​

Hales Valley Multi Academy Trust is a primary academy trust, based in Dudley, West Midlands. We currently consist of seven very different primary schools, ensuring that our Trust is a diverse and exciting place to work and learn.

We put our children at the heart of everything we do and are dedicated to providing them with an enriching curriculum, underpinned by our overall commitment to high standards across the board.

We value our staff and ensure that they are well supported and trained. We have a continual professional development guarantee that provides a clear career pathway of training and opportunities for all staff at all levels.

Our family of schools work closely together, ensuring that staff and children benefit from sharing the excellent practice that exists across the Trust. Our schools are well supported by the Board of Directors and the Trust Central team.

We believe that we are stronger together – all schools sharing capacity, resources and expertise. We believe that collaboration is fundamental to providing the best learning opportunities through a meaningful curriculum where children and adults acquire the knowledge, skills and positive attitudes to prepare and strengthen them for their role in society: today, tomorrow and in the future. We support and care for each other, especially when things go wrong; we are a family.

If you are inspired by inclusive leadership, motivated by improvement and committed to ensuring every child succeeds, we would love to hear from you.

At Woodside Primary School, our values of Care, Aspire and Achieve are not simply words on a page — they guide our daily practice, our decision-making and our ambition for every child and adult within our community.

Woodside is a school with a strong sense of purpose. We are proud to serve a diverse community and to offer a breadth of provision that reflects our unwavering commitment to inclusion, early intervention and high expectations for all. Whether through our SEND Base, Time for Twos provision, Nursery or mainstream classes, we work tirelessly to ensure that every child feels safe, valued and supported to belong, to aspire and to achieve their very best.

This is an exciting and important moment in Woodside’s journey. The school is on a clear and focused improvement pathway, underpinned by growing capacity, strong Trust support and a shared determination to secure the highest standards. Our next Head of School will play a pivotal role in building on this momentum — leading with care, setting ambitious expectations and ensuring that all pupils and staff are able to thrive.

We are seeking a leader who believes, as we do, that great schools are built on strong relationships, inclusive practice and an uncompromising focus on teaching and learning. Someone who leads with integrity, champions our values and is driven by the moral purpose of making a difference to children’s lives.

If you share our belief that schools should be places where everyone is cared for, encouraged to aspire, and supported to achieve, I warmly invite you to consider joining us at Woodside Primary School.

We look forward to welcoming the next leader who will help our school — and our community — continue to grow and succeed.

'We are a values-led school, with our values driving our decision making'

The  Role - Head of School

Job Reference: HVT0740 

This is a permanent post, you will be working 32.5 per week on a 52 week per annum contract. 

Lead with Care. Inspire Aspiration. Enable Every Child to Achieve, Belong and Thrive.

This is more than a leadership post.

It is an opportunity to lead a school where care comes first, aspiration drives improvement, and achievement is celebrated for every child.

Woodside Primary School is seeking an exceptional Head of School to join us at a pivotal point in our journey. Working closely with an experienced Executive Headteacher and as part of The Hales Valley Multi-Academy Trust, you will help shape the next stage of rapid and sustainable school improvement.

Why Woodside? Why Now?

Woodside Primary is on a clear, ambitious and accelerating improvement journey. Expectations are high, support is strong and the direction of travel is secure.

This is a brilliant time to join Woodside. We are now looking for our next Head of School — a leader who will:

· Lead with care, building strong relationships and a culture of trust

· Aspire relentlessly for pupils, staff and the wider community

· Secure strong outcomes so that every child achieves

· Ensure all pupils and adults belong and thrive in a calm, inclusive and purposeful school

This role offers genuine influence, professional challenge and the opportunity to make a lasting difference.

What Makes Woodside Unique

Woodside Primary is a vibrant, inclusive and community-centred school, proud of the breadth of its provision and the diversity of its pupils.

· Our SEND Base provides specialist expertise and targeted support, ensuring pupils with additional needs are cared for, included and supported to achieve and thrive

· Our Time for Twos provision reflects our commitment to early intervention and family support, enabling children to feel safe, valued and ready to learn from the very start

· Our well-established Nursery provides a nurturing yet aspirational early years experience, laying strong foundations for future learning and success

Inclusion, early help and strong relationships are not add-ons at Woodside — they are central to who we are.

The Role

As Head of School, you will provide visible, confident and values-driven leadership on a day-to-day basis, working in close partnership with the Executive Headteacher and Trust leaders.

You will:

· Lead the quality of education, ensuring ambitious curriculum design and consistently strong teaching

· Use assessment intelligently to raise standards and secure progress from all starting points

· Develop, support and challenge staff so they can aspire, achieve and thrive professionally

· Embed high expectations for behaviour, attitudes and personal development, underpinned by care and consistency

· Ensure safeguarding, inclusion and wellbeing are at the heart of all decision-making

· Build strong relationships so pupils, staff and families feel they belong

You will be:

· An experienced senior leader with a proven track record of school improvement

· Highly knowledgeable about the Ofsted Education Inspection Framework

· Deeply committed to inclusion, equity and safeguarding

· A leader who balances care with challenge

· Energised by working collaboratively within a MAT structure

This role would suit an ambitious deputy or assistant headteacher ready for headship, or an experienced Head of School seeking a new and purposeful challenge.

What We Offer

· Close partnership with an experienced Executive Headteacher

· Strong challenge and support from The Hales Valley Multi-Academy Trust

· A school with ambition, momentum and moral purpose

· High-quality professional development and leadership coaching

· The opportunity to lead a community where children and adults are supported to Care. Aspire. Achieve. — and to truly belong and thrive

Closing Date: 10th April 2026 

Shortlisting: WC 13th April 2026 

Interviews: TBC

For more information about this role please see attached job description and person specification.

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Miss Sarah Green  via email sgreen@halesvalleytrust.org.uk

All applicants short listed will be required to take part in a formal interview.

School visits are strongly encouraged.

Additional Information:

Hales Valley Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All offers of employment are subject to an Enhanced DBS check, and where applicable, a prohibition from teaching check will be completed for all applicants.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (2013 and 2020).  This means that certain convictions and cautions are considered ‘protected’ and do not need to be disclosed to employers, and if they are disclosed, employers cannot take them into account.  Guidance about whether a conviction or caution should be disclosed can be found on the Ministry of Justice website: 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-guidance-on-the-rehabilitation-of-offenders-act-1974