Chief Operating Officer

An internationally recognised specialist independent school and UK-registered charity (Gard'ner Memorial Ltd), More House School is the largest and leading school for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. With an 85-year history, the School has seen rapid growth in pupil numbers over the last thirty years, from 65 to 500, and has repeatedly been graded Outstanding in five successive Ofsted inspections over the past decade. Located on a 30-acre estate in Frensham, on the edge of the Surrey Hills AONB, the School provides residential boarding and day places to a mix of privately-funded and local authority-funded pupils from across the South-East and beyond, and delivers a programme of outreach support and training to schools and educational trusts in both the independent and state-maintained sectors.
the School is planning its next phase of its Frensham campus development, ensuring the quality of facilities and pupil experience for the future, and is exploring potential opportunity for significant expansion, so that many more children and young people can access our unique model of education, especially girls.
The new role of Chief Operating Officer (COO) will support the Headmaster in implementing the new strategy ensuring strong financial planning and continuous development of the School's supporting operations in a cost-effective manner. Responsible to the Headmaster and Board of Governors, and reporting directly to the Headmaster on a day-to-day basis, the COO will bring proven experience of strategic and financial planning as well as the successful management of people.
Our School Vision is: To lead in transforming the futures of intelligent children who experience Specific Learning Difficulties, Developmental Language disorder and associated conditions, by empowering them.
A nationally celebrated charity, More House School provides an exceptional, mainstream education for boys with Specific Learning Difficulties and Developmental Language Disorders. Providing a transformative education repeatedly recognised as 'Outstanding' by Ofsted over more than a decade, we offer a specialised learning environment for 500 day and boarding boys from Year 4 to Year 13 (aged 8 to 18). Our pupils are taught to recognise their strengths and develop their self-belief so that they achieve independence and extraordinary results at GCSE, BTEC and A Level, above the national averages.
Delivering a mainstream independent school experience, both academically and socially, the very broad curriculum affords all pupils the opportunity to discover their strengths, challenging them to fulfil their academic and extra-curricular potential. Judged 'Outstanding' by Ofsted in its last five School inspections, our most recent inspection (March 2023) graded More House School 'Outstanding' overall, and 'Outstanding' in each of the six sub-sections of the report. Approximately 60% of pupils have their places at the School funded by a local authority, and are the subject of an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). Currently, more than thirty different local authorities have funded pupil places in the School. The remainder (40%) of pupils' places are funded privately by parents and extended families.
The School is set on a wooded hillside in nearly thirty acres on the Hampshire/Surrey border and within the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Attractive modern facilities lie above the playing fields. In the past ten years, the School has refurbished and extended its boarding facilities, refurbished its eight Science laboratories, built its School of Engineering and CAD facilities, and opened a new Humanities block and School Chapel. Autumn 2017 witnessed the completion of our brand-new library and Media Studies centre, and growth in learning support facilities. 2018 saw the expansion of the campus and the conversion of a large domestic building into our new Sixth Form centre, which was opened in January 2019, improving further the facilities for both teaching, and independent study. Future plans include an ambitious building project improving further our Science laboratory facilities, extending the School's medical surgery and improving facilities for therapeutic counselling. We are also seeking planning permission for another project which will realise increased resources for Sports.
The School is characterised by a continuous pursuit of excellence and improvement in all aspects of its provision, in order to realise the best possible experiences and outcomes for all pupils.
It will be the most senior non-teaching position in the School's leadership team and will be expected to contribute across all areas of the School's strategic planning and project management.
Responsible to the Headmaster and to the Board of Governors, the COO will report directly to, and work closely with, the Headmaster, reporting directly to him The COO will be a member of the Core Leadership Group (CLG) and the wider Senior Management Team (SMT). Chaired by the Headmaster, the CLG is the most senior decision-making body within the executive and comprises the Chief Operating Officer, the Deputy Head, Curriculum (Penni Kerr), the Deputy Head, Residential (Alexandra Rositano), the Deputy Head, Pastoral (Lewis Clarkson) and the Director of Assessment and Therapy (Meriel Davenport).
In particular, the COO role will have specific responsibilities to provide leadership and oversight of all the school's core support functions and teams including Finance, Human Resources, Estates & Facilities, IT Services, Administration, Catering and Clerk to the Governors.
As COO s/he will support the Headmaster and Governors in ensuring the future financial sustainability and efficiency of the school and will be central to the development of strategic planning both at More House, Frensham and more widely. S/he will be adept at change management, organisational planning, and delivering strategic objectives, communicating effectively to secure widespread commitment and engagement.
To advise the Headmaster and Governors and assume responsibility for providing strategic leadership for all aspects of the following areas of the School's activities, ensuring continuous evaluation of School practice, development planning, implementation of planning and compliance with regulation in each area.
Support the Headmaster to devise and implement the agreed strategy, project managing and demonstrating leadership in respect of the School's support operations.
Support the Headmaster and Governors to identify risk and opportunity, and to design highly effective and ambitious strategic plans and objectives, ensuring the financial and operational sustainability of the School and Charity, and the delivery of its vision and mission.
Ensure awareness of risks and opportunities within the sector.
Accept specific responsibility for the implementation and delivery of strategic projects, as directed by the Headmaster.
Provide strategic oversight and management of the Finance Manager and oversee the School's financial operations, budgeting, financial reporting, and financial planning and analysis. This will include financial modelling and analysis, strategic planning and implementation, forecasting and budgeting, accounting, monitoring and risk-management.
Ensure all financial regulations (including the Charities SORP), schemes of delegation and financial procedures are fully adhered to, reviewed and updated as required by the Charity Commission, HMRC and other regulators.
Manage the coordination of external audits and preparation of the statutory accounts.
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