Deputy Head Teacher
| Posting date: | 14 February 2026 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 09 March 2026 |
| Location: | Leicester, LE5 5NA |
| Company: | Teaching Vacancies |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 86ec6719-4efb-475f-a673-6bf8d1e99dfa |
Summary
What skills and experience we're looking for
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated, creative, ambitious, and successful leader to join us as Deputy Head. The inspirational post-holder, with a young family, now needs to work closer to home, and they leave with our love, best wishes, and gratitude for everything they have brought to our school. Sound interesting? Then please read on.
Mayflower is a successful, high-performing, innovative, primary school in Evington. Our catchment is majority South Asian and North African, with EAL at 87%. This creates a wonderful, diverse mix of children, all of whom attach a high value to their education, resulting in ambition, dedication, commitment, and aspiration. The curriculum has been designed to satisfy the core principles of inclusion, and every child feels loved, cared for, known, and special. Through high levels of engagement and wellbeing, our children simply adore learning, and this is reflected in the high academic standards we reach, and the creativity that can be seen in all classes.
Enrichment is a core part of our work, and this year we have been proud to achieve the Artsmark Platinum Award, the maintenance of our International School Award, and the Platinum School Games Award. We are also involved in the Fortitude Project with the Law School at Sheffield Hallam University as well as the RRSA.
At Mayflower, international education is critically important. Despite Erasmus+ and CCGL coming to an end, we have built up links around the world, enabling our children and staff to learn from and contribute to the best education systems globally. Through a creative curriculum that is designed to promote Social Justice via the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our children fully recognise they are compassionate, knowledgeable, confident, and creative global citizens who will soon become the leaders of the future. Sadly, our beautiful planet is not being cared for. Mayflower staff believe, however, that when the next generation take over, they will do a fantastic job because they care so much about the world around them.
The role of Deputy Head is central to the effectiveness of our school, and we are looking for the right candidate who can join us on an exciting international, creative, diverse, and equitable journey. Ideally, you will have:
• Passion, drive, resilience, and a joyous sense of fun
• Be strongly committed to creativity and innovation
• Can lead by example, through classroom teaching, and engagement with stakeholders
• Highly developed interpersonal skills, that reflect the care and respect all members of staff have for each other
• Fully engaged with our mission, and eager to be valued in a way that reflects your own philosophy of education
• Have an unwavering commitment to the children of our school
• An understanding of the critical importance of effective curriculum implementation, and how strong pedagogy encourages evidenced impact for all groups of pupils
• A good understanding of inclusion and equal opportunities, recognising that every child is unique and very special
• A longer-term ambition to develop the knowledge, skills, competencies and awareness of the role of a DSL or assessment manager
Of late, our school has experienced some unique challenges that have shaped us in a way we were not expecting. In April 2023, Mayflower became the first school in the country to receive an immediate Closure Notice, due to the presence of RAAC throughout the building. This led to our children being displaced across 4-different sites, including two local secondary schools. During this time, a temporary site was constructed in record time, and this is where we currently reside. Excitingly, Mayflower is now part of the Schools’ Rebuilding Programme, and all of our stakeholder groups are working hard to design a brand-new 21st Century Eco school, that is due to open in 2028. The 5-year journey has been incredibly challenging and we are now in the process of healing. We do this together, as an extended Mayflower Family where all our stakeholder groups can support each other through the difficult but exciting times ahead.
During this time, Mayflower has had to stand on its own with very little help and support from others. We are now in the process of trying to re-engage with outside agencies, but recognise the impact this has had. In the letter to candidates, we explain a little bit more about this, and what the school is now doing to continue its improvement pathway, securing development that is both rapid and sustainable. We know that the successful candidate will be closely involved in this process, and openly welcome the new knowledge, skills and insight they will bring.
