Early Years Principal

Job Purpose:

The core purpose of this role is to provide professional, highly effective leadership and management that will achieve outstanding results in all aspects of school life. The principal promotes an inspiring vision and clear direction that is shared by all members of the school community.

Key Relationships (Internal and External):

Charter Schools Team, Taaleem Central Office Team, Senior Leadership Team, School Staff, Parents and Students, ADEK, External Agencies and Service Providers, and Local Regulators.

Key Accountabilities:

• Inspirational and Strategic Leadership
• Promote ADEK and Taaleem’s mission and vision for Charter Schools.
• Promote an inspiring vision dedicated to high standards that is shared by all members of the school community.
• Initiate, prioritise and lead improvement activities through effective strategic leadership and planning which supports the Charter Schools’ vision, mission and values.
• Display a high level of professional competence in all areas of responsibility.
• Communicate a clear view of the school’s aims so that all staff know what is required of them and are competent and committed to achieving the school’s goals.
• Distribute leadership effectively to achieve high standards of learning and personal development by creating an ethos of collective responsibility and mutual support.
• Inspire and empower senior and middle leaders by clearly defining all roles and aligning these roles with school priorities.
• Be receptive and respond to external evaluation of the school and manage the process and implement any subsequent recommendations professionally and efficiently.
• Work effectively with all stakeholders to ensure informed and responsive decision making,
  which helps to direct change and effective management of school resources.
• Clearly and comfortably delegate work, trusting and empowering others to perform.
• Provide regular feedback and motivation to others to successfully achieve their targets.
• Encourage others to contribute, creating a spirit of teamwork and opportunities of cooperation and collaboration between departments.
• Contribute time and expertise to the professional development of teachers and leaders.
• Participate and lead professional development workshops in the UAE, including events run by ADEK

Self - Evaluation and Improvement Planning

• Ensure that the school’s academic program is fit for purpose and challenges students of all abilities.
• Improve the school’s rating on local inspections.
• Involve all staff in systematic, rigorous self-evaluation with the explicit purpose of improving the quality of students’ experiences and their standards of attainment.
• Take positive steps to gather the views of parents, students and others about the quality of service provided by the school.
• Work collaboratively with external bodies to achieve excellent results on school accreditations, inspections and evaluations.
• Ensure that senior leaders monitor teachers’ plans, evaluate students’ classroom experiences, track students’ attainment and evaluate progress towards meeting agreed targets.
• Ensure that senior leaders effectively monitor the effectiveness of staff teams.
• Ensure that self-evaluation provides valid, comprehensive and reliable analysis for identifying key priorities for the preparation of the improvement plan and involves staff, parents and students as appropriate.
• Ensure that senior leaders collect and analyze and report appropriate and accurate information from within the school as well as data for external sources, including international assessments and stakeholder surveys.
• Ensure that senior leaders set aspirational, yet realistic goals aimed at improving students’
  performance.
• Ensure that all improvement activities are focused on creating impact and raising quality.
• Monitor and manage change quickly, flexibly and successfully.
• Prioritise and act upon a manageable number of key initiatives and involve stakeholders in the process.
• Ensure that all recommendations from previous inspections and evaluations are included and addressed in the schools’ improvement plans
• Execute school strategic plan effectively.

Effective and Efficient Management of Resources

• Work closely with the SLT and administrative support staff to ensure that all policies, procedures and routines across the school are effective and efficient.
• Comply with all ADEK, Charter Schools and Taaleem policies and guidelines and submit high quality reports in a timely manner.
• Ensure that all staff are well qualified and experienced, trained to do their roles and are deployed effectively to support the school.
• Identify career path and succession plans for all members of school staff and prepare the annual recruitment plan in the first half of the academic year.
• Recruit high quality new/replacement staff, and ensure all new staff given a thorough and full induction.
• Ensure accountability of the school’s actions and outcomes with regards to all matters of compliance and health and safety requirements.
• Comply with all regulations and guidelines issued by the regulators.
• In line with ADEK requirement, monitor and evaluate the school’s performance on students’ attainment and progress, students’ personal and social development, teaching and assessment, curriculum that meets the needs of students, health and safety, and student support services.
• Ensure that all schools policies, procedures and routines are effective, efficient and reviewed annually with appropriate staff members.
• Work collaboratively with the Senior Leadership Team to ensure accurate identification of professional development needs and access to quality professional development activities for all members of staff.
• Ensure that teaching and learning is monitored closely and consistently to identify the quality of teaching practice across the school and identify areas of development.
• Ensure that all staff members are appraised annually providing recognition for areas of strength and recommendations for areas of development and growth.
• Work collaboratively with SLT to develop CAPEX and Consumable budgets, and monitor performance against these budget lines.

Parent, Student and Community Relationships

• Build and maintain relationships with parents and students and the community by establishing regular and appropriate communications with all members of the school community, both internally and externally.
• Be highly visible and readily available to the school community as required.
• Encourage opportunities for students to take active leadership roles and assume responsibilities for different activities within the school.
• Engage parents as active partners in their children’s learning in a variety of ways.
• Encourage positive and regular participation of students and parents at school events.
• Consult the student and parent community about the work of the school on a regular basis and ensure that parents views are received respectfully and help guide the school’s development.
• Ensure that the school uses a wide range of effective methods, including technology, 
• Ensure that parents receive regular reports of their children’s progress and attainment that include next steps for learning.
• Develop strong community partnerships that effectively support all students’ development and improve students’ learning experiences.
• Focus on identifying and meeting community (staff, parents, students) needs by taking their interests and complaints seriously and by delivering prompt and personalized responses.
• Consider the implications of decisions on all stakeholders and act accordingly to safeguard and promote the reputation of the school.
• Ensure a proactive approach in delivering operational excellence focused on extraordinary service across all aspects of school life.
• Support and collaborate effectively with other Charter Schools to achieve the shared mission and vision.
• Attend external events and festivals, including those out of school hours, and contribute to PR activities, media opportunities to represent and act as an ambassador for the school and other Charter Schools.
• Achieve positive parental engagement and satisfaction

OSH roles and responsibilities

• Lead the development of an appropriate OSH management system through the integration of OSH into the entity's management structure, processes and culture.
• Monitor and review OSH performance.
• Allocate adequate resources for OSH management (e.g. budget, human resources, equipment).
• Allocate responsibility for OSH management and delegation of authority.
• Ensure that the entity has effective emergency procedures.
• Define OSH objectives, targets and programs.

Person Specification:

Education: Master’s degree and/or recognized Leadership qualification such as NPQH in addition to a teaching certificate.

Experience: 5 years school senior leadership. Previous experience of working in the UAE is desirable.

 Competencies:

• Knowledge of international accreditation, inspection, and evaluation frameworks.
• Excellent communication skills in spoken and written form.
  Financial acumen.
• Management of human and physical resources.
• Proven track record of successful educational leadership.
• Strategic planning, knowledge of child protection and health and safety.
• Experience in developing and leading high performing teams.
• Highly effective relationship management with a variety of stakeholders.

Attributes:

• Model of integrity, resilient, collaborative team player, inspirational speaker, empathetic listener, and strategic thinker.
• Able to convert vision into action.
• Internationally minded, emotionally intelligent, interculturally aware, creative and persuasive.
• Flexible and capable of managing growth and instilling high standards.
• Adept in multilingual settings, spirited, pioneering, professional, and nurturing.

Master’s degree and/or recognized Leadership qualification such as NPQH plus teaching certificate