Head of Department for the Children's Environment at Hjalleseskolen

We are seeking a professionally strong and committed department head who is passionate about pedagogical leadership close to practice, and who together with the staff and the rest of the leadership will create the best possible opportunities for participation, learning, and development for all children.

At Hjalleseskolen we have high ambitions on behalf of all children. We believe that children develop, learn and thrive best when they feel they belong and contribute to meaningful communities. Therefore, the development of strong child communities is not a separate effort for us, but something we do every day as a central part of our pedagogical core task. Now we are looking for a department head who can set direction and create followership for this development in our child environment and at the same time actively participate in the school’s overall leadership.

About Hjalleseskolen

Hjalleseskolen is a public school with about 560 students from grades 0-10, distributed in the child environment (0-5) and the youth environment (6-10). Hjalleseskolen enjoys strong local support, and for most in the school district the school is the natural choice. We are certified as UNICEF Rights School and as a Sports School in collaboration with UCL and the Danish Sports Association.

At Hjalleseskolen we are engaged in targeted development work around participation opportunities for all and strong child communities . As a pilot school, we are working to translate ambitions for inclusion into concrete pedagogical and didactic practice close to the students, and we are well on our way. The pedagogical double perspective focuses on how staff can support the student’s development in inclusive learning environments while at the same time we create practice runs where each student can practice socially and academically in participating and contributing to the communities.

We are therefore deliberately working to develop

• strong child communities with real opportunities for participation for all
• inclusive learning environments
• high professionalism and ambitions for all children
• shared pedagogical and didactic approaches
• professional learning communities and practice-oriented team collaboration
• interprofessional collaboration between teachers and pedagogues
• varied and differentiated learning environments
• co-teaching and qualified use of multiple adults around the children
• a school where teaching, leisure and children’s other communities are considered together.

The direction is outlined in the action note Handlingsnotat skoleudviklingssamtale 2026.pdf , where strong child communities, participation opportunities, practice-oriented collaboration and shared pedagogical and didactic approaches are central development areas.

Your most important task

Your most important task will be to drive professional and pedagogical leadership close to employees’ practice .

Therefore, we are not only looking for a leader who can create structure and make everyday life function. We are looking for a leader who is curious about what actually happens around the children and the staff , and who has the professionalism and the courage to, together with the staff, investigate and develop practice.

You will, among other things

As a department head you will have a clear management responsibility for the child environment and possibly the after-school care/ spring SFO and will at the same time be part of the school’s overall management team.

You will be responsible for

• setting a clear pedagogical direction for the child environment and creating followership
• creating clear frameworks, expectations and priorities for the staff
• being close to teaching, leisure pedagogy and staff’s professional practice
• facilitating professional learning processes and qualifying team collaboration
• supporting systematic pedagogical analysis, trial actions and follow-up
• working data-driven and using both qualitative and quantitative data as a basis for development
• contributing to the work with co-teaching, differentiation and flexible participation opportunities
• having a view of both the individual child and the importance of the community
• collaborating constructively and clearly with parents and external partners
• managing personnel leadership and contributing to a strong professional work community.

We imagine that you

have a strong pedagogical expertise with a clear leadership profile, where you either have or are in the process of completing a leadership clarification program, a diploma in leadership or equivalent.

It is important to us that you have something on your mind pedagogically . You do not need to come with all the answers, but you should be able to ask qualified questions, challenge habits and assumptions and help staff and teams translate knowledge and reflection into changed practice.

We therefore place emphasis on you

• have a relevant pedagogical education background with solid pedagogical and didactic competencies
• can lead professional learning processes with a curiosity about practice and dare to get close to it
• can create followership around a clear professional direction
• work systematically and analytically
• can translate ambitions and strategy into concrete actions
• communicate clearly, calmly and credibly
• see parents as meaningful partners
• can stand firm when necessary, while being exploratory and dialogue-oriented.
• that you are a team player and understand the importance of safe and trustful relationships in leadership collaboration.

Leadership experience is naturally an advantage, but your pedagogical weight, your leadership potential, and your ability to create movement in practice are at least as important to us.

You should have an eye for both school and leisure

In the child environment, the children are not either school children or after-school care children. They are the same children throughout the day.

Therefore, we want to develop a strong coherence between teaching and leisure and at the same time safeguard the different professions’ professionalization. You as department head will help translate this into a strong professional practice.

As a leader with us you will become part of a leadership team where we view leadership as a joint task.

We expect that you take clear responsibility for your own management area and lift your eyes to the whole school.

You should therefore want to

• make your leadership colleagues look good
• share dilemmas and invite sparring
• take responsibility beyond your own area
• stand on joint decisions
• be loyal to the common direction
• contribute with your own professional perspectives and challenge us when necessary.

And you must be able to thrive in a school day where leadership is both strategic discussions, difficult decisions, development work, children and parents in the office and a staff member who needs you to stop and reflect.

You will receive

• a meaningful pedagogical leadership space
• opportunity to get close to practice
• a strong focus on professional leadership and school development
• engaged staff and leadership colleagues
• room for professional discussions and different perspectives
• a well-functioning school with clear ambitions for the children
• an opportunity to make a significant mark on the development of our child environment and the entire Hjalleseskolen
• an workplace with a good working environment where we can learn from each other, support one another and laugh together.

Salary and employment terms

Salary and employment terms are in accordance with the applicable collective agreement between KL and the negotiable organization.

Would you like to know more?

Please contact Martin Hosbond at tel. 21 28 01 49 or [email protected] or deputy head Michael Lindstrøm at tel. 30 60 06 84 or [email protected] . We are happy to allocate time for visits to the school.

The practical

The application deadline is Thursday 26/11 at 23.59.

We will hold the first round of interviews on Thursday 3/12/2026 and the second round on 11/12/2026.

If you are selected for round 2, you will during the interim period be prepared to present a case and conduct a personal profile analysis.