The role

About the Service

The Southwark Virtual School is dedicated to championing the education and development of Southwark’s Looked After Children, Previously Looked After Children, and Children with a Social Worker. We aim to ensure that every child under our care thrives academically and personally, equipping them with the skills and confidence to achieve their full potential. As part of the Children and Adults’ Services department, we collaborate with schools, social care practitioners, foster carers, and other stakeholders to deliver outstanding educational outcomes for our learners.

Our team is driven by a shared commitment to narrowing achievement gaps, fostering aspirations, and creating a supportive, inclusive environment where every child can excel.

About the Role

As the Deputy Head of the Southwark Virtual School, you will play a pivotal role in improving the educational experiences of vulnerable young people. Reporting to the Headteacher, you will lead the Primary and Secondary Phase teams, managing a group of dedicated educational advisors.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Driving excellence: Leading the development and implementation of strategies to enhance outcomes for Looked After Children.
• Performance management: Inspiring, supporting, and challenging your team to deliver exceptional results in a complex but rewarding environment.
• Strategic collaboration: Working closely with schools, social workers, foster carers, and other partners to ensure the best possible teaching and learning experiences.
• Quality assurance: Monitoring and improving the quality of Personal Education Plans (PEPs) and ensuring effective use of Pupil Premium Plus funding.
• Tracking and reporting: Analysing data to monitor progress, attendance, exclusions, and destinations, producing regular reports to inform strategic planning.

This is a unique opportunity to contribute to a service that directly impacts the lives of some of the most vulnerable children in Southwark, while developing your leadership skills in a supportive and collaborative environment.

About You

We are seeking a passionate and driven leader with:

• Qualified Teacher Status and experience managing a team in an educational or local authority setting.
• A proven track record of working with vulnerable children and young people, ideally using a multi-agency approach.
• Strategic leadership skills, including formulating strategies to improve pupil outcomes and managing change effectively.
• Strong knowledge of statutory guidance, SEN Code of Practice, and quality standards in education.
• Exceptional communication, organisational, and analytical abilities, with a commitment to improving outcomes for children.

You will be outcomes-driven, collaborative, and capable of motivating and inspiring your team in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

Ready to Make a Difference?If you are passionate about transforming the lives of vulnerable young people and have the skills and experience to lead our team, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today and be part of a team that changes lives.

This post requires a satisfactory Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) DBS check at enhanced level.

Benefits and more information:

In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies including flexible working, home working, and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a motivated, driven and supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members. You will also be part of a successful and high-achieving development team that is making a real difference to the lives of residents in the borough. For more information about the wide variety of benefits you can take advantage of please visit our Staff Benefits page.

Recruitment timetable

Guaranteed Interview Scheme:

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

•  Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
•  Are currently in care, or have previously been in care
•  If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together programme. We particularly welcome applications from members of the Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Attachments

• Please click here to view the Job Description and Person Specification.