SENCO - The Downley School

This is an exciting opportunity for an inspirational, highly motivated, ambitious and dynamic Senco to join our team. We are very excited about the future and ready to embrace new challenges as we embark on the next stage of our school improvement journey.

We hope the attached pack supports you in finding out more about our school. The pack includes background information about the school and our Trust, ODBST. It also includes information about the application process and the job description.

Term time only: No

Salary Type: MPS/UPS

Salary details: £35,674.00 - £49,084.00 Annually (Actual)

Contract type: Permanent

Hours: Full-time 0.6 SENCO/0.4 Teaching (part-time applications will be considered)

Interviews to be held: 05/05/2025

About us

The Downley School is a large primary school offering the very best learning opportunities for our children in a Chilterns village setting of Outstanding Natural Beauty. A warm and friendly atmosphere pervades throughout the whole school as everyone feels extremely fortunate to be a part of this exciting, progressive, and caring community.

We are looking for a confident class teacher with excellent communication skills and a strong motivation to continue to inspire our children and engage positively with members of our school community.

The benefits of joining The Downley School

The Downley School (TDS) is a great school to work at (Staff survey 2024) and over 90% of parents would recommend the school (Parent survey 2024).

We are a much-changed school with new leadership, vision and direction. We are on a school development journey and would love for you to come and be an instrumental part of our improvement story and the next chapter for TDS.

Our curriculum offer is enhanced and enriched with the following facilities and resources:

• A bespoke Art and DT room that promotes our creative skills
• Food technology kitchen to refine our culinary skills
• An Imagination Studio that creates an immersive experience
• A drama teacher and costume cupboard to produce any given performance
• A Scandinavian yurt with log burner
• Private woods and nature areas including a pond
• Extensive fields for outdoor learning
• Well-resourced library
• Air conditioning throughout the school
• Coming soon...An additional all-weather playground, purpose indoor sport hall, and purpose dining area!

We support staff to perform at their best and progress in their careers by providing:

• Leadership opportunities - we believe in all staff contributing to school improvement
• Excellent professional development - Experienced and talented staff both from within the school and the trust support in developing staff
• IT equipment provided
• Supportive staff that are working together and are proud of the changes they are making to this unique school
• Customisable planning completed for all curriculum
• A fun, friendly and sociable team

The benefits of joining the Oxford Dioceses Bucks Schools

The ODBST family consists of 13 primary schools across Buckinghamshire, and we are delighted you are considering joining our school for the next step in your career. Being part of a Trust makes you part of the family and this comes with many opportunities from CPD training and networking to in-house support and career development.

We are committed to our staff and offer benefits which include:

• Employee Assistance Programme with Schools Advisory Service - Through this programme, staff can access a wide range of support including a GP service, menopause support, counselling and mindfulness, chronic illness support, physiotherapy, fitness services and so much more!
• Free eye test for computer users
• Cycle 2 Work Scheme
• Pension Schemes for both Teaching and Support staff
• Extensive CPD, Coaching, Apprenticeships and Mentoring opportunities in-house and external.
• Full commitment to sustainable ways of working, green energy and reducing our Trust emissions to reach net zero by 2035.

Full information about the role can be found in the attached job pack.

Other information

Visits to the school are warmly welcome. To arrange a visit or to find out more about the role, please contact our school office on the number below.

The School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and expects all staff to share this commitment. An offer of appointment is subject to satisfactory references, Enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service), PO (Prohibition Order) checks, social media checks and medical clearance.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020).

It is an offence to apply for the role if you are barred from engaging in regulated activity relevant to children. All shortlisted applicants will be required to complete self-disclosure form and return prior to interview.