Middle leaders play a central role in developing the learning experience for pupils by monitoring the quality of colleagues' work. However, middle leaders often feel torn between their loyalty to their department and wider responsibilities to the whole school. Effective middle leaders are passionate, focus on pupil progress, model best practices, and engage in dialogue to address variations in performance. Quality assurance measures, like lesson observations and moderation of student work, are important but some debate exists around whether they are a management or leadership function.

1. Middle Leaders Central Role Developing and maintaining the nature and quality of the pupils’ learning experience

2. Monitoring Middle leaders tend to show a great resistance to the idea of monitoring the quality of their colleagues work

3. Two tensions Senior staff expect middle leaders to wider whole school role. A common belief among middle leaders is that their loyalty is to the department Developing a line management culture and a belief in collegiality

4. Middle Leaders – what keeps you busy? Write down 10 things Middle Leaders do Sort them into: Those that enable an informed view of the work of the department to be taken Those that don’t

5. Leadership and Management Where does Quality Assurance fit in? Is it a management activity or the role of leadership?

6. Leadership Leaders are at the heart of the organisation/team. The essence of leadership means inspiring a group to come together for a common goal. Leaders motivate, console and work with people to keep them bonded and eager to move forward. That means setting direction, communicating it to everyone who will listen (and probably to many who won’t) and keeping people psyched when times get tough. Leaders anticipate change and sell the benefits.

7. Managers Managers are the brains of the organisation. They establish systems, create rules and generate procedures, and put into place incentive programmes and the like. Management, however is about the organisation, not the people. The people are important as a way of getting the job done. Taken from John Burnham-West

8. Effective Middle Leaders We know that they: Are central to school improvement Are positive, optimistic and passionate Have a sense of direction and purpose. They lead change Focus on pupil progress Model, monitor and engage in dialogue Tackle “in-school variation” Teach

9. Quality Assurance Measures What are they? Create a list Take one example from the list created and describe what you would regard as good practice

10. Cycle for Improvement How well are we doing? How well should we be doing? What more can we hope to achieve? What must we do to make it happen? Take action and review

11. Levels of Q/A OfSTED Governors The Executive Head and Head of School RAG/NC Vice Principals Peers School Improvement Partner Transformation Team Results Parents Students Self Lesson Observations Spot checks/Learning walks Moderation and standardisation Open Evenings Attendance and behaviour records