Tudor Grange Academy
Specialist Leaders of Education

 

Contents
Overview
Who can apply
Criteria
Closing date
What a Specialist Leader of Education does
Time commitment
Application
Dates for recruitment in 2017 are as follows
Selection Process
Application form
Appendix 1
Pricing Structure:
Complaint Procedure
Appendix
Policy for Reviewing Designation
Appendix 3:
SLE de-designation criteria

Overview
If you are an experienced or middle leader, or equivalent (see Appendix for Clarification of Terms) and you would like to work with leaders in other schools to improve pupil outcomes, you might want to consider applying to be a Specialist Leader of Education.
In addition to continuing the work in your own school (which includes maintained, faith, free, academy or equivalent), you would have a school improvement role with another school or schools. Work may be commissioned to support schools in challenging circumstances, or not. SLEs may operate as a discrete part of a bigger project, or stand-alone, but ultimately, the aim for all work is to drive forward school improvement. The impact of work is measured carefully. 
The goal of the Specialist Leaders of Education is to increase the leadership capacity of other schools to help raise standards. This is an important element of the government’s plan to give schools a central role in developing a self-improving and sustainable school-led system.

For further information regarding designation, please contact the following:
Hannah Lester 	teachingschool@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk . 
You may wish to consult the DfE guidance, which can be found by following this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/431968/sle-application-guidance.pdf

Who can apply
To become a Specialist Leader of Education, you and your school need to meet the following criteria.
Criteria 
To be eligible to be a Specialist Leader of Education, you must:
•	have at least 2 years of experience as a serving leader (not a headteacher)
•	have the support of your school’s head teacher or principal
•	commit to the time expectations.
•	Have a specialism in any one (or more) of the following areas: 

Ofsted focus	Areas of expertise	
Effectiveness of leadership and management	Academies; leadership of continuing professional development; school business management and financial management; leadership of curriculum	
Outcomes for children and other learners	Art; closing the gap; drama; design and technology; early years; English; geography; history; information and communication technology; maths; modern foreign languages; music; phonics; physical education; personal, social and health education; religious education; science; special educational needs; support for the most able pupils	
Quality of teaching, learning and assessment	Initial teacher training; assessment	
Personal development, behaviour and welfare	Behaviour and discipline; attendance	
	
Closing date
The application round is currently open.	
•	Closing date for applications is 1pm 20th November 2017

Information on future application rounds will be circulated in due course. .
What a Specialist Leader of Education does
SLEs focus on developing leadership capacity. While other roles focus specifically on developing classroom expertise, this role is about developing the capacity and capability of other leaders so that they have the skills to lead their own teams and improve practice in their own schools.

This may be done through one-to-one or group support and could involve a variety of activities, such as:
•	data analysis
•	coaching
•	facilitating and training
•	joint action planning
If selected, you’ll be expected to provide evidence that your work has had a positive impact on outcomes for children and young people by developing leadership capacity in other schools.
Time commitment
The role lasts for 4 years, at which time there’ll be a review. The types of placements will vary. For example, one might be a 2-day diagnostic exercise, while another might require a 3 month, full time support role. Time may be taken as a block of consecutive days or spread over a longer period.
There’s no minimum or maximum time commitment. You and your school will need to think carefully about capacity and negotiate your availability together.
Application
Dates for recruitment in 2017 are as follows
Action	Dates	
Raising awareness of applications and application form emailed	Monday 9th October 2017	
Application window	Up to Monday 13th November 2017 1pm	
References	To be received via email by Tuesday 28th November 2017	
Interviews	Wednesday 6th December 2017	
Panel to meet and ratify decisions	Thursday 14th December 2017	
Notification to successful applicants	Friday 15th December 2017	
Orientation sessions for SLEs	Tuesday 23rd January 2018 @ 1.30 pm	

