Dear Applicant,

Thank you for your interest in applying to Danes Educational Trust for the position of Headteacher at The John Warner School. This is an exciting time to be joining both this school and our Trust of 12 schools, comprising six primaries, five secondaries and a University Technical College. We are determined that provision makes the difference to the outcomes of children in all of our schools. Our vision, values and plans are set out in our Trust’s  Strategic Plan.

Our Headteachers are part of a collaborative team of leaders across the Trust who work together to develop optimistic, resilient learners and valued and empowered staff supported by our directors of education and inclusion and a central team of business professionals including Finance, Human Resources, IT, Marketing and Estates and Governance.

This is a fantastic opportunity for the successful candidate to take the lead on the strategic development and direction of the school, providing a vision, culture and effective leadership that will ensure high quality education for all its students. Following a poor Ofsted inspection, the DfE approached Danes Educational Trust to support The John Warner School and we have been doing so since September 2023 with the school officially being brokered into the Trust in January 2024. In addition, two major primary feeder schools, The Cranbourne Primary School and Roselands Primary School also joined which creates a wonderful opportunity for collaboration with a focus on seamless transition from KS2 to KS3. Since joining Danes Educational Trust, the school has made significant improvements and this was seen in the most recent monitoring inspection (December 2023) where it was noted that 

“Danes Educational Trust, working with the interim action board, has increased leadership capacity. The trust has worked at speed to ensure that the school changes rapidly. The school is a different place to that seen in March 2023. The extensive support for the school at all levels of leadership means the school is more stable.”  

We are now looking to recruit the substantive Headteacher that is committed to work alongside the trust in leading a school that is focused on delivering excellence for all stakeholders. 

The John Warner School is an all-ability, co-educational state secondary school serving Hoddesdon. The present school site dates from 1953, with the school benefitting from substantial recent investment, including a state of the art sports centre and £18 million worth of additional facilities. You can visit our school website: www.johnwarner.herts.sch.uk  for further information about the school. 

The school vision is to ignite a lifelong passion for learning, to discover and develop potential, allowing all to flourish in an ever changing world. This is because our values are aspiration, endeavour, creativity, participation and respect. 

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate that they share our values, are highly motivated and that they are flexible in their approach. If this is you then we would be delighted to receive your application.

The Trust is committed to the well-being and continuing professional development of all members of staff. This role would provide an excellent opportunity for an outstanding and ambitious person. Our Trust has a track record of excellent student attainment and achievement and offers exceptional professional development opportunities.

I look forward to receiving your application.

Yours sincerely