Securing high quality leadership development and succession planning is essential if we are to deliver the aspirations contained in the Department’s first ever Children’s Plan published in December 2007. This plan identifies that the single most important factor in delivering these aspirations is a consistently world class workforce.
A key part of this workforce will be a new generation of leaders that will build upon the achievements of the many existing leaders in our system that are already world class. To support the development of this new generation of leaders, during a potentially challenging recruitment period between 2009 and 2011, the Department has asked the NCSL to support schools and LAs with their succession planning strategies.
Leadership Partner Schools will be at the forefront of the developments to deliver a world class workforce and reduce the gap in educational achievement through the creation of partnerships between HPSS schools, other specialist schools and primary networks. These partnerships will have a focus on raising pupil achievement through the development of effective leadership development and succession planning strategies.
Leadership Partner Schools are seen as having an important role to play in the national succession planning strategy, led by the NCSL, which involves almost all LAs in the country. In addition to significant leadership development work taking place in their own schools many of the existing Leadership Partner Schools are formally part of the local succession planning strategy agreed by their LA with the NCSL.
This programme is available to schools of any specialism that have met the HPSS criteria and is managed by the Youth Sport Trust in partnership with the NCSL. The partnership work that has taken place between the NCSL and the YST during the last 18 months has resulted in the creation of this programme which was offered in this form for the first time in 2007. There are currently 14 schools following this option with the NCSL looking to expand this programme so that in each LA there would be at least 1 Leadership Partner School.
The programme has also been carefully positioned alongside the NCSL National Leaders of Education initiative so that there is a distinct and separate focus. However a number of existing Leadership Partner Schools are also part of the NLE/NSS programme. The NCSL recognises that a many Leadership Partner Schools could also be part of the NLE/NSS programme.
As well as developing leaders in the school workforce this programme also provides schools with the opportunity to develop leadership capabilities and competences with pupils.