What the school offers its staff
We are very proud of the way we look after our staff. People rarely leave us, and this very much confirms that our school provides a wonderful, pastorally aware, exciting, and vibrant workplace. In addition, we will also offer:
• A strong commitment to CPD, including higher education and wider specialisms
• An able, effective, creative, and experienced Leadership Team and teaching staff who are never afraid to innovate, take-risks, and bring out the best in all of the children
• Fun, engaging, caring, and exceptionally well-behaved pupils, who will make you laugh, and bring out the best in what you have to offer
• Committed governors, who support the school to be the best it can be
• Opportunities to work with partner agencies, including the DfE, other schools locally, higher education institutions, the SRP, and
• A resolute focus on the care, engagement and wellbeing of pupils, recognising how the optimal conditions for learning help all to excel
• An opportunity to make a lasting impact in the community of Evington, with the role being integral to the development of the new Mayflower Primary School
• A chance to innovate, and develop new ways of working; we will support you every step of the way
• A curriculum that is both original, and focused on the creative arts, all of which helps our children to achieve very highly in the national assessments
• Excellent relationships, where people care for each other, and want nothing but the best for all
• An established management structure, and the autonomy to lead change with the full support of the Head Teacher and Governing Body
• Parents who love the school, show their support in many different ways, and evidenced by the attitudes of their children
• An exciting Early Years setting that gives children the best start
If you are still reading this advertisement, we hope you will consider taking your application further. We would love to hear from you and visits are very welcomed. Mayflower is a unique school, and we want you to be part of our exciting vision for the future.
Further details about the role
Thank you for showing an interest in the role of Deputy Head Teacher at Mayflower Primary School. We consider this to be an exciting opportunity for an experienced, effective, compassionate, visionary, innovative, ambitious senior teacher to join our established Leadership Team at an exciting time in the school’s development pathway.
You will not be surprised to hear that we think our school is very special. Over many years, we have developed an ethos that celebrates the unique talents of all our amazing children. This has led to child-centred policies and a curriculum that seeks to develop a strong sense of Social Justice through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We passionately believe that an effective education will help to create global citizens of the future who recognise that the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
Our exciting, engaging curriculum embodies these values, and has been developed by experienced, creative, and ambitious staff who skilfully link learning across the different subject areas, but always with an emphasis on core substantive and disciplinary knowledge. It is through the progressive acquisition of this knowledge that our children begin to understand the contribution they can make to a future, better, caring society where the needs of the vulnerable remain paramount.
Strong international links shape our work, and despite significant changes to the landscape, especially the withdrawal of Erasmus+, and CCGL coming to an end, we remain committed to our global partners, and also take care to ensure the lessons we teach contain an international dimension. Previously, our involvement with these programmes has enabled our teachers to travel throughout the world, and we are looking forward to a time when these opportunities open up again. Despite this, the legacy of these programmes remains, and has shaped our philosophy in terms of Early Years Education, the importance of involvement and wellbeing (Leuven), as well as play-based learning in Key Stage 1.
Our Foundation Stage follows the core principles of child-led learning, with a very strong emphasis on outdoor learning, curiosity, natural materials, and agency on behalf of our children and families. With 87% EAL, we are proud to celebrate our children’s rapid learning, with GLD a core focus. We strongly believe that getting off to a good start will help our children to become effective, confident, life-long learners, and are very proud of the provision we offer in this phase of our school.
KS1 builds on the great work of our Early Years practitioners, with a balance of child-led and focus-group learning across outdoor and indoor learning zones. When our children are ready to engage with more formal learning, they will be able to do so, but the pace is very much dictated by the children themselves, and staff are very experienced at timing their interventions to meet the needs of all learners. This approach, in-line with provision in the Early Years, helps to ensure that our children feel safe, settled, and listened to, enabling them to make rapid progress academically, and also in terms of their social and emotional development.
In KS2, given the very good start the children have received, our creative curriculum inspires all learners to be ambitious for themselves, their peers, the community we serve, and the global context in which we work. The academic standards our children reach are uniformly high, yet our curriculum remains creative, broad, balanced, and relevant. The reason our children do so well is that they are confident, and know how to apply their learning across a range of different contexts. Needless to say, they make us feel proud all of the time!
