Headington is a vibrant and welcoming school set in 23 acres of playing fields and grounds. Educating girls aged three to 18, it provides a supportive environment where individuals come first and is renowned for its commitment to academic excellence, pastoral support and an extensive range of extra-curricular opportunities. The School was founded in 1915 as an independent school with a Church of England Foundation. Today, Headington pupils face very different challenges and the School aims to enable them to develop the thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills they need to help explore their potential and achieve more than they thought possible.

With its Future Ready Girls strategy, Headington plans to further develop the breadth of choice for its girls, enabling them to follow a path that both suits their academic aspirations and satisfies their natural curiosity and passions. Students will be encouraged to take appropriate risks and to embrace the learning opportunities from experiencing failure within a supportive environment; to welcome problem-solving opportunities which can be unravelled by thinking creatively and working collaboratively with others. In doing so, Headington will equip its girls so they are future ready, fully prepared to take on the challenges they may face and to thrive, wherever life takes them.

There are currently over 1000 pupils comprising 45 nationalities attending Headington, including approximately 200 boarders who live in the five boarding houses within the grounds, and 250 pupils in the Preparatory School. The School has undertaken several exciting building projects in the last 15 years including a Sixth Form Centre, Music School, Dance and Fitness Centre, state-of-the-art Library and, more recently, the impressive Creativity & Innovation Centre known as ‘The Hive’.

The appointed Governors will contribute to the work of the governing board in ensuring the School meets its mission to provide the necessary education, training and support to enable all pupils to develop their potential as individuals (to be Creative, Confident, Compassionate, Courageous, Collaborative and Curious) and thereby ensure they are ‘Future ready’ when they leave Headington so they will be able to take their place in society and be effective Contributors to it. 

They will do this by:

• ensuring clarity of vision, ethos and strategic direction
• holding executive leaders to account for the educational performance of the School and its pupils, and the performance management of staff
• overseeing the financial performance of the School and making sure its money is well spent

Governor (Finance)

To complement the skills of the existing Board and support the long-term strategy of the school, Headington seeks a new Governor with strategic-level Finance experience. The successful candidate will leverage their experience to support / advise the Board and Bursar on financial risk and strategy. This experience could come in-house from the public, private or not-for-profit sectors or from a significant accounting, financial services or audit business. 

They will have a keen eye for detail whilst being able to balance this with a strategic, collegial and forward-looking approach. All candidates should have a strong affinity for Headington's belief in offering a progressive, outward-looking and enriching girls' education.

Governor (Health and Wellbeing)

To complement the skills of the existing Board and support the long-term strategy of the school, Headington seeks a new Governor with senior experience in health and wellbeing. The Board is open to considering a wide range of backgrounds, including medical professionals, child psychologists, mental health practitioners, counsellors, and pastoral care leaders. 

The successful candidate will have the ability to constructively challenge whilst being approachable, engaged and genuinely committed to the school community. All candidates should have a strong affinity for Headington's belief in offering a progressive, outward-looking and enriching girls' education.

Please note: Headington School is committed to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices and it positively encourages applications from all sectors of the community. The Board is keen to ensure that its composition reflects both age and ethnic diversity; as such, its commitment to diversity will be an important factor in its hiring process. Please see the Diversity section for more guidance. 

In line with the School's policy, applications will not be open to parents of current pupils apart from those in U6 form. Applicants from Headington Connect, the school’s Alumni Association are welcomed.

A list of the current Governors can be found here. 

The role is unremunerated but travel expenses are reimbursed. The appointment is for a three-year term which can be renewed for a maximum period of nine years. Governors are expected to attend three full Council meetings and three Finance and General Purposes sub-committee meetings per year, an annual Governor training day and where required, communication in between meetings. These meetings are typically held on a Thursday afternoon at 3pm. Governors are also expected to attend school visits, preferably one in the autumn and one in the spring term as part of their duties and are welcome and encouraged to attend school events to support the school.

Board meetings and events are held at the School. Applicants will therefore need to be able to travel to Oxford so that they can attend.

Headington School welcomes applications from everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, faith or disability. It is committed to equal opportunities and anti-discriminatory practices and it positively encourages applications from all sectors of the community. As those from younger age groups and ethnic minority backgrounds are currently under-represented on the Board, applications from those candidates would be particularly encouraged to reflect the diversity of the whole school community. All appointments will be made on merit, following a fair and transparent process.