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Date: 12 Mar 2010
Address: http://www.nationalcollege.org.uk/index/about-us/national-college-role/policy-advice/leadership-today

Leadership today

The world of school, children’s centre and children’s services leadership is fast paced and complex and it can often be a challenge to keep up with key issues that affect you and your organisation. In this section you’ll find summaries of the key leadership issues that matter most to you.

Policy consultation

In the next few weeks there are a number of opportunities to take part in our monthly online discussions and live online WebEx meetings with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF), hosted by the National College, where leaders provide valuable feedback as policy is being developed by the DCSF. You must be a full member of the College to take part in policy consultations.

Our next consultations

  • Register for Pupil and Parent Guarantees, 17 March, 4.30pm
    DCSF's Jon Robinson will lead this discussion on the Pupil and Parent Guarantees. These guarentees bring together the key components of a good education. The focus throughout is on the entitlements and the responsibilities of pupils and parents. The guarantees will help to ensure that parents and pupils know what they can expect from schools, and they also spell out what schools can expect from parents and pupils in terms of their responsibilities to support schools. This consultation will seek views on whether the requirements for pupils, parents, schools and local authorities are clear and understandable, whether all the ‘musts' and ‘shoulds' detailed in the guarantees are correct, and whether the responsibilities and entitlements for schools, pupils and parents are correctly balanced.
  • Register for School Chains, 24 March, 4.30pm
    Jean Scott - head of policy at the College - will lead the discussion on School Chains. These chains of schools with common leadership and governance models are developing in a silent revolution. The growth of chains of schools, sponsored or run by the same foundation or charitable trust, is something that has emerged in the state school system in England over the last decade. They have come about either as a result of formal partnerships between schools - in the form of trusts or federations - or through the academies programme. 


    An independent report is available on the College website: Chain reactions - a thinkpiece on the development of chains of schools in the English schools system. It examines the silent revolution that has seen the chains agenda develop in the secondary school sector. It sets out the defining characteristics of a chain, identifies benefits from the growth of chains, and poses a number of questions about the future development of chains of schools before considering what this means for the primary sector.

Previous consultations

  • Replay Health and safety of learners outside the classroom, December 2009-January 2010.
    The health and safety of learners outside the classroom (HASLOC) consultation sought views and suggestions to help make an accessible, user-friendly and effective guide for front-line professionals. It involved an audience across all children’s services, in addition to schools. It set out details about sensible risk management, how to reduce red tape, flag up the lessons learned from serious incidents and how and why staff can expect to be treated fairly if a participant is injured despite their care.
  • Replay Drugs: Guidance for Schools, January 2010
    A discussion about the DCSF consultation, Drugs: Guidance for Schools. The purpose of the consultation is to gather views on the draft document, which provides guidance to maintained primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs) in England on all matter relating to drug education and the management of drugs within the school community. Read about the consultation on the DCSF website.
  • Replay DCSF Consultation on New Statutory Children's Trust Guidance and New Children and Young People's Plan Regulations, January 2010
    A discussion with colleagues leading this consultation about the guidance on children's trusts and children and young people's plan regulations moving into one piece of statutory guidance. The consultation runs until Friday 29 January 2010. Read about the consultation on the DCSF website.
  • Replay Sex and Relationships Education Guidance, February 2010
    This consultation gathered views on the DCSF's draft document, Sex and Relationships Education Guidance. This document provides guidance to maintained primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units (PRUs) in England on all matters relating to SRE, including how good quality SRE can be planned and delivered, how to develop an SRE policy, and how to support the health and social needs of all pupils with regard to sex and relationships. Headteachers and governing bodies are required by law to have regard to the guidance.
  • Replay Recording and reporting bullying between pupils and abuse against school staff, March 2010
    This consultation gathered the views of a wide range of stakeholders who work with local authorities, school staff and children and young people on bullying and staff grievance issues, on the scope of these new duties, and how best to support schools in implementing them.

National College consultations

As well as being involved in DCSF consultations, you can be part of the National College consultations. Read about current consultations relating to College activities and take part in our consultation groups: the National College consultation group, the membership scheme advisory group and the user feedback group for online services.