Enrichment is also an area that we are proud of, and we work hard to ensure that our children spend much time in the community, learning from others, and developing a strong allegiance to Evington, and the city of which it is a part. We actively seek new and creative opportunities for all of our children to contribute, with a specific focus on the performing arts, PE, and democratic representation. Our children are also integral to the implementation of the Schools’ Rebuilding Programme, of which we are now a part.
From our advertisement, you will remain aware that our school is in a difficult position, due to the Closure Notice that was issued in April 2023. Consequent to this we were very much on our own, and although high academic standards have been maintained, the OfSTED grading of the school has slipped to RI for Overall Effectiveness despite good grades in 3 of the 5 key outcomes. While we recognise the many contextual factors that have contributed to this, we know that engagement with a range of different external partners, including RISE, will help us to embed rapid and sustainable development, against an action plan that focuses on knowledge retention, foundation subject assessment, PA children, and the 5 Fundamental British Values. We embrace this opportunity to engage with other providers, and are always grateful for support, given the challenges that RAAC has visited upon us. We are all resolute in this mission, and will do all we can to ensure that school can return to the position it once occupied.
The role of Deputy Head Teacher has become available as the current post-holder now needs to work closer to home. With a young family, we support and fully endorse their move, feeling it attests to our view that family must always come first. We recognise and thank them for their contribution. The candidate we appoint will be stepping into a team that provides, commitment, support, and an endless capacity for goodwill and creativity. This makes the role perfect for an experienced senior leader who is not afraid to innovate, and bring exciting new ideas to our vibrant learning community.
Visits to the school are actively encouraged, and we would be delighted to answer any questions you may have. We recognise that our school is a little different to many others, and it will give us great pleasure to share more about the exciting journey we are on.
We shall look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. A. Meah and Mr. Z. Adam Mr. L. Whitney
Co-Chairs of the Governing Body Head Teacher
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated, creative, ambitious, and successful leader to join us as Deputy Head. The inspirational post-holder, with a young family, now needs to work closer to home, and they leave with our love, best wishes, and gratitude for everything they have brought to our school. Sound interesting? Then please read on.
Mayflower is a successful, high-performing, innovative, primary school in Evington. Our catchment is majority South Asian and North African, with EAL at 87%. This creates a wonderful, diverse mix of children, all of whom attach a high value to their education, resulting in ambition, dedication, commitment, and aspiration. The curriculum has been designed to satisfy the core principles of inclusion, and every child feels loved, cared for, known, and special. Through high levels of engagement and wellbeing, our children simply adore learning, and this is reflected in the high academic standards we reach, and the creativity that can be seen in all classes.
Enrichment is a core part of our work, and this year we have been proud to achieve the Artsmark Platinum Award, the maintenance of our International School Award, and the Platinum School Games Award. We are also involved in the Fortitude Project with the Law School at Sheffield Hallam University as well as the RRSA.
At Mayflower, international education is critically important. Despite Erasmus+ and CCGL coming to an end, we have built up links around the world, enabling our children and staff to learn from and contribute to the best education systems globally. Through a creative curriculum that is designed to promote Social Justice via the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our children fully recognise they are compassionate, knowledgeable, confident, and creative global citizens who will soon become the leaders of the future. Sadly, our beautiful planet is not being cared for. Mayflower staff believe, however, that when the next generation take over, they will do a fantastic job because they care so much about the world around them.
