Headteacher

An Exciting Opportunity to Lead, Inspire and Make a Lasting Impact

Are you a passionate and innovative leader ready to build on the excellent work already done at a thriving primary school? Upton Priory School is looking for an impactful Headteacher to guide us into the next exciting chapter of our journey.

About our school

Upton Priory School is a welcoming, one-form entry school at the heart of Upton Priory in Macclesfield with a committed staff and pupils who embrace curiosity and challenge in all we do.

Upton Priory School was judged by Ofsted to be 'Good' in January 2024. The report commented that pupils love attending school and embody the school’s values of ‘Respect, Cooperation, Pride and Resilience’.  

As a key part of our local community, we have strong relationships with families, local schools and local partners, ensuring that we are an active and visible presence beyond the classroom.

Why Join Us?

Our current Headteacher taking her extensive leadership and pedagogy skills to lead another of our Trust schools, creating a fantastic opportunity for a new leader to bring their energy and vision to our school.

In 2018, we joined Halliard Trust (formerly The Fallibroome Trust), a partnership that has enriched opportunities for both pupils and staff. Through this collaboration, we continue to strive for high academic standards within a nurturing and supportive environment.

We are looking for a leader with vision, resilience and an optimistic outlook. You will be working with high calibre colleagues in the school, and across the Trust team, to support the school to build on its current successes, always living by the Trust Values of ‘Respect, Integrity and Optimism’.

You will be fully supported by the Trust CEO and Deputy CEO, an experienced School Bursar and a central services team who deliver IT, Finance, Facilities and HR under the leadership of a COO and Chief Information Officer. You will have the support of an effective, forward thinking Governing Body, committed to providing high quality education in an aspirational learning environment.

We are delighted to present the School and the Trust as an opportunity to progress your career and make a real difference to an engaged community.

Who We’re Looking For

We are seeking an exceptional leader who will:

✔ Inspire and Motivate – You have a clear vision for excellence in education and the ability to engage staff, pupils, and the wider community.

✔ Lead with Passion – You are committed to delivering high-quality teaching and ensuring every child reaches their full potential.

✔ Champion Inclusion – You believe in equality of opportunity for all and are dedicated to creating a school where every child feels valued.

✔ Build Strong Relationships – Your communication skills help foster a positive, supportive school culture where staff and families work together.

✔ Drive Continuous Improvement – You have a proven track record of leadership in a primary setting and are ready to take the school to new heights.

Essential Requirements:

🔹 QTS (Qualified Teacher Status)

🔹 Leadership experience in a one-form entry primary school

Join Us in Shaping the Future

This is an exciting opportunity to lead a school that is ambitious, inclusive, and deeply rooted in its community. If you’re ready to make a lasting impact and help every child love learning and achieve their best, we’d love to hear from you.

Come and be part of something special

We welcome school visits and can offer times on Monday 24^th March, Wednesday 26^th March (in the afternoon and after school) and Friday 28^th March (in the morning). Please contact the School Bursar (email f.williams@uptonpriory.ht.school) to arrange a visit.

The advert closes on Wednesday 2^nd April at 12.00pm (noon) and applications are welcome through the Trust online portal, SAMpeople Recruit/Face-Ed.

We ask applicants to apply through SAMpeople Recruit/Face-Ed, the Trust's recruitment portal. This enables us to carry out safer recruitment checks seamlessly.

Using Face-Ed

Face-Ed is cloud based software and we recommend that you prepare your main application content in a package like MS Word/Notepad and copy and paste it into the Face-Ed application form in the relevant sections. If the connection is lost while inputting, it can mean you lose the information already entered.

If you get a message saying "Validation Error", this isn't a software fault. It means you have entered data in a format that wasn't expected and it is causing a problem with saving. This might mean you have entered words in a box that expects numbers, for example. It is useful to go back and check for those errors

Why work for the Halliard Trust?

Who we are

We educate over 5,000 children and employ 800 teaching and support staff to deliver our vision to ensure every student leaves school with the values, skills, qualities and aptitudes to thrive in society combined with highest possible learning outcomes. Our core values of Respect, Integrity and Optimism underpin everything we do.

Formerly named The Fallibroome Trust, we have engaged with all of our stakeholders to choose a new name and are now called the Halliard Trust and are a school-led multi-academy trust which encourages its schools to work with a high level of autonomy and keep their own ‘personality’ and close ties to their local communities – always underpinned by strong support from the Trust leadership and the school improvement and business teams. We offer a wide-ranging programme of professional development for all employees to support those taking their first steps in education to those working as exceptional leaders.

The people you work with will support and motivate you in achieving your ambitions. Our exceptional teachers, support staff and leaders come from a wide range of backgrounds, but they all share a deeply held commitment to give our students an outstanding education in an inspiring and happy school environment. The Trust has grown organically to three secondary and seven primary schools based in Cheshire. The Trust operates from its headquarters in Macclesfield, Cheshire where the School Improvement and Business Support teams are based.

Working with the Trust

Everyone who works with us is crucial to the Trust’s success and learning and development plays a vital role in how we work. Successful teams are full of people who not only care but feel cared for and valued and subsequently take care in all they do. This leads to increased job satisfaction and retention and to improved outcomes for our pupils and ourselves. Our commitment and passion, and the core purpose in all that we do in the Halliard Trust, are to create the conditions for each child to be the very best that they can be. We believe our staff are the most important resource and key to this endeavour. Bringing together capacity, skills, and the talents of our teams enables us to work together to transform the lives of young people. In order to attract and retain the best people to work with our children, we aim to ensure deliver opportunities to encourage and support every individual to develop themselves to achieve their full potential.

Putting our vision into practice

From the moment you are appointed and throughout your time in the Trust, we are keen to ensure you have the confidence in yourself and your role, feel trusted, supported, empowered and appropriately challenged.

When you join, you will have a mentor to support you alongside your line manager. Your mentor will be your informal support during your induction and will be able to answer day to day questions to help you settle quickly into the team and the routines. Your line manager will assign, oversee and evaluate your work. Your line manager also has responsibility for supporting your performance, and development. You will become part of an amazing network that makes a huge difference to children’s lives, each and every single day. Staff networks offer a place for colleagues to come together, share experiences, talents and skills and facilitate learning and development. Our established networking groups aim to reduce workload and share good practice across all Trust schools. In addition, we offer a wide range of exciting career opportunities and high-quality professional development through our bespoke school improvement services and professional development programmes.

Benefits of working with the Trust

• High quality professional development at all stages of your career
• Access to the Teachers’ Pension or Local Government Pension Schemes with a generous employer contribution rate
• 26 days holiday entitlement rising to 31 days with service
• Free onsite parking
• Cycle to work scheme
• Confidential employee counselling helpline

How to Apply

We ask all applicants to apply through SAMpeople Recruit/Face-Ed; our recruitment software. This enables us to efficiently carry out our safer recruitment checks, but we recognise it can take some time for the applicant. The good news is, you will only need to register for Face-Ed once to apply for any role in the Halliard Trust's 11 schools.

Our top tips for a painless process are as follows:

1. Because Face-Ed is cloud based software, it is possible for you to experience a break in connection and you won't necessarily know about it straight away. We therefore strongly recommend that you prepare your main application content in a different package like MS Word/Notepad and copy and paste it into your Face-Ed application form in the relevant sections.
2. If you get a message saying "Validation Error" it isn't a software fault. It means you have entered data in a format that wasn't expected and it is causing a problem with saving. This might mean you have entered words in a box that expects numbers, for example.