Working in partnership to support Darlington children’s services

We have signed an agreement with Darlington Council to work together to deliver training to the local authority’s employees who work in education.

From September our Business School will provide training and development opportunities to support the local authority’s Virtual Leadership College.

The College offers a unique opportunity for teachers and higher level teaching assistants within Darlington schools to access professional development opportunities.

We have been working in partnership with Darlington Council to develop an offer which will meet the local authority’s needs and provide flexible support for emerging leaders and the challenge for experienced leaders. This will also provide recognition and accreditation of ongoing learning, to support sustainable ongoing development of high quality leadership within Darlington schools.

Widening higher education access The Business School will provide support and deliver this flexible programme in Darlington. This coincides with the presence we are establishing in Darlington to widen higher education access in the Tees Valley. Alastair Thomson, Dean of the Business School, said: 'Education is an ever-changing landscape. Pressure from Government to make changes, new methods of delivery and the challenge to increase standards make for constant change. Against that background, working with a University which can demonstrate well developed expertise in the area of promoting educational leadership and performance improvement in education becomes an essential part of ensuring long term success. 'We are delighted that a successful and far sighted authority like Darlington has chosen us to support them in continuing to build on the good work already taking place in the borough.' Councillor Jenny Chapman, Darlington Council's Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, said: 'We are delighted to be able to formalise our working relationship with Teesside Business School in this way. Darlington Council is committed to being at the forefront of developing high quality leaders at every level of school leadership.

Exciting and innovative relationship 'We are building an exciting and innovative relationship that we believe will enhance the professional development of staff working with our children in all our schools. The flexible approach to supporting our present and future leaders will ensure Darlington Council continues to ensure the highest standards of leadership from Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs), Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) to present and future Head Teachers.'

Factfile

• The University’s Business School currently delivers four flagship programmes for the National College for School Leadership, catering to the development needs of existing and future school leaders.
• Since September 2006 they have delivered programmes to over 1,600 participants from 460 schools in the region. The Business School also recently began delivering the National Professional Qualification for Headship, the mandatory qualification for aspiring head teachers.
• Tailored workforce development activity and development packages for individual school leaders, clusters and local authorities in the North East are also offered by the Business School to help to support leadership learning and the continuous development of the school workforce.
• The Business School hosts the TDA Regional Centre, which supports the Training and Development Agency’s Development and Improvement agenda in the North East, working with the NE Regional Delivery partnership and a team of regional trainers to deliver specific training events and consultancy to all NE Local Authorities.

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