Urban Expansion

Future Leaders

The background: Future Leaders is an accelerated development programme for aspiring headteachers, backed by a consortium including the National College for School Leadership and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. The programme is focused on urban secondary school leadership in particular.  Each participant joins the Future Leaders programme on a twelve month contract, which they spend as part of the senior leadership team in a school working in an area of urban challenge. Before September 2008, the programme operated only in London.

The challenge: In 2007, the Future Leaders programme was considering expansion beyond its Greater London base.  The organisation’s board was considering Greater Manchester as an additional location – but wanted to be sure that the area would provide a suitable environment for successful expansion beyond the Capital. Jane Creasy was appointed to undertake feasibility work for potential expansion to Manchester, who drew in Navigate to provide additional capacity for the study.

The solution: Navigate’s contribution to the feasibility study focused on generating interest in the programme with key stakeholders – especially local authorities - creating interest and enthusiasm for the aims of Future Leaders and the programme itself.  This involved a series of targeted meetings with policy makers, exploring ways in which Future Leaders could support local leadership development activities. Outcomes and recommendations were reported to the Future Leaders Board.
 
Following a successful feasibility study, Navigate worked to support implementation. We supported the successful recruitment of participating schools across the Greater Manchester area by building relationships with school leaders, as well as liaising with the DCSF Manchester Challenge initiative to ensure a complementary approach.

The result: Future Leaders launched successfully in Greater Manchester in September 2008 with 21 participants.