Assistant Principal & Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENDCo)
Full-time - 32.5 hours 52 weeks, Monday to Friday
Thomas Knyvett College is part of The Howard Partnership Trust which advocates staff well-being and has a range of benefits for staff who work with us. We understand the current context of teaching and are keen to improve while supporting staff in their own career development and passions. As you will be joining a Trust that spans all phases, mainstream and special provision, we are able to draw on a vast range of expertise and also give variety and opportunity to our staff. Thomas Knyvett College has excellent transport links being on bus routes, near the Staines by-pass and A30 and is only a six minute walk from Ashford Station.
Lead inclusion where it matters most
This is a role where an exceptional candidate can make a transformative difference to our school community. Ours is a community with multiple vulnerabilities, where strong leadership and inclusive practice are vital, and our SENDCo will be a critical leader at the heart of our community.
We are seeking an experienced, reflective, resilient and values‑driven SENDCo to lead inclusive practice and SEND across the school at a pivotal stage in its journey. We serve a community with multiple vulnerabilities and are unapologetically ambitious for all of our pupils, including and especially those with SEND. This role will suit a SENDCo who is motivated by moral purpose, energised by the potential for high impact, and committed to ensuring that inclusive practice meaningfully improves outcomes for children, families and staff.
You will be trusted as the school’s expert on SEND and inclusion, with the autonomy and authority to shape systems, challenge practice and influence strategic decision‑making at every level. SEND is a strategic priority within the school, and this role has protected leadership status as part of the Senior Leadership Team. We are committed to ensuring the SENDCo has the capacity to lead effectively rather than simply respond.
While our context presents significant challenge, we are at a point where strong, principled SEND leadership can bring coherence, consistency and lasting improvement to systems and outcomes. You will join a staff community that believes deeply in inclusive education and works collaboratively to ensure that vulnerability does not define destiny.
This role benefits from being part of a supportive, collaborative Trust‑wide network of SENDCos, providing opportunities for professional dialogue, shared problem‑solving and development. The successful candidate will work closely with the Trust Lead for SEND and Inclusion, contributing to and benefitting from strategic support, guidance and shared best practice across the Trust. This role offers a meaningful professional development pathway for an ambitious inclusion leader, with opportunities to contribute to Trust‑wide strategy and develop leadership beyond the school
About the role
As SENDCo you will be part of our Senior Leadership Team, holding strategic and operational responsibility for SEND across the school. You will lead inclusive practice, shape provision, and ensure that systems are robust, compliant and responsive to individual needs.
You will work closely with families and a wide range of external agencies, acting as a calm, authoritative advocate for pupils and ensuring constructive, transparent partnership at all times.
You will be a key member of the school’s safeguarding team, working closely with the Designated Safeguarding Lead and wider pastoral leaders to ensure that pupils with SEND are effectively safeguarded and that vulnerability is identified, understood and responded to appropriately.
This is a demanding yet highly rewarding role for an inclusion leader who can balance statutory responsibilities and high‑quality documentation with relational work, advocacy and professional judgement. You will be confident working in complexity, able to prioritise effectively, and committed to making principled decisions in the best interests of pupils.
You will line manage a team of teaching assistants and SEND support staff, ensuring provision is purposeful, impactful and focused on developing pupil independence.
Key responsibilities
- Strategic leadership of inclusive practice and SEND provision in line with the SEND Code of Practice
- Oversight and quality assurance of EHCP processes and Annual Review documentation
- Coordination of non‑mainstream and alternative provision for identified pupils
- Active participation in the school safeguarding team, contributing SEND‑specific expertise to thresholds, planning and decision‑making
- Close collaboration with senior leaders, teaching staff, the SEND team and the Trust Lead for SEND and Inclusion
- Maintenance and development of the SEND register and associated systems
- Line management and professional development of teaching assistants and SEND support staff
Who we are looking for
- The successful candidate will:
- Be passionate about inclusive education and improving life chances for children and young people experiencing vulnerability
- Be confident leading SEND and inclusion in a community with complex and intersecting needs
- Be motivated to take on challenge and shape systems that deliver meaningful, sustained impact
- Understand the intersection of SEND, safeguarding and pastoral care, and contribute confidently as a safeguarding leader
- Influence whole‑school culture and classroom practice, as well as targeted and specialist provision
- Balance robust systems and statutory compliance with relational, child‑centred practice
- Be resilient, reflective and solution‑focused in a high‑challenge context
- Believe SEND leadership is about advocacy, impact and change — not compliance alone
Qualifications and professional requirements
- Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) and educated to degree level
- Holds the statutory National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination (NASENCo)
- Significant professional experience and expertise in SEND and inclusion, operating confidently at senior leadership level
- Strong IT, communication and organisational skills
- Proven ability to lead and develop adults and work collaboratively across school and Trust
- Physical ability to meet the demands of the role where required
Our commitment to you
We recognise that SEND leadership in a community with multiple vulnerabilities is complex and demanding. You will be supported within the school and through a strong Trust culture of inclusion, regular collaboration with the Trust Lead for SEND and Inclusion, and access to a network of SEND leaders across the Trust.
If you are seeking a SENDCo role where your leadership will be trusted, your expertise respected, and your work will have clear, life‑changing impact, we strongly encourage you to apply.
If you are an experienced SENDCo or inclusion leader who believes that SEND leadership should change lives, shape culture and influence systems, and are looking for a role where your work will have clear, life‑changing impact, we strongly encourage you to apply.
The successful candidate will be subject to a satisfactory enhanced disclosure from the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).
The Howard Partnership Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Due to the nature of this role, it will be necessary for the appropriate level of criminal record disclosure to be undertaken. In making your application, it is essential you disclose whether you have any pending charges, convictions, bind-overs or cautions and, if so, for which offences. This post will be exempt from the provisions of Section 4 (2) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. Therefore, applicants are not entitled to withhold information about convictions which for other purposes are ‘spent’ under the provision of the Act, and, in the event of the employment being taken up; any failure to disclose such convictions will result in dismissal or disciplinary action. The fact that a pending charge, conviction, bind-over or caution has been recorded against you will not necessarily debar you from consideration for this appointment.
As well as verification of identity, we ask all successful candidates to undertake an enhanced DBS disclosure. In line with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) guidance, we may also conduct an online search about any shortlisted candidates as part of our due diligence to identify any matters that might relate directly to our legal duty to meet safeguarding duties, in accordance with Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE).