Learning to Lead

Excellence in Practice

A practical exploration of leadership beyond the classroom for aspirant school leaders of tomorrow

Expressions of Interest for September 2022

We will contact you with more information.

Overview

Securing excellence in your own classroom is a key priority. However, there comes a time when it is appropriate for teachers and classroom support colleagues to consider their broader contribution and, in particular, how they might begin to lead beyond the classroom. Taking the first steps into leadership poses a number of opportunities and challenges, including how to get others on board, understanding the processes of delivering positive change through a project or work stream. The ‘Learning to Lead – Excellence in Practice’ experience has been designed, in conjunction with serving school leaders, to be both practical and pragmatic with high quality facilitation and opportunities for participants to network, gain peer support and challenge and the potential to visit another setting.

Who is this experience for?

Are You…

Determined to balance excellence in your own teaching/specialism whilst leading through others beyond it?
Wishing to explore the latest research, tried and tested techniques and strategies which you can use in your school improvement tool kit?
About to take the first steps into leadership and wanting to develop yourself and explore the professional competencies, mind-set and approaches to be successful?
Wishing to engage in a professional network, have the opportunity to visit another setting and work with like-minded peers and other serving school leaders?

What you will learn about

The experience will engage aspirant leaders in an exploration of leadership including:

The Leadership Mindset

Creating the Conditions for Improvement (understanding self)

Understanding Project Implementation, Management & Impact

Identifying Practical Problems, Organisation, Communication and Decision Making

Contributing to Curriculum, Teaching & Learning Excellence

Meeting Pupil Needs

Creating a Leadership Environment

Engaging Others, Courageous Conversations & Achieving Success

Securing Sustainable Change

Embracing Partnerships, Collaboration & Innovation for the future

Assessment and Accreditation

This is an innovative, practical leadership experience for busy people. Therefore, participants will focus on a school-based priority (linked to the school/Trust’s development plan) throughout the experience and are not required to complete a lengthy written submission or external assessment. However, to add professional challenge and validity, throughout the learning experience, participants will work towards a 30 minute VIVA presentation. The VIVA is designed to support participants to reflect on how they have implemented learning from the experience to develop their leadership mind-set and used strategies to impact positively on young people through their project in school.

Participation will be endorsed by Learners First School Partnership.

Intended Impact

To build participants’ confidence to lead with impact beyond the classroom
To learn how to successfully lead a change strategy from inception, planning, implementation and review
To develop a professional network of peer to peer support and challenge beyond participants’ current school/MAT
To implement effective strategies into every day practice to have a positive impact on school improvement and outcomes for pupils.

Dates, Times and Delivery Methods

Facilitated sessions will encourage and support participants to consider a range of pertinent areas, drawing on local and national best practice and making sense of the wealth of evidence based research out there. The programme will also include a self assessment of competencies and areas to develop, inter-sessional research and practical activities to put learning in to practice, peer support and opportunities for networking, enquiry and reflection.

Delivered over the academic year through a blended approach including webinars, face to face days, self reflection, reading and schools visits.

The experience will be shaped around the following schedule:

Induction

Webinar

Face-to-Face days

Face-to-Face

live webinars

Webinars

LEARNING REFLECTION

Webinars

Elective School Visit

Central to the ‘Learning to Lead – Excellence in Practice’ experience is the opportunity to visit another school, similar or different in context to your own setting (to be informed by the self-assessment). This will be arranged in conjunction with Learners First and will enable participants to consider their leadership learning and school project priority in action, with agreed protocols for attendance and follow up.

(For participants electing to undertake the visit, there is an expectation for them to have the release time agreed by their headteacher/CEO in advance.)

Programme Cost

£400 per delegate. This is fully funded for participants from schools subscribing to Learners First in 2021/22.

Who can apply?

The ‘Learning to Lead – Excellence in Practice’ experience has been designed specifically for aspirant teachers and non-teachers taking their first steps into leadership beyond their classroom. Participants must be planning to lead a project within school.