Job title: Pre-Prep School Principal
Job Type: Permanent, Full-Time
Salary: The school will offer a competitive salary and generous benefits to reflect the candidate's qualifications and experience. The Principal's salary is normally subject to annual review.
Department: Pre-Prep
Reporting to: Principal of the Junior School
Location: Highgate, North London
Start: September 2025 or January 2026
Closing Date: 19 March 2025 at 12:00 pm

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We are delighted that you are interested in coming to work at Highgate and in leading the Pre-Prep: thank you so much for getting to know us and finding out about this opportunity.

Highgate Pre-Prep is a happy, vibrant school welcoming our youngest learners to the Highgate community. Fully part of the Highgate family of schools - Pre-Prep, Junior and Senior - for over 30 years, the Pre-Prep has grown in popularity, as Highgate's reputation as a successful co- educational school took shape and took root in North London.

Our Year 2 pupils move on to the Junior School having enjoyed a lively, innovative education free of entrance tests and prescription, and subsequently to the Senior School. We believe that the Pre-Prep building and playgrounds, recently extended and improved, are the physical expression of our belief that children in academically selective schools need not grow up quickly or miss out on play. The deliberate playfulness of the architecture and the openness of our sports fields underline our commitment to a happy, fulfilling childhood where excitement and curiosity are the motors of our pupils' learning. Learning at the right pace for each child is a key driver for our curricular values and decision-making.

The new Principal will enjoy collaborating with colleagues in the Junior and Senior Schools to maintain and foster a vision for children growing up, for their learning, for their development as people and for their welfare. To this end the Principal is a full member of the Senior School's leadership team as well as the Strategy and Management Committee which brings together senior leaders from across the three schools and the support staff. The Principal attends Governing Body meetings and certain sub- committees, reporting on the progress of the Pre-Prep and its development plan, of course, but contributing to strategy discussions and advising Governors. Furthermore, the Principal also plays a significant role in the joint Junior School and Pre-Prep Leadership Team, ensuring that an academically rigorous, creative and stimulating curriculum and pastoral system is in place from Reception to Year 6. Busy as the Principal is in leading the Pre-Prep, s/he [they] will be a very significant player in the wider life of the whole school.

We very much look forward to meeting short-listed candidates and to exploring the future of the Pre-Prep with you. We are excited about the future and the opportunities which this appointment will create. Good luck with your application and many thanks for your interest.

The Department

Highgate Pre-Prep is for pupils aged 4-7 and we have around 180 pupils within our three-form Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 classes. The great majority of pupils transfer at age 7 to Highgate Junior School.

We are a school that takes a creative and reflective approach to education, with a focus on how children learn, not just what they learn. Throughout their time at the Pre-Preparatory School the children develop resilience, curiosity and a sense of responsibility, not only as a learner, but also as a member of the Highgate community and wider society.

Pupils are bright, well-motivated and responsive and the school itself is extremely well-resourced in both human and material terms. With these advantages, the Pre-Prep can afford to be both aspirational and ambitious in the quality of education it offers. It attracts top-class teachers who enjoy the freedom from preparing pupils for entrance tests. It offers a very happy and engaging environment in which to teach and learn.

"The care, kindness, and passion the teachers have at Highgate Pre-Prep means that it is more than just a school; it's a second home for our children."
- Pre-Prep Parent

The Role

The Head, Governors and staff are aspirational for the Pre-Prep and see this as an exciting opportunity. In appointing an outstanding EYFS to KS2 practitioner to lead Highgate's Pre-Prep, we see the opportunity to strengthen and deepen our Pre-Prep and Junior Schools' alignment.

The successful candidate, reporting to Philippa Studd, the Principal of the Junior School, will be a member of a joint Pre-Prep and Junior School leadership team, deputising for the Principal of the Junior School in her absence, and sharing the responsibility for shaping and developing the educational vision for all pupils across Key Stages 1 and 2.

Candidates will lead on the day-to-day running of the Pre-Prep, holding key responsibilities for the pupils and their parents, staff and the general administration of the School. They will take an active role in admissions and the building of relationships that this entails. Candidates will work with a dedicated senior team to ensure that the quality of teaching and learning is of the highest standard, as well as to drive key topics such as diversity, inclusion, sustainability and future partnerships.

Responsibilities

This role offers a fantastic and rewarding career move to lead our award-winning Pre-Preparatory School.

You will lead a dedicated and skilled team of teaching and support staff, as well as directing the wellbeing and education of over 180 pupils aged 4-7. As a member of the wider Junior and Pre-Prep leadership Team, you will collaborate on strategic oversight of the Reception - Year 6 curriculum.

