For schools and trusts looking to develop future leaders there are a range of National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) available, and a seemingly endless array of leadership development approaches and programmes, too.
This offers plenty of choice, but such courses lack knowledge of the context of a specific trust and its strategy.
That is why at Windsor Academy Trust (WAT) we wanted to create a leadership development programme that would align with our leadership identity and the shared language of what that looks like.
Our leadership development pathway, called “What makes a WAT leader”, is in its first year of full implementation. It is designed for all senior leaders across our trust, including those in central and executive teams.
Developing future school leaders
The idea was not to shun NPQs (we still use these) but to build a programme based on a bespoke leadership framework that considers the criteria needed to lead effectively in line with our trust’s values and moral purpose.
We enlisted the support of Anne-Marie Duguid, co-founder of Enabling Leaders, to develop the programme, the tools and the self-evaluation framework that underpin it. So what does it entail?
The first iteration of the framework was created by the trust central team with Anne-Marie and then shared with leaders, who were invited to help shape it through feedback and collaboration.
This was an essential part of the process: leaders saw their words and language used within the leadership criteria and felt that they had ownership and involvement in the creation of the framework.
Our framework now focuses on two core aspects of leadership:
- Developing the values, attributes and competencies that leaders should demonstrate to lead effectively within WAT.
- Developing the skills for leading others and delivering on the WAT strategy.
Coach support
Of course, leaders on the WAT programme require support. We decided to implement a coaching model, and they are coached by a leader already in the trust.
This meant that we had to train these coaching leaders on how to be an effective leadership coach, including modelling scenarios for coaching conversations.
With this system in place, those on the programme could review their confidence levels against each of the leadership components, which were then discussed in a coaching conversation with their line manager.
More on professional development:
Programme participants could talk about how they could improve, as required, through professional learning opportunities, such as reading a relevant leadership book, engaging in a World Education Summit session or enrolling on a particular training course.
As well as these conversations taking place, the scores from individual self-reviews are inputted into a tool, designed by Anne-Marie, Diana Osagie and the Enabling Leaders team.
This allows us to map scores against each component of the framework, giving us a holistic, at-a-glance view both within individual schools and across the trust, showing what we need to focus on at a trust level.
Ongoing feedback
Following the coaching conversations, which confirm an agreed review score for each area, we then use those validated scores to identify individuals who excel in the areas that we need to address. Our next step will be to work with those individuals to develop either one-to-ones, group sessions or shadowing opportunities.
It’s early days but the first round of self-assessment has given us insights in both areas, and work to develop skills in these areas is now underway.
What’s more, feedback has been excellent, with colleagues not only valuing the programme as a way to help them grow their skills as leaders but also to help them feel positive that they can take on the challenge of leadership.
Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership. Our leadership development is carefully crafted to meet our leaders’ needs. It recognises the specific context of our trust, is aligned to WAT values and delivers in a time and manner that suits our leaders.
This is precisely why we embarked on this journey - to enable leaders to be the best they can be.
Leyla Palmer is head of professional learning and talent at Windsor Academy Trust