The role of Deputy Head is central to the effectiveness of our school, and we are looking for the right candidate who can join us on an exciting international, creative, diverse, and equitable journey. Ideally, you will have:
• Passion, drive, resilience, and a joyous sense of fun
• Be strongly committed to creativity and innovation
• Can lead by example, through classroom teaching, and engagement with stakeholders
• Highly developed interpersonal skills, that reflect the care and respect all members of staff have for each other
• Fully engaged with our mission, and eager to be valued in a way that reflects your own philosophy of education
• Have an unwavering commitment to the children of our school
• An understanding of the critical importance of effective curriculum implementation, and how strong pedagogy encourages evidenced impact for all groups of pupils
• A good understanding of inclusion and equal opportunities, recognising that every child is unique and very special
• A longer-term ambition to develop the knowledge, skills, competencies and awareness of the role of a DSL or assessment manager
Of late, our school has experienced some unique challenges that have shaped us in a way we were not expecting. In April 2023, Mayflower became the first school in the country to receive an immediate Closure Notice, due to the presence of RAAC throughout the building. This led to our children being displaced across 4-different sites, including two local secondary schools. During this time, a temporary site was constructed in record time, and this is where we currently reside. Excitingly, Mayflower is now part of the Schools’ Rebuilding Programme, and all of our stakeholder groups are working hard to design a brand-new 21st Century Eco school, that is due to open in 2028. The 5-year journey has been incredibly challenging and we are now in the process of healing. We do this together, as an extended Mayflower Family where all our stakeholder groups can support each other through the difficult but exciting times ahead.
During this time, Mayflower has had to stand on its own with very little help and support from others. We are now in the process of trying to re-engage with outside agencies, but recognise the impact this has had. In the letter to candidates, we explain a little bit more about this, and what the school is now doing to continue its improvement pathway, securing development that is both rapid and sustainable. We know that the successful candidate will be closely involved in this process, and openly welcome the new knowledge, skills and insight they will bring.
What the school offers its staff
We are very proud of the way we look after our staff. People rarely leave us, and this very much confirms that our school provides a wonderful, pastorally aware, exciting, and vibrant workplace. In addition, we will also offer:
• A strong commitment to CPD, including higher education and wider specialisms
• An able, effective, creative, and experienced Leadership Team and teaching staff who are never afraid to innovate, take-risks, and bring out the best in all of the children
• Fun, engaging, caring, and exceptionally well-behaved pupils, who will make you laugh, and bring out the best in what you have to offer
• Committed governors, who support the school to be the best it can be
• Opportunities to work with partner agencies, including the DfE, other schools locally, higher education institutions, the SRP, and
• A resolute focus on the care, engagement and wellbeing of pupils, recognising how the optimal conditions for learning help all to excel
• An opportunity to make a lasting impact in the community of Evington, with the role being integral to the development of the new Mayflower Primary School
• A chance to innovate, and develop new ways of working; we will support you every step of the way
• A curriculum that is both original, and focused on the creative arts, all of which helps our children to achieve very highly in the national assessments
• Excellent relationships, where people care for each other, and want nothing but the best for all
• An established management structure, and the autonomy to lead change with the full support of the Head Teacher and Governing Body
• Parents who love the school, show their support in many different ways, and evidenced by the attitudes of their children
• An exciting Early Years setting that gives children the best start
If you are still reading this advertisement, we hope you will consider taking your application further. We would love to hear from you and visits are very welcomed. Mayflower is a unique school, and we want you to be part of our exciting vision for the future.
Further details about the role
Thank you for showing an interest in the role of Deputy Head Teacher at Mayflower Primary School. We consider this to be an exciting opportunity for an experienced, effective, compassionate, visionary, innovative, ambitious senior teacher to join our established Leadership Team at an exciting time in the school’s development pathway.
You will not be surprised to hear that we think our school is very special. Over many years, we have developed an ethos that celebrates the unique talents of all our amazing children. This has led to child-centred policies and a curriculum that seeks to develop a strong sense of Social Justice through the lens of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We passionately believe that an effective education will help to create global citizens of the future who recognise that the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow.
Our exciting, engaging curriculum embodies these values, and has been developed by experienced, creative, and ambitious staff who skilfully link learning across the different subject areas, but always with an emphasis on core substantive and disciplinary knowledge. It is through the progressive acquisition of this knowledge that our children begin to understand the contribution they can make to a future, better, caring society where the needs of the vulnerable remain paramount.
