The Leadership Network offers members the opportunity to participate in the following national and regional development and policy-informing initiatives.
The International Leadership Learning Programme (ILLP) is a new NCSL programme which offers a unique opportunity to reflect upon leadership in an international context and investigate a particular leadership theme pertinent to school and system wide development. It builds on and replaces the International Placement for Headteachers (IPH) programme. The programme has been designed by NCSL and is delivered by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). Further information on the ILLP.
The application round for cohort 3 has now closed. If you would like to register your interest to apply for cohort four, please email [email protected]
We are currently undertaking a national initiative entitled Leadership for narrowing the gap.
Groups of leaders have been given the opportunity to improve their leadership for narrowing the gap by increasing their capacity and confidence to act, and by deepening their understanding and knowledge of successful practice.
By narrowing the gap we mean reducing the difference between outcomes for specific groups and for all children and young people, against a background of improvement for all. The outcomes referred to are the five outcomes of Every Child Matters including attainment within Enjoy and Achieve (the third ECM outcome).
Find out more information about the initiative.
Leadership Network regional initiatives are designed to enable you to share the latest thinking and practice with school leaders nationwide. In previous years, initiatives have included projects such as within-school variation (WSV), personalisation and growing future leaders.
The following publications share what leaders working in regional networks have learnt through some specific initiatives.
NCSL research associates from the Leadership Network have examined the Department for Children, Schools and Families’ five components of personalised learning. Professional learning has emerged as key, with schools positioning themselves as learning organisations in which workforce development is seen as an integral part of raising standards.
During 2007-08, personalising learning was a component of the Leadership Network programme of partnership events and activities. This included a number of supra-regional events on leading personalised learning and a series of regional primary leadership events for primary school leaders. A focus on personalising learning was also explored through other partnership events on the themes of the leadership of ICT and the leadership of the new secondary curriculum.
Within-school variation has been pinpointed as a significant barrier to children’s progress. Variation in performance within British schools is four times greater than variation between schools, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The within-school variation project has been widely praised, with many schools managing to reduce the differences in how pupils perform in different subjects in a short time.
More than 50 Leadership Network schools have been involved since 2003 and this initiative continued during 2007-2008.
Working in partnership with NCSL and the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), over 50 Leadership Network schools from a range of phases and contexts have been involved in exploring ways to revise the curriculum with fresh approaches to the leadership of learning, the organisation and delivery of the curriculum and measuring success in learning. Following the Developing a 21st century curriculum national conference held in October 2006, NCSL and QCA have produced a number of Leading curriculum innovation publications, which provide a toolkit of resources designed to explore innovative approaches to developing a 21st century curriculum.
Building on the OECD scenarios for the future of schooling and FutureSight, this major NCSL initiative to support futures thinking in schools involved members of the Leadership Network from the East Midlands region working in partnership with the East Midlands Leadership Centre (EMLC). The aims of the initiative are to stimulate debate, give local leaders a voice in shaping education for the future, and provide materials and processes to help schools think about and plan for the challenges of the future. A key outcome of the work has been the generation of a series of Futures thinking and curriculum think pieces designed to support the development of futures thinking. The first series has been developed by headteachers in dialogue with senior business leaders. In the future, it is intended to undertake similar work with moral, political, community and cultural leaders.
In this initiative school leaders and others involved in leadership roles within and beyond the school are looking to widen understanding of what system leadership looks like in practice. Building upon the outcomes of NCSL’s Leadership Network annual conference in 2006 (see School leaders leading the system), this initiative is set to continue. School leaders and leaders from other community and multi-agency settings look at practical approaches to system leadership through a series of events and activities, developed in partnership with NCSL’s Research and Policy team, on the theme of the leadership of Every Child Matters, standards and extended schools and a series of primary leadership events focused on leading in a multi-agency context.
During 2006-2007, this initiative focused on supporting the work of NCSL in examining the issue of succession planning. Network members were involved in developing and testing out approaches to identifying and growing future leaders through a range of regional initiatives. These included a range of locally based programmes designed to build leadership capacity and support and encourage progression to headship through internships, secondments, leadership coaching, and school visits and exchanges.
Focused on developing local solutions to an issue of national importance, this work involved Leadership Network members in drawing upon the expertise which exists regionally amongst the teaching profession and beyond. By continuing to bring the issue of succession planning into local, regional and national debate during 2007-08, the Network aims to provide an opportunity for school leaders and others interested in contributing to the development of national policy in this area to have a voice in future developments.
For more information on Leadership Network regional succession planning initiatives in your area, contact your regional leader.
Following the Leadership Network annual conference held in 2007, NCSL has produced a number of Stepping up, stepping out: learning about leadership publications, which provide a toolkit of resources to help you explore emerging ideas about the practicalities of stepping up and stepping out to leadership in the 21st century.