Leading Together
When your leadership team thrives, your pupils thrive.
A fully-funded, two-year programme to build stronger, more effective school leadership.
Stronger leadership. Lasting change.
Leading Together is a fully funded programme supporting senior leadership teams through expert coaching, tailored support and evidence-informed training.
We’ll help your school make lasting improvements for both staff and pupils.
Transform your leadership today.
At a glance
Length: 2 years
Cost: Fully-funded (worth £40,000)
Audience: Primary and secondary schools in England
Eligibility: Serving the most disadvantaged communities
Delivery: Hybrid
Start date: March 2026
How Leading Together works
What to expect?
Here’s how Leading Together can strengthen your leadership team:
- Build collective leadership, not just individual talent
- Support from a dedicated experienced senior leader
- Evidence-based training and bespoke school planning
- Sustainable change that lasts beyond the programme
- Develop the full leadership team – not just the head
What's included
Support that strengthens your leadership from day one:
- Tailored support from a former senior leader who has worked at schools in challenging circumstances
- 1:1 and team coaching grounded in your school’s context
- Learning modules focused on curriculum, assessment, planning and more
- Annual regional conference to collaborate and learn
- Ongoing support from the wider Teach First community
Programme structure
Over two years, the programme follows four phases:
- Diagnose: Understand your school’s unique challenges
- Build: Develop strategies and begin to test them
- Embed and drive: Deepen learning and refine practice
- Sustain: Create long-term systems and a culture of improvement
Ready to join us?
Transform your leadership today. This opportunity is too good to miss.
When Ofsted returned…they found a very different school.
What schools are saying
Proven results
94%
said it improved use of evidence-based leadership
100%
rated Achievement Partner support as good or very good
NFER study
showed improvements in curriculum, teaching quality and evaluation
Meet our supporting school leaders
Andy Bygrave
Andy is a visible leader with a proven track record of driving school improvement. He led a secondary school in Staffordshire out of Special Measures and helped build joint sixth form provision across four schools.
Caroline Caille
With over 30 years in primary education, Caroline led two schools serving disadvantaged communities. She took one school to Ofsted Outstanding and helped another improve to Good after becoming a sponsored academy.
Martin Fleetwood
Martin is an experienced school leader and trust chair. He was Executive Principal of multiple schools in Leeds and played a key role in opening Temple Learning Academy, a 4–16 Free School.
Lorraine Warner
Lorraine is a former Headteacher and has led school improvement across 5 local authorities. She brings deep expertise in leadership, governance and coaching, especially in areas of high social deprivation.
Morgan Williams
Morgan is a former headteacher and school improvement advisor with over 20 years in education. He supports schools in disadvantaged areas to build strong leadership, develop bespoke curricula and create lasting, research-informed change.
Clare Watson-Spence
Clare is a former headteacher and adviser who has supported schools on the Leading Together programme since 2018. She specialises in coaching, SEND, and leadership in areas of high deprivation, and holds a Master’s in Coaching and Mentoring.
Nic Harrison
Nic is a former headteacher and accredited leadership coach. He’s worked across South Yorkshire and Greater Manchester to support new headteachers and raise standards in communities facing high deprivation.
Who is it for? (Eligibility)
We prioritise schools serving the most disadvantaged communities.
To be eligible, your school must:
- Be in England
- Serve a high proportion of pupils from low-income backgrounds
- Be in the top 70% most deprived areas (IDACI)
- Have pupil premium eligibility in the top 50% of state schools
We particularly support:
- Schools rated Ofsted 3 or 4 (focused on Leadership and Management)
- Schools at risk of moving into these categories
- Some Category 2 schools, in exceptional cases
If this sounds like your school, we’d love to support your next step - and it’s fully funded at no cost to you.
Applications now open for 2026
We’ll be in touch to discuss your school’s needs and next steps.