Selection Process
•	Each applicant completes an application form
•	A reference on each applicant will be requested from the Headteacher of the applicant’s school
•	Applications will be assessed, and successful applicants will be invited to interview
•	Interview panels will consist of colleagues from Tudor Grange teaching School and its partners
•	Successful applicants will be required to attend the orientation sessions (see above) prior to deployment
•	Each successful SLE will be aligned to a Tudor Grange Teaching School 
•	Unsuccessful applicants will be given developmental feedback and offered the opportunity to apply at a later stage

•	Application Process

Application form
Section 1 
Application form (to be completed by the SLE applicant)

Applicant details
Title		
Surname		
First name		
Role		
School		
Address		
Phone		
Email		
Tudor Grange will use this information to contact you.

Teaching School Alliance you wish to consider your application. 		

School phase	

Your specialism

Please indicate the specialist area(s) that you wish to be designated for. 
Please tick all that apply. 

Specialism	Mark your specialism with a tick ()	Length of time in role (this should be at least two years)	
Leadership and management	
Academies and academy transition			
Leadership of continuing professional development (CPD)			
School business management and financial management			
Leadership of curriculum			
Pupil achievement	
Early years			
English			
Geography			
History			
Information and communications technology (ICT)			
Maths			
Music	 		
Modern foreign languages (MfL)			
Phonics			
Physical Education (PE)			
Science			
Special educational needs (SEN)			
Support for most able pupils			
Religious Education (RE)			
Quality of teaching	
Initial teacher training (ITT) and newly qualified teacher (NQT) development			
Behaviour and safety	
Behaviour and discipline			
Attendance			

Eligibility criteria confirmation

a) Do you hold a leadership role or responsibility within your school?  

Yes        	 No 

b) Please indicate how long you have been in this role. If less than two years, please provide details of your previous leadership role or responsibility. Please include the name of the school where the role was held.

	

Question 1
What motivates you to participate in system leadership?

Word limit: 300 words	

Question 2
Please outline the significant impact of your contribution as a leader to supporting leaders in other schools or to your own school’s performance. Please detail the impact and demonstrate clear evidence of your outstanding practice within your area(s) of expertise or specialism.

Word limit: 300 words	

Question 3 

Please provide examples of where you have worked sensitively and collaboratively with peer colleagues using coaching or facilitation skills to grow leadership capacity in others leading to sustainable improvements.

Word limit: 300 words	

Question 4  

Please provide a clear example of a time when you have significantly challenged, collaborated, motivated and/or inspired your colleagues to establish new, innovative working practices. What was the impact?

Word limit: 300 words	

Question 5 

Please give excerpts from Ofsted reports if your practice has been cited there and/or performance results/outcomes you have been accountable for in your area of work have been commented on. Please reference clearly the Ofsted report(s) where these comments are made as these may be verified.

Word limit: 300 words	

Additional information
Please provide any other information that demonstrates your expert knowledge in your field of expertise in support of your application. 

Word limit: 300 words	

Additional requirements
If you are successful, you will be invited to a face-to-face assessment at the teaching school alliance you have selected. If you have any special requirements that they should be aware of, please state these below. 

	

References:

Please provide the names and contact details of 2 refereees who are prepared to support your application.

Appendix 1
Pricing Structure:

General Principles:
The table below outlines the proposed Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire agreed daily consultancy rates for all schools; charges are based on a full day rate. For twilights/half days please pro-rata the charges.
The daily consultancy rates are based on the complexity of the work, rather than the role or designation of the person carrying it out; 
Some examples of the nature of the work are given for each charging band – this list is by no means exhaustive and is for illustration purposes only; colleagues recognise the wide range of support requests and the need for flexibility as school-to-school support partnerships develop.
Level of Deployment/Professionals Deployed	Examples of nature of the work	Client School Pays
	Commissioned School Receives	Hourly rate	TSA Retains	
COMPLEX WORK 
Head teacher/NLE/CSW LE/Head of School or equivalent 	•	Complex HR or governance work 
•	Multifaceted work with other agencies 
•	Bespoke school improvement work 
•	Safeguarding work 
•	Statement of action writing 
•	Report for HMI/external parties 	£550.00	£467.50	£91.666	£82.50	
TARGETTED OR TASK & FINISH WORK
Head teacher / NLE/ CSW LE / SLT Member/ SLE / SBM / lead practitioner etc	•	School Peer or Partnership review
•	Targeted work – Task & Finish 
•	Delivering training to whole school groups 
•	Head teacher coaching and mentoring 
•	CPD delivery to large groups 
•	Support to produce financial deficit repayment plan 	£450.00	£382.50	£75	£67.50	