Reporting to the Principal of the Junior School, you will play a pivotal role in making strategic leadership decisions alongside the four deputy Heads in the Senior School, the Junior School Principal and the overall Head of the School, and work collaboratively with the Bursar and senior support staff, in addition to senior academic colleagues to benefit the wider School community.

Educational and wellbeing strategy

Leading the Pre-Prep will give you direct responsibility for creating a culture of effective and responsive safeguarding. This will include the implementation of safeguarding policies, staff training and monitoring and supporting the Designated Safeguarding Lead's work in the Pre-Prep.

The Pre-Prep Principal works with the Junior School Principal to set the educational vision for this part of the school in line with our ethos and values, and educational aims and priorities of the whole school.

You will be responsible for ensuring that the curriculum and quality of learning are of the highest standard and that each pupil makes rapid and sustained progress. You will model a love of learning and will often be seen leading learning and playing with the pupils and facilitating conversations with staff that challenge and support them to learn and grow.

Smooth and happy pupil and parent journeys

As Principal, you will understand the role that parents and carers play in the educational journey of a child and will also liaise closely with local nurseries and the Junior School to ensure that pupils experience a smooth transition into the Pre-Prep and Junior School. In turn you will select and, in consultation with the Principal of the Junior School and others on the Admissions team, offer places to pupils for admission to the school.

You will enjoy maintaining a visible presence around the school for parents, pupils and staff, especially at the beginning and end of each day. You will also market the Pre-Prep, liaising with the Principal of the Junior School, the Head and the Communications Team and meeting with prospective parents at major Open Days and smaller group or individual visits. You will foster appropriate and constructive relationships with parents and carers, ensuring that they feel confident about bringing any concern to the school's attention.

Leading the energy and culture of a thriving staff and pupil body

The Pre-Prep has an atmosphere of innovation and playfulness, alongside an aspirational academic curriculum and you will ensure that staff are encouraged and supported to develop themselves professionally to continue driving the Pre-Prep forward. You will inspired and lead a team of 30 colleagues, appointing new members of staff when required. You will ensure your team undertake regular training for both their personal career progression and are familiar with educational issues and initiatives.

With the Bursar and the Principal of the Junior School, you will prepare an annual budget for the Pre-Prep, and will report regularly on the progress of the school, both verbally and on paper.

As the Pre-Prep Principal, you will be responsible for maintaining both staff and pupil conduct, having the authority to manage staff performance, as well as set the standards for pupil behaviour. It will also be your responsibility to ensure that the Pre-Prep meets independent school regulatory requirements and that it is ready for external inspection at any time.

Person Specification

As Pre-Prep Principal, you will have the ability to make reasonable, reasoned and balanced decisions and to create consensus where possible and to know when to hold ground.

You will be able to work harmoniously and constructively with all Highgate colleagues, support staff, the Principal of the Junior School, the Head, the Bursar and governors, pupils and parents, to foster a strong sense of community.

You will have a good, visible and reassuring presence, creating mutual respect and showing emotional intelligence that inspires confidence and encourages staff and pupils.

You will have the ability to nurture and promote a warm and positive atmosphere for pupils, staff and parents and show even- handedness and sensitivity, as well as an understanding of and empathy with others' feelings and motives, and to be able to see things from other people's perspectives.

As leader of our Pre-Prep, you will know how to manage conflict and to defuse situations by careful listening, sensitive use of praise, humour and recognition, as well as a demonstrable and sensitive understanding of what current and prospective parents want from the school and an ability to respond to them.

You will have the ability and judgment required to solve problems decisively and to explain issues and decisions clearly and evenly.

You will encourage and foster colleagues in whatever role, in the delivery and pursuit of excellence; and give advice supportively and effectively.

You will have the ability to market and promote the school effectively, to present information
and decisions clearly to prospective and current parents, staff and governors, as well as to the wider community, and to foster relationships with a wide range of other schools.

Benefits

Support | Teachers at Highgate enjoy a welcoming, comfortable and exceptionally well-resourced environment and are provided with significant assistance from a range of support staff.

Pension | The School pays the employer's contribution to the Teachers' Pension Scheme.

Professional development | Comprehensive induction. Focus on continued learning and development for all employees.

Holidays | Terms are shorter than in the maintained sector.

Location | Highgate Village, adjacent to Hampstead Heath, with quaint shops and easy connections across London.

