Head of school

Head of school

The ISP Principal / Head of School leads with vision and integrity, fostering a safe, inclusive and supportive school culture where learning thrives. By working collaboratively with their team, parents, and the wider ISP network, the Head of School positions the school as a “School of Choice” that delivers exceptional learning experiences and outcomes, translating into increased enrolment growth and higher student retention.

Their responsibilities span safeguarding, driving teaching quality through evidence‑based improvement, strategic planning, community engagement and commercial performance. Parents, carers and students recognise and endorse the school for amazing learning and teachers’ professional learning and development thrive under their stewardship of the school. The ISP Principal / Head of School reports to the Regional Managing Director (RMD).

• Begin with our children and students – their success is our success.
• Wellbeing and safety are essential for learners and learning, and we consistently identify potential safeguarding and Health & Safety issues and act on them.
• Treat everyone with care and respect, embracing similarities and differences and promoting well‑being of self and others.
• Operate effectively – focus relentlessly on the things that are most important and will make the most difference, applying school policies and procedures and embodying shared community ideas.
• Are financially responsible – make careful financial choices based on the needs of children, students and the school.
• Learn continuously – get better and positively engage with personal and professional development and school improvement.

All sections weighted equally at 25% from a performance perspective.

• Be responsible for the safety and wellbeing of all students and adults in the school, including all activities, functions and policies to ensure safety both physically and mentally, enabling learning without barriers.
• Lead the school with vision, empathy and integrity.
• Build strong, empowered leadership teams through recruitment, development and succession planning.
• Leverage ISP’s leadership programmes and Learning Hub platform to grow talent at all levels.
• Lead and be accountable for the impact of the school’s annual performance and development cycle, ensuring that all leaders are directly supported through rigorous goal‑setting, progress reviews and professional growth planning.
• Oversee the broader teacher development process to ensure every teacher receives meaningful feedback and tailored development.
• Champion employee engagement by modelling and fostering an open, inclusive and collaborative culture.

• Prioritise students and their safety and learning first, always.
• Be accountable for the quality of learning, progress and achievement by relentlessly improving student outcomes and ISP Learning KPIs, using data to inform strategy and interventions.
• Lead, promote and drive ISP’s Learning First Framework through embedding the Learning Improvement Process (LIP), prioritising the 5 Key Learning Pillars, leveraging EdTech tools, the ISP AI toolkit and Professional Learning.
• Drive improvement through evidence‑based data, evaluation and teacher development systems.
• Lead the curriculum strategy to ensure relevance, challenge and alignment with student needs, parent priorities and Future Pathways.
• Work in partnership with the Regional Learning Director to drive improvement of learning and teaching across the school.

• Focus fully on delivering ISP’s School of Choice strategy, adapting it to the local context.
• Promote and model the ISP Purpose and Principles, ensuring these are visible through daily actions of the leadership team and colleagues.
• Promote and advocate for ISP Learning – the 5 Key Learning Pillars and ISP’s Strategic Initiatives – to drive strategic school development and create value and trust in the community.
• Possess a clear understanding of the school’s market and catchment, target audiences and how…