1. National Professional Qualification for Senior Leadership
Succeeding in Senior Leadership
Your facilitators today are:
Name 1
Name 2

2. Session 1: Overview Additional Resources
NPQEL
NPQH
NPQSL
NPQML
Executive Leadership
Headship
Senior Leadership
Middle Leadership
Leading across several schools
Leading a school
Leading across a school
Leading a team
Those who are, or are aspiring to become, an executive headteacher or CEO of a MAT with responsibility for leading across several schools.
Those who are, or are aspiring to become a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school.
Those who are, or are aspiring to become a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.
Those who are, or are aspiring to become a middle leader with responsibility for leading a team.
Explain where they fit in the bigger picture of the programme.
Additional Resources
Online learning, 360 Diagnostic survey, Coaching, learning journal.
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3. NPQ Curriculum Framework:
National Professional Qualification  The curriculum framework is built around six content areas and seven leadership behaviours, all of which are common to each level of NPQ, enabling leaders to develop the depth and breadth of knowledge and experience progressively through the levels.
The six content areas set out what a leader should know or be able to do:
Strategy and Improvement
Teaching and Curriculum Excellence
Leading with Impact
The seven leadership behaviours focus on how the best leaders operate:
Commitment
Collaboration
Personal Drive
Resilience
Working in Partnership
Managing Resources and Risks
Increasing Capability
Awareness
Integrity
Respect
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4. NPQSL – Leading across a school
In addition to the 5 face-to-face (F2F) sessions detailed below, the NPQSL programme follows a blended learning format. This consists of workplace learning and practice activities, peer and facilitated learning, reading, structured reflection, online learning and a 360 diagnostic assessment.
Day 1
Succeeding in Senior Leadership
Day 2
Leading Learning and Teaching
Day 3
Leading with Impact
Day 4
Leading Effective Partnerships
Day 5
Leading Strategically
Assessment for the qualification is through a school based improvement project.
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5. Today During this introductory day you will:
Be introduced to the expectations, structure and content of the programme. (Session 1)
Recognise the importance of clarity around vision and values, particularly in the context of own setting. (Sessions 2 and 3)
Ensure your vision and values are reflected in the day to day realities of life in your school. (Session 4)
Understanding meaning and value of data in a school context. (Session 5)
Examine your characteristics as a leader and the impact you have on others. (Sessions 6,7 and 8)
Develop your thinking around your school based project.
(Session 8)
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6. Session 2: Succeeding in Senior Leadership – context.
“Leaders need an intelligent gaze, to be able to look at themselves in the mirror of self-awareness and reflect on who they are as people.
If leaders know themselves they are more likely to effectively lead the development of people and organisations. It could be argued that you cannot lead others effectively if you cannot lead yourself”.
Kenning 2002, p3
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7. Session 2: Succeeding in Senior Leadership – context.
In your groups of 4
Introduce yourself and describe the context of your setting using what you have brought to today’s session.
What is your leadership role?
As a member of the group.
Probe and challenge to secure a ‘tight’ and supported description of the context and a clear understanding of the impact of the person’s leadership role.
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9. Session 3: Succeeding in Senior Leadership – Linking theory with practice regarding vision
Having read the articles prior to this session (Stoll, Earley and Bundrett)
Discuss the following in tables:
How do you set the vision?
Does the concept of school as a learning organisation resonate in your policies and practices?
How do you make the vision meaningful?
What is the content of the vision?
Collaboratively create a vision statement on your table.
Each table to present their vision statement.
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10. Session 3 : Vision and values in Senior Leadership
Reflect on the following issues:
How important is creating a vision for your school?
Everyone is supposed to do it, but just how robust a concept is it?
How real is the vision in your school? Does it, for example, guide specific actions for you?
Is everybody signed up to the vision?
If you asked a parent what the school’s vision is, could they tell you (and explain how it specifically reveals itself in the day-to-day workings of the school)?
Give the participants time to write in their portfolio key action points that they need to take back to school from this activity.
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11. Session 4: Vision and Values in Senior Leadership.
Individually and without anyone else seeing, write an explanation of how your photos show the school’s values in action, and who is involved.
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12. Session 4: Vision and Values in Senior Leadership.
In pairs show your photos to your partner. Allow them to describe the values that they believe are shown in them. How close were they to your perception?
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13. Session 5: the role for data in strategy and planning.
Does the data tell the whole story about your school?
In pairs: swap data that you have bought to the session and spend 10 minutes analysing it; posing questions to ask, and action points that the school needs to consider: e.g. vulnerable groups, achievement of pupil premium, gifted and talented groups.
How is the data rich enough to capture what is important for your school’s vision?
