Headteacher

Pocklington CE Infant School, Maxwell Road, Pocklington, YO42 2HE

Pocklington CE VC Church of England (Voluntary Controlled) Infant School

‘Happy Children, Loving Learning’

We are seeking an ambitious and energetic person to lead our friendly and vibrant school of 242 pupils in the historic market town, Pocklington following the retirement of our Headteacher. Ofsted Inspectors described our school as highly nurturing with a caring atmosphere.

We require an ambitious and energetic interim Headteacher/Executive Headteacher from 23 Feb 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter. This post is temporary and is expected to run until 1st September 2026, to allow governors time to recruit a substantive Headteacher. It can be offered as a temporary contract, a secondment or on a temporary Executive HT basis. We are looking to offer this on a FTE or 0.8 basis but are open to discussions with possible applicants.

The successful candidate must be an experienced leader and will need to:

• Provide strategic leadership, working alongside the governing body, the Local Authority and the Diocese to implement the vision of Pocklington CE Infant School
• Demonstrate commitment to safeguarding children and ensuring all members of the community share that commitment in order to maintain a culture of safeguarding vigilance.
• Uphold ambitious educational standards, which prepare all pupils for their next phase of education and life
• Be responsible for leading teaching and learning, ensuring pupils benefit from an excellent educational experience
• Actively uphold the Christian ethos of our School
• Promote positive harmonious relationships within the school and with our stakeholders
• Establish excellence in teaching so that pupils and adults can flourish
• Ensure teaching is underpinned by high levels of subject expertise with effective and robust monitoring and evaluation
• Sustain the school’s inclusive culture and practices where children with SEND feel part of the school community and have full access to the curriculum.
• Foster an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity in all forms

We can offer

• A friendly, welcoming school community underpinned by our strong Christian ethos.
• Enthusiastic, well-behaved pupils.
• A staff team who are committed to excellence in teaching and learning.
• A strong and supportive Board of Governors who continue to grow and develop.
• Additional support from the Local Authority.
• A place at the heart of a truly unique town, with close links to the local churches and community.

Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Successful candidates will require a DBS clearance and suitable references before commencing employment.

Visits to the school are possible by appointment only. Please contact Chair of Governors, Portia Hewitt: portia.hewit

The Post

Post Full time or 0.8, temporary

National Leadership Pay Scale L12-18 to be finalised in discussion with the successful applicant

Start Date February 2026

The Recruitment Process Apply online at

Interviews:
Candidates will need to be available for interview on the afternoon of 6 Feb

The school’s vision and values:

As a Church School the Christian values and ethos thread through everything we do and are central to our policies and practice. Our four Christian Values are key to our mission of ‘happy children loving learning’ – Compassion, Perseverance, Truth and Respect. These 4 values were decided upon by the pupils following a survey of pupils, parents and staff and in consultation with governors.

Our chosen Bible Verse is from Proverbs 8 “Now Children, listen to me. If you follow my ways you will be happy too.”

Our latest Ofsted inspection was requires improvement in Leadership and Management and Quality of Education and Good in EYFS, Behaviour & Attitudes and Personal Development (May 2025). We are working hard with the Diocese and Local Authority and are keen to continue our journey of improvement so that we can provide the very best to the children and families of this fantastic community.

If you already work for the council and have previously used an Employee Self Service (ESS) account, to login to apply online, from September 2025 you will need to create a new account using your personal email address.

This school does not have the resources to send individual notifications to all applicants who are not shortlisted so if you have not been contacted within 2 weeks of the closing date you should assume you have been unsuccessful.

If selected for interview, an online search will be conducted for candidates. This is in line with KCSiE 2022.

This post is subject to an enhanced DBS clearance check. The school is committed to safeguarding children and promoting their welfare. All members of staff are expected to share this commitment.