National College for
Teaching & Leadership
Specialist leaders of education (SLEs)
Teaching schools WebEx – 1st October 2013
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Aims of this session:
To provide cohort three teaching schools with an overview of the
SLE programme, highlighting the process, guidance
documentation and timelines for October 2013 application round.
Who are specialist leaders of education?
• SLEs are outstanding middle and senior leaders in positions
below the headteacher - Although they must be outstanding at
what they do, they do not have to come from outstanding schools
• SLEs have at least two years’ experience in and excellent
knowledge of a particular field of expertise
• SLEs have a minimum of two years’ experience in a leadership
role within a school or an academy
• SLEs must have the necessary skills, experience, track record
and capacity
• Hold a specialism included within the SLE directory of expertise
What will SLEs do?
• SLEs will be deployed as ‘system leaders’
• SLEs contribute significantly to improving the outcomes for children
through developing the capacity of peer leaders in other schools
• Support other individuals or teams, in similar positions in other
schools
• Be flexible to meet the needs of supported schools
• Help schools to improve their own leadership capacity
SLE programme – key facts
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There are currently just over 2500 SLEs designated from three
recruitment rounds
Target is to designate a 1,500 SLEs in 2013-14 in line with the
teaching schools model
Cohort 4 is open 2 – 23 October 2013
256 teaching schools recruiting SLEs
Application information for applicants is available on the NCTL
website www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/sle/sle-apply
SLE stats
Recruitment
Cohort 1 SLEs
Cohort 2 SLEs
Cohort 3 SLEs
Total number of SLEs
920
989
627
2536
covering 143 Local
Authorities (94% coverage)
Designation
By phase:
Primary
922
36.4%
Top 5 SLE specialisms
English
Maths
Leadership of CPD
Leadership of curriculum
ITT/NQT
Secondary
1474
58.1%
Special
140
5.5%
No. of SLEs
518
424
295
428
329
SLE training model
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SLE core training is mandatory (one day )
Option for SLEs to attend two enrichment modules within a 12month
period
Ashton on Mersey School lead training school
16 training schools designated around the country to deliver training–
details on the SLE webpages
Training model rated very highly – 97% of cohort 2 SLEs rated the
training a Good or Excellent
SLE deployment
• There is no pre-defined time commitment for a deployment, as
models and types of deployments will vary
• A ‘commission’ will be negotiated before a deployment
commences. This will outline objectives, intended outcomes,
timescale and expected time commitment
• Teaching schools will quality assure deployments and evaluate their
impact
• Funding arrangements for SLE deployments are a matter of local
agreement within the teaching school alliance
Role of the teaching school
Teaching schools are responsible for:
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Recruiting SLEs (priorities of teaching school alliance)
Sifting applications, assessing and designating SLEs
Brokering SLE deployments
Quality assuring SLE deployments
Application process
The SLE application form consists of two parts, and is accessible from
2nd October
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Part 1 of the application is completed online via the NCTL website.
Applicants need to be registered as a member of the College in
order to complete the form.
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Part 2 of the application form is a downloadable Word document and
is completed by both the applicant and their headteacher referee.
Part 2 is uploaded to part 1 by the referee.
We highly recommend application guidance is read before
beginning an application. It is available on the weblink above.
Before applying, applicants should:
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check they meet the eligibility criteria, available here.
check their specialism is listed on the area of expertise
speak to their headteacher who is required to provide a reference for
their application
identify which teaching school alliance they are applying to
read the application guidance and all the information in the ‘how to
apply’ section of the website
download part 2 of the application form
Next steps for applicant
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Applicant will receive automatic confirmation of submission email
once part 2 is successfully uploaded to part 1.
At the end of the application window, applications will be batched
and sent to relevant teaching school alliances by 4 November.
Applicants to be contacted by their teaching school alliance after 28
November.
Successful applicants to attend core training Jan to March 2014
(certificate to be handed to them at the core training day)
Appeals and review of designation
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Applicants able to appeal against their designation outcome –
within a month of notification of email. Applicant to progress
the issue with the teaching school in the first instance
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Review of designation policy updated
Both policies are contained within the SLE toolkit and on the
website
Cohort 4 Key dates
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2 – 23 October(midnight): SLE application window
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4 November: File transfer download activated and applications sent to
teaching schools
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5 - 28 November: The interview and assessment process for applicants
(window)
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29 November: Submission deadline for designation recommendations
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By 6 December: Review and confirmation of designations data by the
National College
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By 13 December: Teaching Schools confirm designations to SLEs
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January – March 2014: Core training for designated SLEs
Links to helpful resources
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Each teaching school recruiting has identified their priorities and an SLE
vacancies list is available for applicants to access at
http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/docinfo?id=176950&filename=te
aching-schools-alliance-priorities.pdf
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An SLE toolkit has been developed which provides comprehensive guidance
about each step of the process – accessible via the teaching school online
community https://network.nationalcollege.org.uk/group_activities/48237
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Application link will be made available on the SLE webpages in the ‘Apply’
section at http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/index/support-forschools/specialist-leaders-of-education-programme/sle-apply.htm
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Some SLE case studies have also been developed to highlight impact of
SLE programme http://www.education.gov.uk/nationalcollege/index/supportfor-schools/specialist-leaders-of-education-programme/sle-examples-inpractice.htme
Support for teaching schools
Support available from the SLE team at:
SLE.enquiries@education.gsi.gov.uk
The team:
Eddie Haynes – Executive Assistant
Chrissie Carter – Executive Officer
Scott Caine – Manager
Rachel Newton – Senior Manager
John Stephens – Deputy Director, Teaching Schools
NCTL helpdesk number for applicants 0845 6090009
Any questions?