Present your interpretation of the data and questions it poses, and 3 key action points. 
Repeat
Participants to discuss in the context of vision and values where data situates itself.
E.g. do people look at your data in choosing the school or look at the vision and values? Or do they reflect each other.
In pairs: swop data that you have bought to the session and spend 10 minutes looking at it analysing it and posing questions to ask and action points that the school needs to consider e.g. vulnerable groups, achievement of pupil premium, gifted and talented group
Present your interpretation of the data and questions it poses and 3 key action points.
Repeat
Whole group- discuss surprises about the data, how does it make you feel as a senior leader, what implications does it have for your role as a senior leader. Are there any conflicts between how you see the school and what the data says about the school.
e.g. if vision is achievement for all, achieving potential but gaps are identified with certain groups how would OFSTED interpret that and what you say to them?
What would your narrative and case studies be to put your case.
What would a richer and more extended richer data set add to an understanding of your school?
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14. Session 5: the role for data in strategy and planning.
Whole group:
Discuss any surprises in the data.
How does it make you feel as a senior leader?
What implications does it have for your role as a senior leader?
Are there any conflicts between how you see the school, and what the data says about the school?
e.g. if a vision is achievement for all, achieving potential - but gaps are identified with certain groups…how would OFSTED interpret that, and what you say to them?
What would your narrative and case studies be to put your case?
Participants to discuss in the context of vision and values where data situates itself.
E.g. do people look at your data in choosing the school or look at the vision and values? Or do they reflect each other.
In pairs: swop data that you have bought to the session and spend 10 minutes looking at it analysing it and posing questions to ask and action points that the school needs to consider e.g. vulnerable groups, achievement of pupil premium, gifted and talented group
Present your interpretation of the data and questions it poses and 3 key action points.
Repeat
Whole group- discuss surprises about the data, how does it make you feel as a senior leader, what implications does it have for your role as a senior leader. Are there any conflicts between how you see the school and what the data says about the school.
e.g. if vision is achievement for all, achieving potential but gaps are identified with certain groups how would OFSTED interpret that and what you say to them?
What would your narrative and case studies be to put your case.
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15. Session 6: the attributes of an effective leader.
John West-Burnham has said that there are 3 parts for effective leadership:
Understanding context
Understanding self
Understanding leadership
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16. Session 6: the attributes of an effective leader.
Question:
How does the document you have help you to conceptualise what effective senior leadership looks like?
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17. Session 6: the attributes of an effective leader.
Share key points from documents.
What distinguishes senior leadership from middle leadership?
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18. Session 6: the attributes of an effective leader.
Pick three leadership attributes or competencies that struck you as interesting, that you had not thought about, or that you felt you would like to develop.
What difference would it make to your leadership role in your context, if you developed these?
Share with a partner and discuss.
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20. Session 7: Reflections
Did you interpret the picture in a different way to others?
Were you surprised by this?
What did you learn about the way others think, and even how you think?
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21. Session 8: your school-based project.
Your project must:
Extend over a minimum of 2 terms.
Demonstrate whole school impact.
Feature in your school improvement plan.
Enable you to show that you have covered the 6 content areas, and can apply the learning from the programme in a reflective manner.
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22. Session 8: your school-based project.
Group discussion of the thoughts generated in the pre-session activity.
Participants use negative brainstorm to evaluate ideas, ie: they raise the weaknesses and threats to the proposals.
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23. Session 8: your school-based assignment.
Share on your table 2 of the 3 possibilities you considered.
In pairs have a coaching-style conversation
to create an action plan.
Where you want to be with the project.
The situation now.
The actions to get there.
What data is needed?
Coaching conversation to create an action plan for the assignment.
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24. Session 9 – Evaluation: Succeeding in Senior Leadership
Impact on you as a leader.
What attributes do you need to give greater emphasis to as a senior leader?
Impact on your staff.
How will you develop leadership attributes in your colleagues?
Impact on your school.
Does the qualitative and quantitative data currently used really demonstrate the vision and values of the school?
Impact on your project.
What is your next step?
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25. Evaluation Thank you for your engagement and contribution today.
Please help us to develop by completing the evaluation.
Have a safe journey home.
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26. Discussion Forum Learning Journal
Record your thoughts and reflections in your Learning Journal.
Discussion Forum
Engage with the discussion topic outlined by your facilitator(s) using the online discussion forum.
Alternatively, initiate a conversation using the online discussion forum relating to the module content or any other issue affecting education today.

27. Contact Us LeadershipColab@ucl.ac.uk CoLabMoodle@ucl.ac.uk
General enquiries:
Face-to-face sessions:
Technical support:
Finance:
@LeadershipCoLab
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