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London South is the Teaching School Hub for Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark.

Our mission is to support schools to recruit, develop and retain excellent teachers and school leaders, and in doing so to enable them to deliver exceptional outcomes for all pupils, especially the most disadvantaged. We deliver high quality professional development, from Initial Teacher Training to Executive Leadership via the Early Career Framework and the National Professional Qualifications, all underpinned by our core values of equity, partnership and rigour.

It's our goal that every teacher in our area should have access to all the tools they need to improve their educational offering, and the support they need to implement them effectively, no matter their background or situation. Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of our decision-making and our curriculum, and we work with local schools and school groups to identify their specific needs so we can ensure our courses are tailored to meet them. We offer a wide range of teacher training options, from ITT training and the ECF framework implementation, to CPD courses and NPQs for teachers looking to take their career further. We're here to support the furthering of education, however we can.

Meet the Team:

London South was designated by the Department for Education as the Teaching School Hub for Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark in February 2021, and launched fully in September 2021. Since then, we have strived to succeed in bringing our mission and vision to our local, in line with our core values.


Mission

Our mission is to support schools to recruit, develop and retain excellent teachers and school leaders. We work to enable these teachers to deliver exceptional outcomes for all pupils, especially the most disadvantaged.


We implement our mission through several key areas of practice:

  • Initial Teacher Training
  • The Early Career Framework
  • National Professional Qualifications
  • Further CPD according to local need, either delivered directly by the Hub or through partnership with other organisations


Vision and Values

All of our work is underpinned by our three core values; Equity, Partnership and Rigour


Equity

Why?

We believe in excellent outcomes for all pupils. However, we acknowledge that more challenging barriers exist for some pupils, schools and communities and that they may require different support to achieve equitable outcomes. 


What?

Diversity and inclusion are at the forefront of our organisational decision-making, embedded into the curricula of our professional development programmes. We allocate additional resources to promote equity for pupils, teachers and leaders, and acknowledge that we are on a journey, with always more work to be done.


How?

  • We support schools with high levels of disadvantage through subsidised access to programmes and personalised school to school support.
  • We offer fully funded places on Stepping into Leadership, a programme to support teachers of colour into leadership roles.
  • We have commissioned and embedded additional content on racial literacy and SEND into our Early Career Framework training programme.
  • We run a free Women’s Leadership Network.
  • We have offered fully funded places to enable practitioner research to improve outcomes for pupils with SEND.
  • We work with other organisations to identify schools who would benefit most from engagement with high quality professional development, and deliver opportunities to these schools.

Partnership

Why?

We believe that the solutions to the challenges faced by our schools can be found within our schools, when we work collectively. By working with local partners, professional development is tailored to local need, maximising the potential for sustained change. 

What?

We work collaboratively with schools, local authorities and groups of schools to identify local need in Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark. We then draw on local expertise and relationships to design appropriate support, be it professional development programmes, practitioner research projects or 1:1 support. This support is delivered by local teachers and leaders from schools within the Hub region.

How?

  • Our Strategic Partnership board is composed of partners from across the Hub region: school leaders, local authorities and ITT and CPD delivery partners. 
  • Our Peer Review programme offers a collaborative, supportive and invitational model of school improvement
  • Our ECF and NPQ programmes are delivered by expert teachers and leaders from schools within the Hub region.
  • We value the contribution of these expert teachers and leaders and ensure that remuneration is fair and reflects the work being done.
  • We hold open and transparent recruitment processes for our Lead Practitioners and Evidence Leads in Education.
  • We work closely with local authorities, curriculum hubs and Research Schools to ensure that our professional development offer complements existing quality support, but seeks to fill gaps in provision to meet local need.
  • We work with partners to attract, retain and develop excellent education professionals, providing clear and well-defined career pathways. 

Rigour

Why?