Facilities | Free access, at stipulated times, to our sports facilities, including a fitness suite and new swimming pool. Staff can borrow from 1,700 books held in the Sir Martin Gilbert Library.

Lunch | Free tea and coffee A complimentary lunch including hot meals, sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit and dessert.

Working at Highgate

A culture of community, kindness and belonging

Highgate is a caring, open-minded community, where we promote kindness, empathy and friendship. Everyone who works and studies with us deserves to feel they are part of a welcoming environment that enables them to be themselves and to thrive as individuals.

Our community extends beyond the school, through partnerships, charity work and our commitment to equality, inclusion and sustainability. All members of our school community are encouraged to look outwards and play an active role.

Following a visit from the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) in September 2024 to assess Highgate's regulatory compliance and school standards, we are pleased to share the inspection findings, which reports compliance in all five areas and a 'significant strength' in our teaching expertise.

Staff wellbeing

Highgate is committed to staff wellbeing, which we promote by encouraging a strong work-life balance; trying our best to support flexible working requests; providing a nutritious complimentary lunch in the dining hall; and offering access to sporting facilities including our recently renovated swimming pool.

The Staff Wellbeing Committee, with representatives across the School, meets regularly to drive forward initiatives, and a selection of staff have been trained as Mental-Health First Aiders.

We encourage an open culture throughout our school, with regular staff surveys, action committees and opportunities to feedback. We strive for continual learning and improvement, and staff training and development is paramount. There are opportunities to participate in the wider life of our school, such as taking part in trips or societies and getting involved in partnership projects.

More details about working at Highgate can be found here:

Work with us Aims + Ethos

"A child has to feel comfortable in order to learn and in order to perform to the best of their abilities, so we really try to make the children feel at home here."
- Hayley Lock, Deputy Principal (Pastoral)

Charitable work and sustainability

As an independent school, we want to use our position as a charity effectively: to make high-quality education accessible to as many children as possible - through our bursary programme at Highgate and through our work with local state schools. We have partnerships with over 60 state schools across 7 London boroughs, and we are the principal educational sponsor for London Academy of Excellence, Tottenham - an academically-selective state sixth form in a community where such opportunities are lacking.

Alongside this, our staff and pupils undertake charitable activities throughout the year. These range from staff giving up their time to neighbourhood schools and charitable organisations, focused fundraising campaigns, to pupils undertaking community work in the local area or further afield.

As a school, we have a central role to play in educating our pupils, staff and parents about the importance of environmental sustainability. We are taking positive action to adapt our operational performance to tackle the negative effects of climate change. We encourage all our staff to reflect upon their personal and professional practices, to support our environmental agenda and to make positive changes wherever possible.

Application procedure

Closing Date: 19th March 2025
Longlist Process: w/c 24th March 2025
Shortlist Interview: w/c 31st March 2025

Contact: The Junior School Principal is happy to answer any questions about this post.

PP Principal Pack
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Inclusion

We know that more diverse teams are stronger teams, and that the more inclusive we are, the more our staff and pupils will feel a sense of belonging and will thrive. To enable us to make reasonable adjustments, please let us know of any disabilities (including neuro-divergence) when you submit your application.
Safeguarding

As this role will have regular unsupervised contact with children you must, if appointed, comply with Highgate's Safeguarding Policy and Staff Code of Conduct. If in the course of carrying out the duties of the post the post holder becomes aware of any actual or potential risks to the safety and welfare of our pupils, these concerns must be reported immediately in accordance with the Safeguarding Policy. If whilst in the post, Highgate becomes aware of any safeguarding concerns to staff, pupils or the community; these will need to be followed up in line with the safeguarding policy and code of conduct which is underpinned by KCSE and other legislation. These concerns may need to be shared with other agencies. A copy of these policies will accompany all offers of employment. Training will also be provided to all staff to support Safeguarding practice.

Please read before you apply

Highgate is committed to the safeguarding and welfare of children and applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to this post, including checks with past employers, the Disclosure and Barring Service and overseas police check if necessary. Candidates from overseas must provide information about their past conduct, for example, by providing documents issued by overseas teaching authorities. DBS Privacy Policies

Please note that this role is 'exempt' from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore, you are required to declare any convictions, cautions, reprimands and final warnings that are not 'protected' (i.e. filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2013). Shortlisted candidates will be asked to provide details of all unspent convictions and those that would not be filtered, prior to the date of the interview. DBS Code of Practice

In accordance with the latest guidance from KCSIE, we shall be conducting online searches on any candidates who are shortlisted.

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