High performing schools in England are set to provide a new way to
help struggling counterparts make the most of their resources,
boost professional development opportunities for teachers, and
recruit and retain staff.
The Department for Education has today set out plans to launch a
£2m pilot to simplify how the Government supports underperforming
schools.
This builds on the successes of the Teaching Schools and National
Leaders of Education programmes by tasking them to lead nine
Teaching School Hubs across the country, to simplify and
strengthen the way schools support each other to improve.
More than 2,000 struggling schools will benefit from a three-year
programme of support to drive up standards with each Hub
supporting 200 to 300 schools, giving them access to the
expertise of some of the country’s highest performing school
leaders.
The scheme will be tested in areas including Sheffield, Bromley,
Northamptonshire and Bradford, from Autumn 2019 – with the
application window now open – ahead of a proposed national
roll-out of Teaching School Hubs in 2020/21.
Minister for the Schools System said:
We want to ensure our best system leaders are able to support
struggling schools in a way that is most efficient and
beneficial for all.
Each of the hubs will act as the centre point of an area’s
school improvement offer, which will be shared across the
region, with schools most in need benefiting the most from
these reforms through the improved levels of consistency and
quality in the support they receive.
A clear, transparent and accountable system of school-to-school
support is essential to the maintaining the high standards that
we are already seeing in today’s school system.
Today’s announcement builds on the launch of the first-ever
integrated recruitment and retention strategy, underscoring the
Government’s commitment to review the current system of school
leadership.
To complement the launch, the Department for Education has also
published a research report on school-to-school support, that
sets out there is still more to learn about the effectiveness of
partnerships and collaborations which the Teaching School Hubs
‘test-and-learn’ will help to address.
Richard Gill, Teaching Schools Council Chair said:
We believe that Teaching School Hubs will empower the system to
build on the excellent work that is already taking place in
many parts of the country, and ensure there is even stronger,
collaborative provision to meet any given local need.
Further information and details of how to apply can be found
on Contracts Finder.
