Secondary School Improvement Lead

Location: Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust HQ, Barmston Court, Turbine Business Park, Nissan Way, Washington, SR5 3NY 

Grade: Leadership 21- 26 (£84,699 – £95,735 per annum) 

Hours: Permanent, Full time 

Start: October 2026 (or open to negotiation with the successful candidate) 

Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust is a successful multi-academy Trust, comprising five secondary schools, one middle school, one first school and forty-one primary schools in the west of the Hexham and Newcastle Catholic Diocese. Our schools are located in Northumberland, Gateshead, Sunderland and Durham. Our Trust central base, including purpose-built offices and facilities for the delivery of professional development and training, is located in Washington. 

We are seeking an outstanding educational professional to join our central education team as Secondary School Improvement Lead to support us to achieve educational excellence through the development of exceptional leadership across our six middle and secondary schools.  

You will have significant experience of school improvement within a secondary setting or across various secondary schools, have been a senior leader within secondary schools and have a track record of significant impact on the quality of provision and outcomes for pupils. 

Your role will involve: 

• Working with the Trust’s Senior Director for Performance and Standards and headteachers to develop the Trust’s school improvement strategy for secondary schools.  

• Working directly with headteachers, senior and middle leaders and local governing committees to secure and maintain educational excellence across the Trust’s secondary schools.   

• Fostering and facilitating collaboration to ensure that the strongest practice is established and shared across Trust schools.  

• Working with the central education team and other Trust leaders to develop, deliver and broker professional development for leaders and staff across the Trust, including facilitating and delivering networking opportunities and assuring the quality of school-to-school support.  

• Coaching and supporting leaders across the Trust to develop an expert workforce.  

• Supporting senior and subject leaders with the design of curriculum across the secondary age range, ensuring it builds on the success of the curriculum in our Trust primary schools. 

• Supporting the Senior Director for Performance and Standards with the monitoring, evaluation and review of standards and provision across the Trust in order to set incisive priorities for improvement.   

• Supporting schools to nurture potential among staff to develop a future supply of subject and senior leaders for Trust schools.  

• Contributing to the development of the BWCET Insights Hub to ensure that headteachers and school leaders have ready access to the highest quality performance information and that key members of the Trust’s executive team receive the data they require to monitor the performance of Trust secondary schools.  

• Developing and overseeing the Trust’s strategic approach to stakeholder engagement/voice across secondary schools.  

• Working closely with our Trust Primary School Improvement Lead to support the development of a continuous education journey for our pupils from early years to adulthood. 

• Leading on the Trust’s strategy to secure exceptional attendance. 

• Playing a leading role in the Trust’s strategy to support disadvantaged pupils to achieve exceptionally well.  

• Keeping abreast of educational developments, including evidence-led best practice nationally, to ensure the Trust is at the forefront of education practice.  

• Seeking and fostering opportunities for collaboration with public sector partners, including in other Trusts. 

• Upholding the Catholic character of the Trust. 

To arrange an informal discussion about the post, which is strongly encouraged, please contact Paula Kearney: pkearney@bwcet.com 

For an application form and further details about this vacancy please visit our website  http://bwcet.com/vacancies/ where applications can be completed online. 

Closing date: 9am, Thursday 9 July 2026 

Selection process/interview: Week commencing 13 July 2026 

The Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This post is exempt from the provisions of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act and is subject to an enhanced DBS check. An online check will be conducted for all shortlisted candidates.