Fulfilling potential – Stuart’s approach to leadership that changes futures

Stuart has always believed leadership means constant growth – for yourself, your team and your pupils. At Sanders Draper School, that mindset has helped drive real change. Here, he tells us how the NPQ in Executive Leadership (NPQEL) has strengthened his ability to build networks, turn ideas into action, and lead with clarity and purpose.

I've always been someone who has wanted to improve my practice. We have to be at the forefront of educational changes and forever be a learner, because society changes and we need to make sure we're at the forefront of the best possible practise so that our students can reap the benefits of that.

I've done a lot of different CPD (Continuing Professional Development). I learned a huge amount, but I would always want to learn more. I'd spoken to several colleagues who'd taken on Teach First trainees and I knew they were aligned to my future leader's view about the importance of finding the hidden goal in every student and breaking that glass ceiling.

Stuart, Headteacher at Sanders Draper School and graduate of the NPQ in Executive Leadership (NPQEL).

The journey

When I took over at Sanders Draper, the school was not in a very good place. We had just joined a new local trust called Success for All (SFAET) that now consists of three secondary schools and a primary school. The school had fallen out of the community. The building was in disrepair and we had poor results. It was a real takeover school where many things had to be done.

We've been on a real journey. We're now oversubscribed in all our years.

We're a real hub of the local community.

We are a generational school. We've got some students who are in the third generation of their family having come here. Our SEND numbers have gone up significantly. So that presents challenges.

Sanders has really driven staff who are passionate about pupils and have strong relationships with them. It's about breaking that ceiling – challenging the self-limiting belief that a lot of our parents still have. Because you can inspire the kids, but to inspire their parents is harder to do.

Learning together

I looked at several providers and I really liked how Teach First were delivering the NPQ and what that looked like.

There are so many things that we covered during the NPQ – it was a safe, brave space where we could talk. As there were only five of us, once you’ve developed that relationship you ask each other: how was that parent? How did that go? And you start to have those more informal conversations.

I really enjoyed networking. I was able to work with different people across the country, although the group itself was very small, with the five of us. At the same time, I really enjoyed when we went away to the residential and got to meet other people.

You learn so much from hearing other people and, when you're dealing with difficult things, you realise you're not the only one.

As a headteacher, particularly in a small school, you can sometimes feel isolated. There's great collaboration going on. But the NPQ allows me to have very honest conversations with other people about their approach to specific situations.

The network that you keep is great for a headteacher’s wellbeing.

Turning theory into practice

The fact it's research led, and grounded in all the latest Department of Education framework, but delivered in a practical way, was really good. Learning how something works on a Monday morning rather than being told: this is the latest delivery. Having sessions after school was so refreshing, and I could plan that around my calendar.

What's being covered is always relevant rather than abstract. There will be things that won't necessarily fit into that day, but they're going to link in a strategic view and thinking about a financial plan.

Effectively implementing ideas

​The key takeaway from the NPQ was moving from having ideas to how you effectively implement them.

And we were able to think about the long term, like accounting for staff fatigue. Okay, what are we doing about that? And it stops you leading on gut instincts. Not that you ever do, but you can base everything on what the evidence says in terms of good practice. Actually, let's see that in the reality. How do we adapt that for us? How are we going to monitor that?

The group brings you back to having the right conversations, but it keeps it around the moral purpose: why are we doing that? What outcome are we hoping to achieve?

The NPQ helps you move from being more operational to strategic.

Orchestrating everyone and moving from doing to influencing, and leading through others.

​Improving pupil outcomes

We are creating a real sanctuary where the school is safe and can be the most joyful part of their day. That takes a lot of relentless hard work. And then it's modelling that integrity.

​We're showing students our own leadership, resilience, kindness and hard work, and what that leads to.

We've had two of our pupils get into Eton on scholarships, which has been great. At the same time, we've got several students who will go on to become plumbers, or who have decided to stay on in education when they may originally not have thought they would choose that path.

Effective leadership isn’t measured by the quietness of the corridor, but by the volume of the students’ aspirations.

We want them to be ambitious and to reach for the sky. But that doesn't happen immediately. We've been involved in the Erasmus project, where we've taken students abroad. Last year we did a survey and found which pupils had never travelled abroad, and we flew those students to Edinburgh for the day, took them to the Savoy and out for lunch and flew them back in the evening. We're trying to get pupils to believe in things that they wouldn't have even thought of.

Why an NPQ?

I’d really recommend taking an NPQ, for a whole host of reasons.

You're going to learn a lot about yourself while doing it, and you're going to take on knowledge that'll mean you're a better leader at the end of it.

My advice for people doing it, I would say, protect your time. So put in time blocks that are non-negotiable. And be vulnerable. Don't go into any of those roles thinking you're in that position already. Think about where your knowledge is thin, because that's where you're going to make the most growth and that's going to be most beneficial. And implement as you go. It’s little nudges all the time. Do I know my students? Why am I doing that? What have I done today? It's non-stop and you have to go back to it and do it again and again.

Taking an NPQ is an opportunity for someone to grow as a leader and develop their practice. It isn't just about new job opportunities and progressing. By becoming a better leader, everyone benefits and that includes the staff, the students and the whole community. Morally, it's the right thing to do. Why would you not want to become better in your role to enable everyone else to be better in theirs? It all comes down to happier students and better outcomes. And if we can do that, then we're certainly going in the right direction.

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