporting Statement section of the application form. This information will be reviewed during short-listing, as part of your application for this role. The Supporting Statement section does not allow anything over an 8,000-character limit - this is equivalent to 2/3 pages of text in Word, depending on spacing/formatting used. The application form will highlight how many characters you have used/if you reach the limit.
Updates regarding an application, which could include an invite to interview, will be sent to the email address used when registering an account.
As a Disability Confident Committed Employer, we are dedicated to equity and inclusion and commit to interviewing applicants with a disability who meet the essential criteria. We aim to provide an inclusive and accessible recruitment process, and support employees throughout their employment. If you have a disability, are neurodivergent, or require any adjustments to support you through the application or interview process please let us know how we can assist.
