Headteacher
Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust
Headteacher – West Cliff Primary School (L14-20)
April 2026 start
Closing date 16.01.25 Shortlisting 20.01.25 Interviews provisionally 26/27.01
If you are a leader who is ambitious, inspirational and committed to excellence then these opportunities will present you with a unique opportunity.
Here at Yorkshire Endeavour Academy Trust (YEAT) we are a specialist Primary Trust and proud to serve our communities and families around Whitby, Glaisdale, Castleton, Oakridge and Lealholm. Our values ‘Ethical, Nurturing, Brave’ sum up our trust perfectly.
Our Trust was formed in 2018 as we welcomed our first five primary schools due to our successful track of collaborative working and expertise in supporting school improvement across our communities. A 6th school – Oakridge, joined more recently.
We are also one of only 35 schools nationally to be a designated ‘English Hub’ which delivers excellence in early language and phonics teaching in reception and KS1.
We are currently exploring merging with another local trust to make our future even more exciting!
Our opportunity
We are looking to appoint a colleague to join our growing and well established Trust to start in April 2026. This opportunity excites us and we believe provides a fantastic opportunity for a primary leader to join this school year.
West Cliff Primary School
West Cliff Primary School is a leading school in Whitby with 160 pupils plus a nursery and a targeted mainstream provision for children with SEMH (The Rockpool). In additional we are also hold Beach School status which is embedded into our current curriculum offer.
Our Trust
We enter 2026 very much excited about the future. As a Trust we are well placed to achieve good outcomes for our children and we want our new colleagues to bring inspiration and proven strategies to our Trust – you will find a culture of team work, kindness and honesty – but absolute relentlessness about providing the very best education for the children in our schools.
What we are looking for
You will already be an excellent senior leader within your school – and can evidence the positive impact of your leadership on whole school development. This may mean you will be either looking for your first Headship post or your next opportunity. It goes without saying that we give you the skills, encouragement and experience within the profession to excel as a Headteacher – and beyond.
Our Trust Values – Ethical, Nurturing, Brave demonstrate that we are looking for ethical leaders who are fully committed to a nurture based approach.
In addition we are looking for:
- A proven track record of raising both pupil attainment and standards of teaching and learning across a whole school.
- A strong vision and ethos that supports our values and culture.
- An excellent practitioner with the ability to inspire children and staff to learn and achieve.
- A hands on Head who is willing to teach as required to support a current falling roll in the town.
- Current senior experience of leadership in a primary setting.
- An ethical leader, ideally with experience of nurture principles.
- Someone with significant experience of working with challenging children with SEMH.
We can offer you:
- Tailored support from our CEO, your fellow leaders and development opportunities across the area in partnership with Wonder Learning Partnership.
- An opportunity to see the unique and huge opportunities that exist in both schools and the wider Whitby area. All the support, energy and tenacity you will need is here for you to tap into.
- A Trust who has the highest expectations for all coastal children and families and develops its staff body to access professional qualifications (NPQML, NPQSL, SENDco etc).
- Warm, happy schools where we value our community ethos and have a philosophy of treating each other with kindness and respect.
- Happy, enthusiastic and well behaved children who thrive in a safe caring and inspiring environment.
- A Whitby and wider community which has come together to share the best practice, and work together on early years, primary and secondary projects.
- A commitment from the Trust board to keep the pay range under review to ensure high performance can be fully rewarded.
Please look at the school websites to get a real flavour of the school.
Get in touch
We actively encourage you to visit and meet us. We can offer visits to West Cliff on Tuesday 6th Jan (PM) Friday 9th (AM) Monday 12th (AM ) Please contact Christina Zanelli (ceo@yeat.co.uk) who will organise and confirm this for you. We will endeavor to accommodate additional dates if you can’t make those.
The date of commencement for this posts will be April 2026.
Closing date:
All candidates are advised to refer to the job description and person specification before making an application. Please make reference on your application which post/s you are applying for. Complete applications are to be mailed to ceo@yeat.co.uk.
For an informal conversation about the role and to arrange a visit please contact Christina Zanelli (CEO) at ceo@yeat.co.uk. Application packs are included in this advert along with the Trust application form.
Our schools are committed to safeguarding children; these posts will require an enhanced DBS check and suitable references. Your motivation and suitability to work with children will be assessed at interview.
North Yorkshire Council (NYC) advertise vacancies and process applications on behalf of schools and external organisations (third parties) in North Yorkshire. NYC are not responsible for the recruitment/employment practices of third parties and accept no liability in relation to the vacancy and any subsequent recruitment/employment processes. Further information on how we process your data can be found here.
Headteacher
Posted: 16/12/2025
Closing date: 16/01/2026
Closing time: 23:59