Deputy Principal

Thank you for your interest in joining Bedford Free School.

BFS is a very successful school. In the last three years the measure has been available, pupils achieved progress 8 scores of 0.9, 0.99 and 1.11, placing us amongst the top 40 to 50 schools in the country. Our last Ofsted report, in January 2025, reaffirmed that we are outstanding in all categories.

But the successful candidate for this role must be very clear, as I am: we can be even better, and must be if we are to achieve our goal of ensuring that every one of our pupils achieves extraordinary things.

This is a unique and potentially career-defining opportunity. As Deputy Principal, you would have the chance to build on BFS’s well-established foundations and have the backing to drive the school forward to even better outcomes (in the broadest sense of the word) for our pupils and families. It is also a chance to shape educational standards in Bedford (the Department for Education having recently announced the building of our brand-new sister school in the town) and more widely, through your contributions to our work as a lead school in the RISE attendance and behaviour hubs programme.

The successful candidate will be smart, determined, and knowledgeable, but above all must have the highest possible expectations for all pupils, believing that they can master a knowledge-rich, academic curriculum and have excellent conduct regardless of their social circumstances or any special educational needs they may have. These high expectations must extend to staff, and yourself, too: our Deputy Principal must model their belief that all pupils can achieve amazing outcomes through their words and actions and have the professional candour to support staff and hold them to account for the quality of their teaching and performance.

We want to appoint an outstanding individual who has the breadth of experience and expertise to shape the strategic direction of the school and get things done, successfully implementing the evidence-informed strategies which will see BFS become the best school in the country in the next few years.

Thank you again for your interest in leading  encourage prospective candidates to come and visit the school to see it for themselves. I look forward to answering any questions you might have, and to receiving your application in due course.

Deputy Principal (Quality of Education)

Principal

• To support the principal in the smooth running of the school.
• To deputise for the principal as and when required.
• To drive improvements to pupils’ academic outcomes at KS3 and KS4 with an explicit focus on ensuring GCSE outcomes are consistently amongst the best in the country.
• Strategic leadership of curriculum, quality of teaching and learning and quality assurance.

• Lead all staff to maximise achievement for all pupils.
• Develop and monitor a world‑class curriculum for all pupils based on their entitlement to access the knowledge taken for granted by members of the community of educated citizens. Do so through leading on the school’s participation in the Advantage Schools curriculum development project.
• Drive pedagogical excellence by researching, trialling, and embedding evidence‑based best practices that enhance curriculum delivery and long‑term retention of core knowledge, and ensure high levels of pupil attentiveness, thought and participation.
• Lead the assistant principal responsible for professional learning to ensure that teaching is consistently of the highest standard, and that staff of all levels of experience engage in effective professional development.
• Lead on quality assurance of the curriculum, teaching and impact.
• Lead on analysis and reporting of pupil progress data, ensuring that this informs effective interventions and strategic improvement planning at subject and whole school levels.
• Oversee the production of the school timetable, working with the principal to ensure it guarantees pupils’ curriculum entitlement whilst also maximising efficiency and cost effectiveness.
• Lead on reporting to parents.
• Lead the KS4 options process.

• C…