Complaint Procedure
This is available on request

Appendix 
Policy for Reviewing Designation 

Review of Designation Panels are Teaching School-led and reviews may be undertaken at any time. 

The review of designation process consists of four stages: 
1. Identification: SLE is identified for a review of designation 
2. Notification of review: SLE is informed a review is required 
3. Supporting statement: SLE given the opportunity to submit a supporting statement 
4. Review of designation panel: A panel consisting of teaching school leaders who review the available evidence 
5. Moving On: When a SLE moves on, they should contact us at teachingschool@solihull.tgacademy.org.uk 
and we will agree the next steps. 

Stage ONE: Identification 

SLEs are identified for a review of designation for one or more of the following reasons: 
•	Eligibility: The SLE or school associated no longer meets the eligibility criteria
•	Misconduct: The SLE has behaved in a way which brings the LE role, Teaching School Alliance into disrepute
•	Delivery: The SLE has failed to demonstrate that they have met expectations in relation to delivery of the role 

	

	
Appendix 3: 
SLE de-designation criteria

CSW LEs will be eligible for de-designation if they meet one or more of the following criteria. The review of designation will determine the final outcome.
Area	Criterion	Potential outcomes for designation and frequency of review	Examples:	
Eligibility	An SLE no longer meets one or more of the current designation criteria	•	Retained
•	De-designated
•	Placed ‘under review’

Reviewed termly or as required	SLE no longer meets one or more of the eligibility criteria	
Professional misconduct	The SLE has behaved in a way which brings the role or Teaching School into disrepute.

Please note: this is in relation to the SLE designation and any cases of alleged serious misconduct can be referred to DfE under the teacher regulations. This is a separate process.	•	Retained
•	De-designated
•	Placed ‘under review’

Reviewed as required	The Review of Designation (RoD) Panel will seriously consider complaints which allege that an LE has engaged in professional misconduct. The preliminary stage of any complaints review will determine whether there are grounds for a review of designation.

The ROD Panel broadly defines professional misconduct as:

•	failure to behave in a way that upholds the reputation of the LE role and the Teaching School.
•	Failure to comply with Teachers’ Standards, as set out by the DfE.

Examples of behaviour and practice which may lead to de-designation under the misconduct criterion, include, but are not limited, to:

a)	withdrawal from a commitment (contractual or otherwise) to provide support to a school, without just cause and reasonable notice

b)	failure to meet terms and conditions agreed in the brokerage process of the LE deployment,  including conditions related to past or present grant funding

c)	withholding or misrepresenting any information in the LE application which may have materially affected the orginal decision

d)	involvement by the SLE in behaviour, including that outside their work in school, which brings into question their integrity or probity*

*Where a SLE has been suspended from his/her post pending investigation by an external body, the designation of the S LE will automatically be placed under review until such point as the investigation has concluded.
	
Delivery	A year or more has elapsed since the SLE has provided school-to-school support.	•	Retained
•	De-designated 
•	Placed ‘under review’ 

Reviewed annually or as required	A year or more has elapsed since the SLE has provided school-to-school support, despite being offered appropriate opportunities to do so by the Teaching School.

Examples of exemptions from this criterion include:

•	The SLE is suffering long-term illness
•	The SLE is on maternity/paternity/adoption/carer’s leave 
•	The SLE’s school is undertaking conversation to academy status; amalgamation, federation or other significant structural change (grace period of up to twelve months allowed)