LEADERSHIP in association with
CPD
www.usethekey.org.uk
Story of a federation
Three Bedfordshire schools
formed a hard federation
in September. One of
the headteachers, Mike
Lavelle, tells the story of
how it happened
HE GOVERNMENT’S White Paper,
The changing role
T
published last summer, emphasised
how federations and other partnership
approaches would extend the reach of
best leadership practice to the benefit
of all schools.
This affirmation of the partnership
approach had a real resonance with me and my fellow
heads, John Clemence and Janine Waring, as our three
schools had acquired Trust status in September 2008.
As such, we had already come a long way on our
own partnership journey, and this developed further
of pastoral staff
when our schools joined together last September as the regular but infrequent and should a key partner fail to timetables, sharing specialist staff reaching into year Other joint initiatives have included the Leading
North Bedfordshire Federation. This is a hard federation attend the length of time between meetings, decisions 3. We were now able to offer a modern language from Sustainable Schools project and our “Dynamic
sharing a strategic vision and one governing body. and outcomes became a barrier. year 3 across 19 schools, providing 60 per cent of year Leadership” group, again funded by National College,
We have a big ambition for our federation, which By 2005, the head of school improvement in the 7 and 8 students with a guided choice of two languages which has improved middle leadership opportunities in
we hope will create a relationship of interdependence, then Bedfordshire County Council (we have since from three options, which they then continue into key all the schools.
openness and trust. The foundations are already there: become a unitary authority) breathed new life into the stage 4. It was the success of this initiative that proved We very quickly realised that we needed to jointly
we are all motivated by the challenge of providing the quite loose arrangements across the authority to create we could move together quickly and make a big impact. appoint staff to lead on developments to make things
best educational experience for young people. And we “Learning Communities”, a clustering of schools. Legislation gave us the opportunity to create a single- happen at pace. This was a frustration within the Trust
are placing no cap on our ambition. The clusters had their own budget, and with that shared Trust with funding for our administration and arrangements.
But how did we get to this point? Our journey budget came genuine accountability, injecting a new initiatives levied from all 19 schools. The federation has achieved this and our three
towards federation began with a local network, rated as energy into partnership working. Gone were the days The Trust accounts for a quarter of all young schools are set to build upon the executive arrangement
outstanding in its day, which gathered impact within the of waiting for the “crumbs off the table” that can be people in Bedford borough and this scale has created with shared leadership across the campuses to increase
local Trust. The Trust relationship has quickly evolved frustrating for smaller schools in larger collaborations. a momentum which has attracted interest and support the momentum of curriculum change, continuity and
because we saw great potential in making progress at The Learning Community became a real agent from other providers. opportunity. In addition, we are aligning business
pace and improving on our previous best. The relationship of change. A compelling example of this was in the We have benefited together through the National management, premises and facilities teams, ICT
was shaped and structured by the Trust Board. Initiatives provision of modern languages. This was already a College’s regional initiatives on leadership and the school infrastructure, and professional development.
became owned by schools, which were now accountable strength in the Learning Community, with specialist business management demonstration project. We have
to the Trust to make things happen. language teaching from year 5. successfully promoted good business management • Mike Lavelle is head of Lincroft Middle School and
We recall our valiant efforts and our longing Together we were determined to ensure that modern practice across all 19 schools, which has freed leaders up this article has been co-authored by John Clemence,
to improve liaison and the quality of transfer and languages retained a high profile and was a popular to concentrate on the leadership of teaching and learning. head of Sharnbrook Upper School and Janine Waring,
transition for the students in north Bedfordshire. In option with students into key stage 4. We determined The three middle schools each acquired specialist head of Harrold Priory Middle School. The schools
the late 1990s these meetings were sometimes poorly that two languages would be the minimum offer from schools status working alongside the upper school, acquired Trust status in September 2008 and are
attended and despite the best of intentions seemed beset year 7 for the majority of students. writing a successful joint bid to the Specialist Schools founder member schools of the 19 school North
with prevarication and procrastination. Meetings were Within a term, the schools were able to align their and Academies Trust. Bedfordshire Schools Trust.
Talent hunters
Leadership Q&A
How do we apply for a group passport to
Steve Munby reports on the courses on offer at the
be used on a school trip?
