Founding Principal at The Younity School

Younity Community Services Ltd (Younity) is seeking a Founding Principal for our new independent special assistance school - The Younity School.

Younity Community Services Ltd (Younity) is seeking a Founding Principal for our new independent special assistance school - The Younity School, for Term 1, 2024.

This is a unique opportunity to evolve your career and join Younity’s team as a thought partner, collaborator and visionary as you develop and grow an innovative educational response for young people disengaged from learning through their middle years of schooling.

The Younity Board is looking for an engaging and creative educational leader who is committed to working within a strengths-based, trauma-informed pedagogy and has a genuine enthusiasm for collaboration, working alongside students and their families to develop positive, meaningful and continuing engagement with learning. Leading a team of teaching and support professionals, you will have a key role in creating and maintaining a culture that truly makes The Younity School a great place to learn.

Our Founding Principal will be:

An outstanding leader with an unwavering commitment to excellence
A charismatic communicator who instinctively fosters trust and assurance among a wide variety of stakeholders
An innovative educator who inspires relevant, authentic, and contemporary programs
An exceptional administrator who can navigate the complex regulatory and funding environments that come with a special assistance school

If you feel ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities of this exciting role, we warmly invite you to apply.

About The Younity School
The Younity School is a new independent special assistance school for students aged 10 to 15 years old who:

have complex, often multiple, learning and social support needs
experience educational disadvantage or
are disengaged, or are at risk of disengaging, from their learning

Middle school is one of the most important steps in a young person’s journey to meaningful, lifelong learning. Yet many young people disengage from their education during this time—especially those who have complex learning and social support needs; or who experience educational disadvantage.

Our mission at The Younity School is to support all young people and their families to engage or reengage, with school; successfully navigate the middle years; and face their future with a sense of confidence, resilience and pride.

Our school is set to open with a first-round intake of 30 students across grades 7 and 8 in April 2024 with plans to grow to 100 students across grades 5 to 9 by 2027. We have secured a fabulous home on a site in Burpengary, 50km north of Brisbane and will be undertaking an exciting three-stage construction journey over that period.

About Younity
The Younity School operates under the not-for-profit community organisation Younity Community Services Ltd (trading as Younity).

Younity exists to support our communities to be healthy, happy and to thrive. We have grown from our rich connections in Deception Bay to work alongside children, young people, individuals and families right across Moreton Bay—providing the connections, support, access, skills, knowledge and opportunities they need to have a fair go at life.

About the Founding Principal Position
As our Founding Principal, you will be responsible for co-creating and leading the development of The Younity School as a centre of excellence in independent special assistance education that supports young people and their families to develop positive, meaningful and continuing engagement with learning through the middle years.

You will need empathy, creative problem-solving, innovative approaches, exceptional organisation skills and strong collaboration as you partner with Younity to found our new school and lead its growth into the future.

In this key teaching and leadership role you will provide strategic direction and management for all aspects of The Younity School including—

Managing all school administration, policies and procedures, compliance and regulatory requirements, operations, governance and finance, curriculum design and learning delivery, staff and student wellbeing, and stakeholder and community engagement
Establishing, leading and mentoring a team of experienced and committed educators and school staff to deliver the curriculum, achieve the school’s aims and goals, and lead the culture
Developing and delivering an evidence-based, trauma informed curriculum; flexible, targeted educational programs; and holistic support in a safe, inclusive and engaging learning environment
Effectively engaging families, stakeholders and the broader community to develop a network of support and positive pathways for young people to engage in future education and employment
Creating a school culture that nurtures a sense of belonging and connection; exemplifies the school’s values; and that cherishes diversity, wholeheartedly celebrates difference and builds positive understandings of all people and cultures
Upholding standards of excellence in teaching, student and community wellbeing and compliance—rigorously monitoring and evaluating all aspects of The Younity School to drive continuous improvement and excellence

A full position description can be found in the Applicant Information Pack.

SKILLS & EXPERIENCE
We are looking for someone with:

Minimum of three years' in a leadership position in a SAS or an alternative education school or alternative education model
Experience in trauma-informed, strengths-based approaches and educational programs for students with complex learning and social support needs or educational disadvantage—with the ability to implement and train staff in a trauma-informed approaches
Skilled in collaboration and community engagement with experience creating positive and meaningful relationships with children, young people, parents, staff, investors, community partners, and the School Advisory Committee
Experience starting and growing a new program as it is in development, with experience leading a vision and constructing, implementing, and successfully reaching shared goals and outcomes
Skilled in administration, business, finance, budget management, entrepreneurial endeavours, and fundraising
Demonstrated experience responding to rapid growth, challenges and opportunities with enthusiasm and flexibility
Energy and excitement to grow our school and evolve as an educational professional within an alternative model

QUALIFICATIONS & LICENCES

Master’s degree or higher in education or a related field preferred
Valid teaching registration in Queensland or valid Blue Card
Clean open drivers license

TERMS & APPOINTMENT
The Founding Principal position is a full-time leadership and teaching position commencing in Term 1, 2024.

APPLICATION PROCESS
For confidential enquiries or to obtain an application information pack please contact:
Brendan Fraser +61 438 618 604 E: [email protected] or
James Mundy +61 422 228 164 E: [email protected]

Please submit a single PDF document that includes:

Cover letter of no more than one page
Curriculum Vitae, including the contact details of two professional referees
Statement of no more than two pages addressing the key selection criteria, as outlined in the Applicant Information Pack

Mark as “CONFIDENTIAL” and email to James Mundy, National Head of anzuk Executive: [email protected]. Applications will be considered as they are received.

Deadline: Monday, 23 October 2023.
A concurrent search is being conducted and applications received after this date may not be considered. The Younity School reserves the right to interview and appoint prior to the closing date.

Apply Now