Are you a new Headteacher? Available alongside the NPQ in Headship (NPQH), the Early Headship Coaching Offer provides you with personalised support to help you solve problems relevant to your school context. You’ll draw on the expertise of an experienced Headteacher with on-to-one coaching to help you thrive in your new headship role.
- Personalised, tailored support to your role
- One-to-one expert coaching and school visits
- Access to an experienced Headteacher
- Get help applying expertise from your NPQH to your context
The EHCO provides you with tailored, personalised support to apply knowledge from the NPQH to your school context. Ambition Institute has designed this support offer for new Headteachers to accompany the NPQ in Headship to help you put the evidence and expertise form your NPQH into practice in your school setting.
Over three terms you will benefit from expert guidance from an experienced, serving Headteacher who works in a similar setting or phase, to help you apply expertise from the NPQH, to overcome the challenges and complex problems you face in your day-to-day role.
You will also gain an effective peer community with a small group of Headteachers facing similar challenges as you, providing a network that lasts long after you’ve completed the EHCO.
It is flexible to fit around your new headship role. Ambition’s ‘little and often’ approach uses the latest research to help you apply your learning to context specific problems. The EHCO will empower you to be an effective and confident Headteacher.
Benefits for you
Get ongoing personal support
Being new to a headship role can be daunting. The EHCO will help you to find your feet by identifying your priorities and looking at structured, practical ways to tackle context specific problems.
Receive one-to-one coaching
You will get one-to-one coaching from an expert Headteacher who can provide support, insight and feedback to help you deal with the specific challenges you are facing in your school.
School shadowing experience
Contextualise your NPQH expertise in a real school setting by shadowing an experienced Headteacher. Your coach will explain the steps they have undertaken, their rationale, and any obstacles they have overcome in their school, supporting you to understand how they have applied expertise to their practice.
Connect with your peers
You will work with other Headteachers in similar positions, to create networks and solve problems. These online sessions will explore the common challenges you are experiencing and help you overcome them.
Benefits for your school
Improve staff retention
An investment in your new Headteacher shows your commitment to their career progression and job satisfaction. This means they will be more likely to stay in their post and become an effective leader.
Learn from experts
Your Headteacher will receive one-to-one coaching and support from an experienced Headteacher who will share their knowledge and professional insight.
Tackle existing challenges
Coaching and shadowing will focus on applying expertise from the NPQH to the problems your Headteacher might be experiencing in their role. They will be guided by expert coaches to arrive at effective solutions to tackle the problems they face in their school.
Create a positive school culture
A Headteacher that feels supported and has the training and tools to create positive change, will lead to a happier workforce, better teaching and more positive outcomes for your pupils.
What you will learn
The Early Headship Coaching Offer is tailored to your needs with the content covered focused on your school’s specific challenges.
It is structured around the persistent problems of school leadership. Participants can select from these topics and personalise the course to support are they want to develop expertise in. Each Headteacher will select three persistent problems over the duration of the course.
- School culture: Establishing a professional and support school culture and encouraging staff to contribute.
- Learning and development: Ensuring effective approaches to professional learning and development.
- Curriculum: Organising and teaching the curriculum.
- Behaviour: Attending to pupil behaviour and wider circumstances.
- School improvement: Analysing and diagnosing problems, planning and implementing strategies for continuous educational improvement.
- Administration: Managing an efficient and effective organisation.
How you will learn
Your context specific problem will be developed through one-to-one coaching sessions with an experienced Headteacher. You will be able to shadow an expert Headteacher, engaging in a range of activities which will help you to better understand your problem and possible solutions. You will also have regular peer-group discussions with other Headteachers via online vie conferencing, to work through work-related dilemmas.
Note: programme content is subject to change.
DfE-funded scholarships are available for new Headteachers. New Headteachers are eligible for this targeted support package if you meet all these criteria:
- work in a state-funded school in England
- are in your first five years of headship
- have previously completed an NPQH, are applying for an NPQH, or are currently doing an NPQH with us or another provider
If you do not work in an eligible school, the Early Headship Coaching Offer costs £800 plus VAT.
Funding
As part of the government’s long-term education recovery plan, it was announced in May 2022 that funding for fully funded NPQ training scholarships will be available in academic years 2022 to 2023 and 2023 to 2024.
Eligibility
From autumn 2022, the organisations eligible to access scholarships are:
- state-funded schools
- state-funded 16 to 19 organisations
- independent special schools
- virtual schools (local-authority-run organisations that support the education of children in care)
- hospital schools not already included in other categories of eligible organisations
- young offender institutions
Practising teachers employed by local authorities, such as supply teachers, will also be able to access scholarships.
Teachers and leaders who are employed as above are eligible for training scholarships for all 8 NPQs.
Support fund for small schools – Targeted support funding
The Department has updated the Targeted Support Fund offer for the 2023 to 2024 academic year to further incentivise state-funded schools and state-funded 16 to 19 educational settings in England to participate in NPQs.
For each teacher or leader they employ who takes an NPQ in the 2023 to 2024 academic year:
- state-funded primary schools with one to 150 pupils will receive a grant payment of £800
- state-funded primary schools with more than 150 pupils will receive a grant payment of £200
- state-funded secondary schools and state-funded 16 to 19 educational settings with one to 600 pupils will receive a grant payment of £200
Targeted support funding is not available for participants taking the early headship coaching offer unless they’re also taking another NPQ course.
