Members' library

• Leading schools
  • Developing your leadership
    • Middle leadership
      • Middle leadership in primary schools
        • Set direction and plan
        • Innovate and lead change
        • Motivate and influence others
        • Professional expertise and knowledge
        • Teams and teamwork
        • Value inclusion
        • Role of the headteacher

Value and inclusion

Middle leaders help to create an environment in which every child feels valued and secure and can succeed. This requires a whole-school commitment to meeting the needs of every pupil, and demands effective structures and systems to identify and remove barriers to learning.

The video clip shows Bernie Mukasa who is from Arglye Primary School, Camden. She has been responsible for guiding the school through a new approach to the curriculum, in which Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education is at the heart of children’s learning and influences the teaching of all subjects. Innovating and leading change has, therefore, been a strong feature of Bernie’s leadership and she has had to motivate and influence teachers and learning assistants across all year groups.

Ian Read is a middle leader at Birley Spa Community School, Sheffield and leads policy and practice on inclusion.

Ian’s leadership is focused on ensuring that the needs of each individual, from gifted and talented pupils to those with special educational needs, are being met. His role requires structures and systems that enable him to influence what the school provides for its learners, and makes use of daily dialogue with teachers, learning assistants and pupils themselves.

"My role has been all about making the school environment a place where learning is ready to take place and that goes from the individual-child level up to a whole-school level where you’re setting up initiatives that support the learning environment. It involves removing barriers to learning that are largely outside lesson time but will impact on a child’s performance in the classroom."

Tess Trewinnard is a middle leader at Boxgrove Primary School, Abingdon and develops international links and creativity for learning. She also leads the Foundation Stage team, which focuses on the continuity of learning between Year R and Year 1. Tess’s leadership of the international work, which impacts on the curriculum as well as on the professional development of the staff, has strong elements of innovation and leading change combined with setting direction and planning.

We asked Tess what she thought was key to being a successful middle leader.

"For me, leading is always wanting to do better than you’ve done before - thinking about new ways to do that; new ways for the children to learn. Because I’ve had such amazing opportunities to reflect on my own practice, I’ve been able to bring some of those good ideas and good practice back into our setting and that’s helped to move our school forward."

View a transcript of this video