Welcome

Dear Candidate,

Thank you for your interest in the opportunity to become Principal of Outwood Academy Ripon, a wonderful, popular community school with 730 students aged 11 to 16 that serves the vibrant historic cathedral city of Ripon in beautiful North Yorkshire.

Outwood Academy Ripon ensures its community has an excellent non-selective secondary school for its young people to attend. Judged to be Outstanding in 2016 its Section 8 inspection in May 2022 judged that it remains Outstanding but a future Section 5 inspection will follow. We are not an academy that stands still, and we recognise that we must continually scrutinise our practice and challenge ourselves to provide the very best education for our students. We are seeking a Principal with the vision, personality, and strategic thinking to lead our highly regarded community school. You may be seeking your first headship or be an experienced Principal/Headteacher looking for a new challenge, but regardless you must have the determination, ambition and value in the power of great education to lead the academy to be exceptional.

You will be working with an experienced Senior Leadership Team of a Vice Principal, Associate Vice Principal and 2 Pastoral Key Stage Leads to lead a committed team of teaching and support staff who are fully committed to our vision to raise standards and transform the life chances of all the students. The Principal leads the relentless focus on the quality of education and wider curriculum provision for their students. Your leadership will engender a strong sense of belonging and inclusion in your school. It will promote the power of education inspiring staff and students to aim high and be the best they can be.

We are proud to have been a part of Outwood Grange Academies Trust since 2011. Our Trust vision is putting Students First, raising standards and transforming lives. Our Trust is one of the largest MAT’s in the country. Outwood Academy Ripon and you as its principal can draw on a range of expertise from across the Trust. When you work for Outwood you are the Trust; your expertise adds to ours and you join our family of schools. Our Trust works across geographical sub-regions. I lead the secondary schools across our Northern and Central regions. Outwood Academy Ripon is part of the Central region, comprising 6 schools based in North Yorkshire and Wakefield. Principals from the 14 academies across the two regions work closely together, sharing best practice and supporting one another to ensure continuous improvement for the regions’ students. As Principal, you are empowered to lead Outwood Academy Ripon fostering its own unique identity. Working within our Trust your professional development is prioritised through the executive support we provide, your access to a wealth of high quality nationally recognised leadership training and through the support of your peer network.

If this fantastic opportunity interests you, you are encouraged to please contact our recruitment partner Martin Blair at Hays Leadership on 07736791138 or at martin.blair@hays.com to arrange a visit, have a conversation to discuss the role in more detail or to make an application.

Warm regards

Lynn James

Regional Executive Principal