MPS/UPS plus SEN allowance

Full Time, Permanent

Spring term 2025

29 November 2024

Would you class yourself as a compassionate, collaborative and ambitious practitioner with the determination to make a difference?


Woodlands is seeking an enthusiastic and compassionate SEMH teacher to join our growing provision. We want you to join our “Woodlands family” where Ofsted (March 2024) found “staff and pupils get along well and staff want the very best outcomes for pupils”. They described our school as “calm and friendly” where “personalised support is given to those who need it”


This is an exciting time for us as we progress our quality of education to “good” matching all other judgements of “good” in our recent inspection. We are proud of the distance travelled and we want you to join us for the next phase of our journey.


You will support learners in Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 3 in a primary approach, enabling our learners to close the gaps in their learning and make links across the curriculum to foster a real love of learning and find and develop the interests that will help them to take their next steps in life. Additionally, supporting Woodlands to develop the curriculum offer, especially for learners at Key Stage 3, building on the foundations laid down in the primary curriculum through supported transition and a nurture-based approach.


You will be unflappable, have a sense of humour, and be utterly committed to the children in your care. Woodlands is an amazing place to work, and our children need someone who is not afraid to have high expectations of what they can achieve academically and socially and will never let that standard drop. You will have a strong sense of fairness and know that you are a catalyst to change children’s lives.


Does this sound like you?


MPR/UPR +SEN allowance (up to £5,009 for suitably qualified and experienced)


1.0 FTE
Permanent
To start January 2025, or as soon as possible after that.


To be successful, you will:

• Have expert knowledge of the KS2 curriculum and how this supports progression to Key Stage 3.
• Be able to adapt the curriculum to deliver a primary approach to Key Stage 3 learners.
• The skills to teach across a range of subjects.
• Be an inspirational teacher with passion, drive, and a commitment to consistently deliver outstanding teaching.
• Have the patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations with a supportive, nurturing ethos, never losing sight of the child at the centre of your practice.
• Be flexible and open to change.
• Be able to develop a flexible range of teaching strategies and have relevant experience in SEND provision.
• Understand that students take individual and multiple pathways in their learning and committed to doing the best by the children or young people that they work with.

Why this role above others?
Come and make a difference to the life chances of our young people.
Woodlands is a specialist provision for learners who have social, emotional and mental health needs. We are proud of the high expectations and aspirations we set for every child and young person, providing an inspiring environment where everyone can learn and achieve.
We provide ambitious and exciting opportunities through well-designed and individualised curriculum packages.
You will be part of a highly effective, supportive team who readily share best practice amongst the team.
You will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with individual children, young people and their parents. You will find each day rewarding, making the difference, and providing support and nurture for children and parents alike.
You will join us in celebrating success and encouraging all our young people to develop broader life skills, investing in them as a whole child.


We are incredibly proud of the achievements of all our learners and trust that you will feel the same as we work together to ensure the successful future for them.


We offer:

• Excellent professional learning and support at every stage in your career, with opportunity for continued personal development through our Talent Pathway
• Career development opportunities including funded NPQs
• Excellent resources and facilities
• A core belief in staff wellbeing and work life balance for all, evidenced in policy and practice
• Benefits including funded counselling, physiotherapy and GP and other medical support
• As a school in the Marches Academy Trust teachers have opportunities to engage with staff across the Trust to support and collaborate with peers and colleagues in sharing the expertise across our family of 11 schools.

Lisa will be more than happy to help



(Please note we do not accept CVs).


Closing date for applications : Friday 29th November
Interview Date: Week commencing 2nd December


The Marches Academy Trust values each person equally. We are building a diverse team and embedding a welcoming, inclusive culture that encourages diversity and authenticity. We believe this will encourage creative ways of thinking – ensuring we collaborate more effectively and achieve better outcomes.


We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the children in our care and expect all staff to embrace this. Shortlisted applicants will be asked to declare any criminal convictions and will be subject to online checks. The successful applicant will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.


We positively welcome applicants from all qualified candidates who share our ethos.

Headteacher's Welcome

Welcome to our Woodlands family! I am thrilled that you are considering joining us to work alongside our dedicated staff and wonderful pupils. Let me tell you about Woodlands and our story so far.
Woodlands is a specialist provision catering for children and young people aged nine to sixteen who have Special Educational Needs (SEN), specifically Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs (SEMH). We provide education for up to 84 children and young people with EHC plans on a non-residential basis.
“This is a happy school where staff and pupils get along well and staff want the very best outcomes for pupils.” This is what Ofsted found when they recently inspected us and we are so proud that our report reflects our commitment to our children and young people, and to their families. This is a great place to work where the words “life changing” really apply to what we do. Staff are well supported, and wellbeing is not a buzzword but a meaningful outcome we want for all our staff.
There is a thread that runs through our history of being a school that supports vulnerable pupils who have often experienced trauma in their backgrounds, be that adverse childhood experiences or educational trauma before they found their way to us. In the 1940s this building was a school for Jewish Kindertransport refugees. Anna Essinger, who brought a whole school here from Nazi Germany, created a place where children felt safe and accepted and were able to learn. We want the same for our pupils today.
We believe in this approach, where high expectations are combined with high support and a “we know you can, and we will help you” attitude, will help our children and young people achieve what we know they are capable of. As a result, Ofsted judged our Behaviour and Attitudes as “good” as well as our Personal development, testament to the bespoke support we give to each of our children and young people who consequently feel understood and valued by the adults who support them.
Our curriculum is broad, balanced and ambitious. We provide a strong academic curriculum to GCSE / Level 2 and additionally a bespoke approach through our ‘Oaks’ provision, which includes elements of the academic curriculum and also vocational learning both in school and off-site. The curriculum is centred around the needs of the child or young person set out in their Education, Health and Care Plan and is reviewed frequently.
Our ultimate aim at Woodlands is to prepare our young people for adulthood and enable them to take their next steps knowing they have the skills for independent living and the knowledge and understanding to become healthy adults who can access employment and engage positively with their communities.
More than this even, we want them to feel loved and cared for and replace their feelings of educational failure with the experience of what success feels like, knowing that they are unique and valued and can take that belief out into the world with them when they leave us.
Julia Taylor (Headteacher)