Rome International School is seeking an exceptional leader to shape our students’ journey.

An inspirational and highly collaborative Deputy Head of Primary to help lead the Primary School with vision, warmth and ambition. This is an exciting opportunity for a dynamic primary leader to influence learning, inspire teams, and ensure every child is supported, challenged and nurtured to achieve their best.

Working in close partnership with the Primary Principal, you will provide strategic and operational leadership across the Primary phase, fostering a positive, inclusive and high-performing learning culture for both students and staff. As a key member of the school’s leadership team, the role includes supporting academic, pastoral and organisational leadership, developing and empowering staff, and working closely with students, parents and the wider school community to ensure consistently high standards and outstanding learning experiences aligned with the IB PYP.

This role calls for a forward-thinking, people-centred leader who is passionate about primary education, committed to collaboration, and ready to help shape the future of learning at Rome International School.

Role purpose:

Lead, inspire, and guide the primary team to ensure the best learning outcomes for all students.

Work in partnership with the primary principal to ensure the effective running of the day-to-day operations across the elementary school.

Leadership and Management:

● Along with the Primary Principal, set and lead the strategic direction of the primary school

● Ensure the school maintains the highest possible standards of learning, teaching and behaviour, aligned with our IB PYP curriculum and approach

● Monitor academic standards across the elementary school

● Promote an inclusive ethos and high-performance culture

● Develop and ensure there is performance evaluation of staff to promote individual and school growth through mentoring, coaching, personal and professional development, while challenging underperformance at all levels to create an outstanding team

● Develop a strong interdependent team working and maintain high standards of academic excellence and a holistic education programme for students

● Carry out any reasonable professional requests made by the Elementary Principal or Head of School

Engagement and Interaction:

● Promote the school values in all interactions with students, parents, and colleagues

● Actively participate in community and culture building events as part of an international community

● Contribute to the enrichment opportunities aimed at engaging students beyond the classroom

● Promote effective communication channels with parents to ensure a strong home – school relationship that supports student development

● Always maintain a high professional standard of integrity and professionalism when engaging with colleagues

Learning and teaching:

● Learning experiences are authentic and inspiring to engage students to be passionate and curious learners

● High standards are continually strived for in all interactions with students and are aimed at achieving quality outcomes for all learners

● A range of strategies are used as part of the teacher’s approach to engaging learners and ensuring a personalised approach to learning for all

● Lessons are effectively balanced to ensure the optimum input from teacher and students as drivers of the learning experience

● Lessons successfully encourage exploration, innovation, and creativity in dealing with content and skill development

● Learning experiences are sequenced to build on prior learning and explore personal exploration beyond the confines of curriculum coverages

● Technology is used effectively and innovatively to support quality learning experiences for students

Planning and preparation:

● Lessons are planned to build learner capability and in line with the RIS school values

● Lessons are purposeful and of a high standard with quality outcomes expected from all

● Curriculum planning is vertically aligned to support student growth and the development of skills and knowledge over time

● Students are encouraged to take a lead role in their learning and are active contributors to shaping their learning journey

● Lessons are ambitiously and deliberately planned to support a range of learning needs while supporting peer collaboration and reflection

● Formative and summative assessment methods are used effectively to inform teaching and learning practice

● Tracking and monitoring systems are used effectively to support and challenge learners to make targeted progress relevant to their ability

Professional and personal development:

● Participate fully in the school’s performance management procedures and appraisal through effective target setting and reflection using school specified systems

● Commit to pursuing personal development opportunities to ensure that your pedagogical approach to teaching and learning evolves

● Partake in an open-door approach to learning from others through learning walks, peer observations and teaching triads to share best practice

● Pledge to reflect on your personal growth to promote a healthy work life balance that enables you to perform to the best of your ability

● Hold a current Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure or equivalent for countries lived in outside of the UK within the last 10 years

● Compliance with visa requirements for working in Italy

● A commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all students and a willingness to undertake appropriate child protection training as and when required

Personal specifications:

● Qualified Teacher Status with a minimum of five years teaching experience

● Qualified to University Degree level or above

● Strong track record of continued professional development as part of demonstrating commitment to being a lifelong learner

● Previous middle/senior leadership experience in UK/ International school setting

● Knowledge and experience of PYP curriculum or similar curriculum and inquiry-based approaches

● Ability to demonstrate a high quality of pastoral care experience that supports the growth and development of young people

● Evidence of being an active collaborator who seeks to work with colleagues to cross subject boundaries and develop transferable skills in young people

● Demonstrable evidence of innovating and adapting curricula to engage students

● Proficiency in using technology to enhance teaching and learning to engage learners and achieve quality experiences

● Exceptional cross-cultural, interpersonal and communication skills to interact with diverse community and wide range of stakeholders

● Excellent analytical skills – with the passion and drive to demonstrate and quantify success

● Strong record of being results orientated with the ability to consistently map efforts against identified KPIs to demonstrate your impact as a quality educator

● Excellent time management skills and flexibility in dealing with multi-functional tasks

As our teammate, here’s what we expect:

● You love being part of a team – it’s what gets you up in the morning

● You’ll run it like you own it – you take huge pride in your work and your relationships ▪ You’re resilient – you’ll speak up and speak the truth

● You get the job done – to outstanding levels of quality, every time and always to the deadline ▪ You’re humble – you’ll know what you’re great at and where you’re not quite so strong

● You’re a listener – you’ll hear what people say so you understand what’s being asked

● You’re calm under pressure – you’ll keep cool when the going gets tough and know when to slow down your thinking

● You’re a team player – you’ll be flexible to play a range of roles to support the teams goals

● Entrepreneurial – you’ll always find opportunities to do things differently and better