Mark Lehain is leaving his role as the director of the Parents and Teachers for Excellence group, Tes can reveal.

The former free school headteacher will be stepping down at the end of this month after spending the past two years as the campaign’s director.

PTE said that it has started the process of recruiting his replacement and will make an announcement shortly.

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The group has also announced plans today to create a new regional schools hub - PTE North -  to allow schools in the North to learn from one another.

Mr Lehain became PTE’s first campaign director in 2017 having previously been the founding head of Bedford Free School.  

Last  year he also worked as interim director of New Schools Network, a government backed charity which supports the creation of free schools. 

Mr Lehain said: “Schools have come so far in recent years, especially as the wider system has got to grips with the freedoms it has to transform lives.

“We know what it takes to make every school a great school - warm-strict cultures and a knowledge-rich curriculum - and I’m proud of the small part I’ve been able to play in spreading other people’s wonderful ideas.”

Dame Rachel de Souza, PTE’s co-founder and chief executive of Inspiration Trust, said: “It’s been a real pleasure working with Mark.

“PTE wants educational excellence for every child, and his combination of frontline experience, policy prowess, and energy has delivered so much in support of this.

“We wish him every success with his next steps, and are delighted that he will remain involved with us as chair of the PTE Network.

Everyone wants to make things better

Mr Lehain told Tes that his next role would be devoted to improving debates and conversations in other areas of policy.

He has been at the forefront of debate around education for much of  the past decade as an advocate for a knowledge-rich curriculum, traditional approach to behaviour management and for the free school movement.

He said: “I think generally the quality of conversation in education is good.

“Sometimes people will disagree and something things can get heated but I think the good thing about education is that everyone wants to make things better and when we disagree it is about how we want do that.”

He also highlighted the importance of PTE setting up regional hubs to allow schools to share their approaches to support improvement.

He said: “Amazing things are going on and every area is stepping up to their challenges in the way that works for them.

“Huge amount of progress is being made, I think there is probably more exciting stuff going on up north than there is down south because you have got your Outwoods, your Deltas, your Dixons, your Astreas, the Northern Alliance...

“If you come a bit further south into the Midlands, look at what the David Ross Education Trust (DRET) is doing now they have gone warm-strict with their schools there is a lot is happening.” 

The steering group for the new PTE North group will be chaired by Helena Brothwell, the regional director of DRET.