Principal

Ingfield Manor School is a non-maintained special school and part of Salutem Care and Education who have services across England and Wales supporting adults and children in residential and educational Environments.

Based in its our own idyllic grounds, Ingfield Manor School offers extensive specialist facilities with the aim to provide an exceptional learning environment, helping children and young people fulfil their potential. Facilities include woodland and outdoor classroom space, high specification sensory room and swimming pool.

At Ingfield Manor School, we believe everyone should have the opportunity to live a healthy, active, and fulfilling life, regardless of their background or disability. The aim of our services is to provide a safe and stimulating environment that enables children and young people to flourish and grow.

Our IMS provision caters for students aged 3—19 years with neurological motor impairment such as Cerebral Palsy and associated medical and sensory needs. Following the Conductive Education approach, Ingfield Manor School focuses on the holistic development of everyone, including their physical and communication skills.

Acorns is our short breaks respite service which operates from Monday to Thursday term-time only and is for students in our Ingfield Manor School provision. This service is regulated by OFSTED as part of the Social Care Inspection Framework.

Our Woodview provision is for secondary aged students with special educational needs including speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) and autistic spectrum conditions (ASC).

We also have Beaumont Sussex on our campus, a Post-19 college for special educational needs and students with physical disabilities which is part of Beaumont College which offers pathways for students as they Prepare for Adulthood.

We are immensely proud of our school and our community.  We are committed to providing the very best for young people while they are with us, helping them to develop the knowledge, skills, confidence and aspiration to succeed throughout their lives.

We know that our staff team make the school what it is today and are the key to a successful future.  Staff are well supported by the leadership team and are offered opportunities to progress.  We know that each and every one of our staff have a pivotal role to play and we believe in supporting everyone to fulfil their potential. Ingfield Manor School is a rewarding place to work, and staff report high levels of job satisfaction.

Main Duties:

As Principal, there is an expectation of enabling strategic leadership, operational oversight and providing direct support and guidance to the different branches of our educational offer.  All of these have seen substantial growth in recent times, and we need the Principal to have experience in multi curriculum management and provide effective dynamic support for a range of cohorts within one site. 

Whilst retaining the uniqueness of each provision and striving to increase engagement from local and surrounding LA's, the Principalis also accountable for HR, H & S including risk management and the safeguarding of our students.  

Job Scope:

To provide facilitative and inclusive management establishing and maintaining productive, collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders

• To promote a culture of high standards and continuous improvement that values and empowers staff and encourages the staff team to maximise their potential through continuous learning whilst challenging under performance.
• Ensure the wellbeing and safety of staff
• To recruit, manage and develop educational and support staff within the Group HR and operational policies and procedures.
• To work seamlessly across departments or team boundaries in a collaborative and constructive manner to achieve the Group aims and KPI’s.
• To always work within the Group policies and procedures.
• To ensure all statutory requirements as defined by the DfE and other external bodies are met.
• To foster a culture of continuous improvement and achieve the highest inspection ratings.

Role Specific

• Provide dynamic leadership to the staff across all establishments and take the overall responsibility for the planning, budgeting, occupancy levels and resources and safeguarding.
• Share the vision and passion to work with colleagues to develop the commercial vision for the college and associated sites. Striving to diversify, celebrate current successes and secure revenue.
• To work positively with the Divisional Director and Regional Director to enable them to delier their responsibilities effectively.
• To work positively with the Chair of the LGB and other link Governors as they provide support and challenger where required.
• To work positively and pro-actively with parents instilling a transparent approach and any other key stakeholders to create strong relationships.
• To provide leadership, and development of the multi-disciplinary team, to deliver a responsive, high quality, outcome focused approach to students, young people, their families, and partner agencies.
• Continually seeking to ‘grow our own’ approach of upskilling and professionally developing current staff.
• To support and develop best practice to ensure the unique offer continues to be the first choice for parents and young people.
• To ensure that students’ educational, physical, and emotional needs are met in accordance with their individual plans and provide alternative and sector leading means of evidencing this.
• To ensure the provision takes full account of the requirement of the regulators and the commissioners.
• To support the active marketing of ‘The Brand’ and any associated services
• To support the strategic development of the range of provision on the Ingfield campus
• To devise and agree the school development plan and associated annual plans, based on the projected needs, financial forecasts, and overall Group strategy, including development of new services.
• To develop and lead the site in this transition, where the college’s future will be set for years to come.

This job description should not be seen as all encompassing, and the post holder will be expected to undertake any other responsibilities appropriate to the post as identified by the company.

Our Core Values

• We are Supportive by promoting opportunities for everyone so they can reach their full potential
• We are very Ambitious to provide the best possible outcomes for the students who use our services and by seeking innovative ways in which to work with all our students.
• We are Loyal because we put the students that we support and our staff at the centre of everything we do, and we deliver on our promises. We also are committed to ensuring that our services are meeting the needs of all stakeholders
• We are Unique because we are ambitious and innovative about the diversity of the services that we provide without compromising quality
• We are Transparent by being open, honest, and fostering a culture of mutual respect. We promote a culture where we learn by our experiences, and we are committed to doing things better and setting the highest standards in what we do
• We are Engaging because we work in partnership with the people that we support, our staff and all our stakeholders
• We encourage everyone to experience a Meaningful life by being aspirational and by offering opportunities

Person Specification

Knowledge, Skills, and Experience