Head of School - Full-time - Special Needs Position

Inspire Academy, Chatham

• Ref:MED887-7000-64L
• Posted:15/01/2026
• Pay:Leadership/Highly competitive TBC at Interview DOE
• Start Date:September 2026
• App Close Date:13/02/2026 at 12:00
• Interviews:23rd and 24th February 2026

Advert

Due to the retirement of the current Headteacher, an exciting opportunity has arisen for a talented, experienced, and creative leader to work as Head of School at Inspire Academy.

Head of School

The CEO and the Executive Head of Secondary and Specials of Rivermead Inclusive Trust and the Local Advisory Board, staff and learners of Inspire Academy are looking for an inspirational, visionary leader who is passionate about enabling young people to become the best that they can be.

The successful applicant will have the skills, enthusiasm, and energy to continue to move the school forward. They will need to understand the diverse needs of the learners in the school and be able to ensure that each learner’s needs are met in a way that enables all to achieve their potential both academically and socially. They will need to work under the guidance of the Executive Headteacher for Secondary and Special.

Inspire Academy is a special school based in Chatham and every pupil that attends has an EHCP (Educational, Health and Care Plan), with SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health) as their primary need.  All pupils are treated as individuals, which means staff work hard to deliver a curriculum that will suit each need, helping them to progress, not only academically, but socially and emotionally on their journey through school.

Inspire Academy continues to be a ‘Good School’, in which ‘Leaders at all levels have thought carefully about exactly what pupils need to learn in order to be ready academically, but also socially and emotionally, for their next steps.’ (Ofsted 2023).

A committed teaching staff with a range of specialisms deliver a rich and challenging curriculum differentiated to meet the needs of each learner. Learners are encouraged to achieve their full potential academically and all achieve success in GCSE and other public examinations in Year 11.

With a strong emphasis on personal growth developing independence is promoted throughout the school both in the curriculum and through the wide variety of enrichment and extra-curricular opportunities on offer.

We welcome and encourage applicants to visit the school. To arrange a visit please contact: Karen Watkin, HR Manager (Tel: 01634 961080 email: kwatkin@r-i-t.org)

If you would like to also arrange an informal discussion with either the CEO or Executive Headteacher you can do so via Karen Watkin.

Information about the school

Inspire Academy is an SEMH Special School for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs, and forms part of The Rivermead Inclusive Trust.

All the students at Inspire Academy have an EHCP (Education Health and Care Plan), with a primary need of SEMH (Social, Emotional and Mental Health). Some exhibit very challenging behaviour and Mainstream schooling is not always the most appropriate setting for them. Sometimes their first encounter of school has been chaotic and certainly challenging, many have had a fragmented education and have fallen behind their peers academically. This often results in self-esteem issues and anti-social behaviour.

With small classes and amazing staff that truly understand SEMH we feel that once a student starts at Inspire they have every opportunity to turn their lives around. Every child has the right to achieve and we believe that every parent and carer has the right to expect that Inspire Academy will do its very best for their child. With this in mind we work closely with parents and carers and other agencies to help each student make positive choices and changes which will serve them better in their future.

A key feature that we try to adopt is teaching the students to take responsibility for their behaviour and consequences. We teach them to try and put things right when they go wrong, together with learning the values of tolerance and respect for themselves and others.

Job Contact Information

• Name:Karen Watkin, HR Manager
• Address:Silverbank, Churchill Avenue, Chatham, Kent, ME5 0LB
• Telephone: 01634 961080
• Email: kwatkin@r-i-t.org

Documents

Below are documents that have been added to this vacancy.

• Full Application Pack
• Equality and Diversity Statement