National College to help find the leaders of the future
SCHOOL TRIPS are often the most
exciting events of the academic year for
Supporting documents
WHAT IS the National College’s role in developing the The programme is designed to prepare people to step students. However, for teachers, they When applying for a collective
leaders of the future? Leading from the Middle continues up to NPQH within three years and then go on to their can be the most stressful. passport, you must provide several
to be a popular and over-subscribed programme. Heads first headship. It is designed to support and develop the If you are taking a large group supporting documents. These include
tell us that it can really make a difference in developing very best potential headteachers in the country. Those of students away, obtaining a group signed parental consent forms for each
middle leaders and enabling them to lead improvement who apply and get through the assessment centre will passport can be a huge help. For child and a supporting letter for each
in their teams back at school. receive a coach and will then have a choice of two starters you will eliminate the danger application or organisation involved.
Recently, we have introduced a new, cluster-based routes. of pupils losing their passports, and DirectGov also stresses the need for a
approach to middle leadership development, whereby If they want to lead in a challenging urban the time spent processing individual collective passport photo card which can
groups of schools apply to lead National College secondary school in certain areas of the country then documents. be ordered from the Durham Passport
middle leadership provision for themselves. they can embark upon the Future Leaders programme. Office by email. Note that each child
Our role is to train and license as facilitators one If they want to lead in a primary, special or non-urban
Who can use a collective passport?
must sign their card before travel.
or two members of staff from each cluster. Once the secondary then they can embark upon the Tomorrow’s The Home Office’s Identity and Passport Service
facilitators have been licensed then the College’s middle Heads programme. Whichever route they choose, they (IPS) advises that a number of factors determine
Fees and checklist
leadership materials are given to the cluster to use as will receive training and development, including a whether your school can apply for a collective Finally, before you apply for a collective passport,
they see fit. placement in another school as part of their learning. passport. it is advisable to check whether this sort of passport
Clusters can then use the time flexibly in a way NPQH remains the benchmark qualification for The following types of group can apply according can be used in the country that you intend to visit,
that best suits their needs, such as through twilight headship. It is now more targeted at those who have the to DirectGov: approved groups of students planning whether there are any restrictions on your travel,
sessions and school INSET, as well as being able to skills and experience necessary to secure a headship to travel together overseas; groups of between five and whether you need to apply for individual
make sure that the materials themselves are bespoke and within 18 months. and 50 pupils; groups where children are under the visas.
applicable to the context of the cluster. We have 38 pilot Only those who really want to become heads can age of 18 years; groups where everyone is a British The Foreign and Commonwealth Office website
clusters around the country and we hope to be inviting now get on the programme, ensuring that a higher national. gives detailed up-to-date travel advice by country.
applications for another 150 soon. proportion of those who graduate will go on to headship In addition, you must appoint a group leader and The total fee for a collective passport is £39. This
Elsewhere, our Leadership Pathways programme is in the short term. should ideally also have a deputy leader. They must is the cost per application rather than the cost per
there for those who are already senior leaders or close The NPQH itself includes a placement in a school be over 21 years of age and hold a valid 10-year person included on the application. It usually takes
to the role. and input from practising headteachers. British passport. six weeks for the application to be processed.
Three quarters of places on Leadership Pathways But programmes alone will not ensure that we get Make sure that you leave enough time for the
are reserved for serving members of the leadership the best people. You cannot simply design a programme
Application forms
application to be completed, processed and returned.
team and it is now in a very real sense the precursor and watch people come. You must complete and submit a specific And enjoy your journey!
to NPQH. Leadership Pathways provides participants We need you, our current leaders, to be talent application form for a collective passport, ensuring
with a coach and a highly personalised development hunters; to identify those individuals who you think will that you return it both via mail and email. You can • Answer by Caroline Cochrane, specialist researcher
programme to meet their needs. make the grade, and then encourage and support them download the form from the DirectGov website, for The Key, the national guidance and support service
In addition, we have now introduced a brand new towards their next step in leadership. SecEd request it via email from the Passport Office in for school leaders in maintained schools in England.
programme – Accelerate to Headship – which aims Durham, or request it via phone on the IPS Passport The service provides tailor-made practical answers
to give talented and ambitious individuals who are • Steve Munby is chief executive of the National College advice line. to questions on all aspects of school leadership and
determined to become a headteacher within four or five for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services. DirectGov advises that filling in the form online is management. For more information or to subscribe
years the accelerated learning and development they For further details on Accelerate to Headship, go to the fastest and most secure way to complete it. go to www.usethekey.org.uk
need to achieve this goal. www.nationalcollege.org.uk/ath
SecEd • March 18 2010 13
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