We operate in and for Greater London and Greater Manchester schools.

Find out below about the journey currently offered to potential Future Leaders participants, designed to enable them to contribute to school leadership within 12 months, and aim for headship of a challenging school within 4 years.

To view the current recruitment brochure for potential applicants, click here.

Leadership Coaching
From the moment they commence training, each of our participants receives mentoring support from their headteacher and additional dedicated coaching. The first source of coaching is from an in-school professional tutor with urban senior leadership team experience, who provides technical and coaching support on-site. They will work in a hands-on capacity with the participant, developing their day-to-day senior leadership skills, providing feedback and support and offering an insight into senior leadership of a challenging school. The second is an external senior leadership coach who supports and monitors the work of the professional tutor and supports and monitors the progress of the participant. Senior leadership coaches not only come into school to meet with participants and their professional tutors, but will also attend and help deliver training during residentials and visits to exemplary schools. Thirdly, the mentor head provides ongoing inspiration, mentoring and structuring of the experience for the participant so that they make the most of their residency year (see below). The participant and mentor head will meet regularly during term time.

Foundations
Over two long residential weekends in June and July 2008, and ten days in August in Nottingham at the National College for School Leadership, Future Leaders brings together a hand-picked leading faculty to provide participants with foundational, practical training tailored to the needs of challenging schools. The aim is for knowledge and experience gained to be quickly applicable whilst also being rigorous and demanding. Modules include personal leadership, school ethos and culture, technical competency and student achievement. A key component of the training is the participants themselves, who are trained to learn and work together in teams, sharing and recognising each other’s expertise, areas for development, and strengths - the foundations for future collaboration and peer support. Because of the small size of each group, Foundations is a flexible training programme which adjusts to the needs and existing level of knowledge and experience of those who attend it. Above all, Foundations is an opportunity for Future Leaders to enjoy preparing for the leadership journey ahead.

Residency Training
From September 2008 participants enter their residency schools and start working with the mentor headteachers and their senior leadership team. Participants will have been matched with their mentor heads as part of the assessment process, based on their development needs and personality, and the strengths of the residency mentor head, their staff, and their school’s environment and location. During residency, participants work as a member of the senior leadership team, carrying a teaching load in line with other senior leaders in the school, carrying out specific leadership duties given to them by the headteacher, and receiving mentoring from the headteacher who will help them gain a number of key experiences that school leaders often need to succeed. During this time, participants draw a salary in line with that which they received from their previous employer, up to a cap of £50,000 per annum. As part of the training, participants must carry out two specific projects in their residency year. The first involves working with a group of teachers to set up a small professional learning community (e.g. on lesson structuring) with the aim of improving the classroom performance of all members of that community. The second involves working with a small of group of students and their parents or carers in raising the achievement of those students. The participant will establish strong partnerships between the parents and the child and across the group as a whole, to focus on how the student may best reach his or her full potential. Participants must complete these projects to a satisfactory level and meet Future Leaders overall training standards (designed to fit with other national criteria and the needs of challenging schools) in order to pass their residency training year and be recommended for posting in their initial leadership role the following year.

School Visits
During the residency year and into their 2nd year senior leadership role, participants and one other member of the senior leadership team in their school attend one faculty and coach-led training day per term at another urban school, and also attend three separate faculty and coach-led multi-day offsites: two in Nottingham at the National College for Leadership, and one abroad which also involves visits to exemplary urban schools. The aim during each of these visits and training days is to provide participants and their school colleagues with additional tools and insights designed to help them excel as a school leader, and also to equip participants with the tools required to complete their projects successfully.

Preparation for senior leadership
Several months before applications are normally invited for senior leadership positions in challenging schools in London, participants will receive training in how to best prepare themselves for interview with school governing bodies, and support in identifying schools interested in receiving applications from Future Leaders participants. These will generally, though not exclusively, be schools that are challenging (with a high percentage of pupils eligible for Free School Meals), that are in an area identified as having a need for succession planning with many senior leaders due to retire, and that have a track record in local collaboration or are in a formal or informal network - so that ongoing opportunities exist for the participant to gain further experiences outside of one school.

2nd Year
During their second year, participants will continue to attend offsite and in-school training, together with another member of their senior leadership team, carrying out duties as required of them as a senior leadership team member. Critical to this year, alongside the support of their leadership coach, will be the peer support of other participants going through a similar experience. During this year, participants will start to put into use the tools, experiences, and skills they will have acquired during the residency year, and gain further experience and knowledge that will help them make a difference to their school working with and for the pupils and staff, and to become a headteacher.

And beyond
Participants are expected to make a commitment beyond their initial posting year to that school for a further two years, during which time they will continue to support each other as peers, and maintain the many relationships they will have acquired along the way. Having completed initial leadership training, Future Leaders are encouraged to give back to the programme, helping recruit, mentor, support and train others following similar routes to themselves, and to continue to strive to be an outstanding headteacher of a challenging school.