Assistant Headteacher – Curriculum

Assistant Headteacher – Curriculum

Location: Tokers Green, Reading, Berkshire/Oxfordshire border

Contract Type: Full-time, Permanent

Hours: Full-time, 40 hours per week

Salary: £49,781 (L1)

Start date: September 2025 (or as soon as possible after)

The Aurora Group

The Aurora Group is one of the largest providers of SEND educational and care services in the country, supporting over 1,200 children, young people and adults, and employing over 1,600 staff spread across 27 services around England. 

Aurora Rowan provides a specialist learning environment for students aged between 5 - 16 years old with Autism and Severe learning difficulties and the associated communication and behavioural difficulties. The school includes a full therapy team to ensure we can offer the best support to our students.

Located in a 6 ½ acre rural location surrounded by ancient woodland but close to transport links. we’re looking for an Assistant Headteacher to join our team on site as soon as possible.

The role:

To work with the Headteacher as part of the senior Leadership team in all aspects of leadership and management and to take responsibility for managing and developing learning and teaching, curriculum, assessment, and enrichment throughout the designated phases of the school.

Key accountabilities:

• To play a key role in the overall smooth running of the school.
• To lead by example of their practice, and by positively encouraging, coaching, and mentoring support the training and development for all members of the team.
• Promote best practice and contribute to the aims and ethos of the school through INSET and CPD for new teachers.
• To work with the Headteacher to ensure that the school offers a high quality, exciting, engaging, well resourced, differentiated, and well-matched curriculum for all children.
• Exercise a key role in advising and assisting the Head teacher with the strategic development of Curriculum policy and associated local procedures and provision, including reviewing, and formulating curriculum plans.
• To keep abreast of developments in SEN curriculum pedagogy and best practice and inform SLT and Head where appropriate.
• To develop positive relationships within the school, and the wider Aurora Team and externally, which support the running and developing of the school.
• To lead, monitor and evaluate the schools’ Reading and Phonics program.

Duties will vary, you must expect to diversify and lend a hand wherever is required. Please see the link below for our full job description:

Job Description – Assistant Headteacher

Successful candidate qualities:

• QTS or QTLS is essential.
• Accredited training in specific areas of special education desirable
• Management/leadership qualification desirable
• Proven record of excellent creative and structured teaching within relevant key stages and/or special needs environment.
• Experience of holding responsibility for and turning policy into effective and successful practice.
• Leadership of a significant area or phase or inclusion, including responsibility for raising standards across the whole school.
• Effective team management and working collaboratively and effectively with others.
• Communicating effectively to a wide range of different audiences though a range of different mediums.
• Successful management of complex scenarios and conflict resolution
• Effective relationships working successfully with a range of external agencies.

Be part of our successful team and also benefit from a generous package that includes:

• Life assurance
• Competitive Pension
• Perkbox - offering high street discounts
• Employee assistance programme
• Car lease scheme
• Fully funded training and qualifications
• Bike to work scheme
• Free membership to our Health cash back plan - Claim back money on services such as dental, optical, physio and many more.
• Free parking

How to apply:

Please complete an online application form in full, remembering to include all employment and education details.  If you need any assistance or would like any more information, please contact Liz in the Aurora Group Recruitment Team at liz.hudson@theauroragroup.co.uk

Successful applicants will be subject to pre-employment safeguarding checks including an enhanced disclosure and barring service (DBS) check.

The post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and the Aurora Group is therefore permitted to ask job applicants to declare all convictions and cautions (including those which are "spent" unless they are "protected" under the DBS filtering rules) in order to assess their suitability to work with children.

The Aurora Group is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children and young adults in our care and is a disability confident and equal opportunities employer.

This advert could be taken down at any point in time without prior notice if the position is filled. 

Please note that candidates that are shortlisted might be subject to an online search.