Strong international links shape our work, and despite significant changes to the landscape, especially the withdrawal of Erasmus+, and CCGL coming to an end, we remain committed to our global partners, and also take care to ensure the lessons we teach contain an international dimension. Previously, our involvement with these programmes has enabled our teachers to travel throughout the world, and we are looking forward to a time when these opportunities open up again. Despite this, the legacy of these programmes remains, and has shaped our philosophy in terms of Early Years Education, the importance of involvement and wellbeing (Leuven), as well as play-based learning in Key Stage 1.
Our Foundation Stage follows the core principles of child-led learning, with a very strong emphasis on outdoor learning, curiosity, natural materials, and agency on behalf of our children and families. With 87% EAL, we are proud to celebrate our children’s rapid learning, with GLD a core focus. We strongly believe that getting off to a good start will help our children to become effective, confident, life-long learners, and are very proud of the provision we offer in this phase of our school.
KS1 builds on the great work of our Early Years practitioners, with a balance of child-led and focus-group learning across outdoor and indoor learning zones. When our children are ready to engage with more formal learning, they will be able to do so, but the pace is very much dictated by the children themselves, and staff are very experienced at timing their interventions to meet the needs of all learners. This approach, in-line with provision in the Early Years, helps to ensure that our children feel safe, settled, and listened to, enabling them to make rapid progress academically, and also in terms of their social and emotional development.
In KS2, given the very good start the children have received, our creative curriculum inspires all learners to be ambitious for themselves, their peers, the community we serve, and the global context in which we work. The academic standards our children reach are uniformly high, yet our curriculum remains creative, broad, balanced, and relevant. The reason our children do so well is that they are confident, and know how to apply their learning across a range of different contexts. Needless to say, they make us feel proud all of the time!
Enrichment is also an area that we are proud of, and we work hard to ensure that our children spend much time in the community, learning from others, and developing a strong allegiance to Evington, and the city of which it is a part. We actively seek new and creative opportunities for all of our children to contribute, with a specific focus on the performing arts, PE, and democratic representation. Our children are also integral to the implementation of the Schools’ Rebuilding Programme, of which we are now a part.
From our advertisement, you will remain aware that our school is in a difficult position, due to the Closure Notice that was issued in April 2023. Consequent to this we were very much on our own, and although high academic standards have been maintained, the OfSTED grading of the school has slipped to RI for Overall Effectiveness despite good grades in 3 of the 5 key outcomes. While we recognise the many contextual factors that have contributed to this, we know that engagement with a range of different external partners, including RISE, will help us to embed rapid and sustainable development, against an action plan that focuses on knowledge retention, foundation subject assessment, PA children, and the 5 Fundamental British Values. We embrace this opportunity to engage with other providers, and are always grateful for support, given the challenges that RAAC has visited upon us. We are all resolute in this mission, and will do all we can to ensure that school can return to the position it once occupied.
The role of Deputy Head Teacher has become available as the current post-holder now needs to work closer to home. With a young family, we support and fully endorse their move, feeling it attests to our view that family must always come first. We recognise and thank them for their contribution. The candidate we appoint will be stepping into a team that provides, commitment, support, and an endless capacity for goodwill and creativity. This makes the role perfect for an experienced senior leader who is not afraid to innovate, and bring exciting new ideas to our vibrant learning community.
Visits to the school are actively encouraged, and we would be delighted to answer any questions you may have. We recognise that our school is a little different to many others, and it will give us great pleasure to share more about the exciting journey we are on.
We shall look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs. A. Meah and Mr. Z. Adam Mr. L. Whitney
Co-Chairs of the Governing Body Head Teacher
Commitment to safeguarding
Our organisation is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. We expect all staff, volunteers and trustees to share this commitment. Our recruitment process follows the keeping children safe in education guidance. Offers of employment may be subject to the following checks (where relevant): childcare disqualification Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) medical online and social media prohibition from teaching right to work satisfactory references suitability to work with children You must tell us about any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975.