Every child has potential. We help them realise it by developing leaders for challenging urban schools.
Future Leaders is an initiative to identify and develop the skills and vision of leaders to run the most challenging of urban schools and make a lasting difference to the lives of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. Commencing each summer, a new cohort of highly motivated participants will undergo a programme of intensive in-school and off-site experiences, and tailored mentoring, coaching and training. Participants should become a senior leader (deputy or assistant head) in a challenging urban school within 12 months, and a headteacher after 4 years.
Future Leaders has been developed in consultation with experts from across the education sector to enable more schools in challenging urban areas to realise their pupils’ full potential through outstanding leadership.
It is an accelerated path to senior leadership. Potential candidates will hold Qualified Teacher Status (QTS) but may not currently be a part of the school workforce. They may be teachers in a complex school, they may be in other areas of education, or they may have left the education sector. Through its intensive coaching, apprenticeship system and mentoring programme, Future Leaders allows new leaders to learn from the experienced.
The initiative is supported by a partnership between NCSL, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) and Absolute Return for Kids (ARK).
Each year, up to 80 existing or former teachers – identified for their strong leadership potential and the desire to succeed – will be recruited to the programme. Applicants will show an unshakeable drive to improve education for all children irrespective of the child’s background, a strong track record of either formal or informal successful leadership and the ability to improve pupil learning.
In their first year, Future Leaders will enter into a residency in a secondary school in London, North West England or the West Midlands under the apprenticeship of a successful urban headteacher and an in-school professional mentor. They will also be supported by a dedicated leadership coach, usually a retired headteacher. They will be introduced to the school as a member of the senior leadership team and exposed to activities and situations commensurate with a deputy headship role or equivalent. Here they will have the opportunity to instigate and complete a series of projects that will benefit the development of the school and its pupils, and help the Future Leader to learn more about all aspects of senior leadership.
They will receive innovative training tailored specifically to challenging urban schools and delivered by education and business leaders. Participants will visit outstanding urban schools in the UK and US, along with a member of the school’s leadership team to see and share best practice.
To prepare for the second year, Future Leaders co-ordinators will help each participant to find their substantive post as a senior leader in a school (eg deputy head). In the second year and beyond, participants will continue to receive ongoing training and coaching, with a view to securing their first headship position within four years of starting the programme.
Together they will form a special network of dynamic, supportive leaders with a strong sense of mission.