We know that the most important factors influencing a child’s educational outcomes is the quality of teaching and leadership in their schools. We believe that the best way to ensure that all children have access to high quality teaching is through rigorous professional development underpinned by evidence of what works. We believe that evidence should supplement teacher expertise and not supplant it.

What?

Our CPD is informed by a thorough and careful understanding of the evidence base coupled with exemplification of the evidence in practice. It is led by expert teachers and leaders who have been selected through rigorous application and selection processes. 

How?

  • Our CPD programmes are carefully evaluated and quality assured, both internally and externally.
  • We work closely with Charles Dickens Research School to co-construct and deliver evidence-informed CPD
  • We work with curriculum Hubs and specialist organisations to offer the highest quality support to our schools and teachers
  • We run practitioner research projects and publish the findings into Research into Practice user guides

Our Strategic Goals

London South works to achieve three key goals in education across our local area:

1. To be a trusted partner for schools, supporting the development of their staff from Teacher Trainees to Executive Leaders.


2. To build networks of excellence across the Hub region, bringing a coherent approach to understanding and responding to the needs of our school communities and education professionals.


3. To influence governmental decision-making at policy level, acting as bridge between local schools and national policy through effective system leadership.

London South Teaching School Hub Strategic Partnership Board Membership (2022-23)

London South Teaching School Hub Strategic Partnership Board Terms of Reference (2021-22)

Rationale

The role of the Strategic Partnership Board is twofold:

  • To ensure the Teaching School Hub demonstrates transparency and is open to external scrutiny regarding its work
  • To enable the Teaching School Hub to draw upon strategic advice and support from people with relevant specialist expertise and local knowledge

Membership

The majority of members of the Strategic Partnership Board (including the chair) are independent of the Teaching School Hub Lead School (and any trust the school is part of, when this applies). The board would normally include:

  • One representative from each of the three local authorities served by the Hub
  • One school leader from each of the three local authorities served by the Hub
  • Three representatives from DfE-designated CPD organisations such as EEF Research Schools, Maths Hubs, English Hubs, Whole School SEND and EdTech Demonstrator schools
  • Three representatives from Initial Teacher Education
  • Two representatives from Teaching School Hubs


The chair of the board holds a senior leadership position and is experienced in governance structures. Membership of the board is reviewed on an annual basis. The Teaching School Hub Director also attends each board meeting. Other members of the Teaching School Hub leadership and management team only report to the board as required.

Function of the Board

The board provides strategic advice, challenge and support to the Teaching School Hub leadership. The board meets at least three times a year. Timing and main agenda items are specified below:

Meeting 1 Thursday 18th November 9:00-10:00am 

  • Teaching School Hub Strategic Goals (2021-22) – The board reviews the goals and makes recommendations (with rationale) for any refinements to inform discussion by the Teaching School Hub Committee later in the term (2021: 24th November)
  • 2021-22 Action Plan Implementation Update – The board reviews progress on implementing the action plan providing advice and support on any emerging issues


Meeting 2 Thursday 17th March 2022 09:00-10:00am 

  • Teaching School Hub Reach – The board reviews the data regarding the reach of the hub across its area in terms of location, type of schools, and the duration of working relationship. The board makes recommendations about how the hub can/should further develop its reach
  • Teaching School Hub personnel – The board reviews the Hub’s existing leadership and management structure and provides advice on future development, including succession planning and improved diversity. It also reviews the position regarding expert facilitators and Lead Practitioners and how capacity here can be further developed/strengthened
  • Initial ideas regarding potential CPD programmes for the following year can be considered by the board 
  • Action Plan Implementation Update – The board reviews progress on implementing the plan providing advice and support on any emerging issues


Meeting 3 Thursday 20th June 2022 09:00-10:00am 

  • Action Plan Implementation Update – The board reviews progress on implementing the plan providing advice and support on any emerging issues
  • Future Academic Year Action plan - the board reviews the draft plan, including CPD proposals


Procedures and Protocols

  • It is the responsibility of the chair of the board working in conjunction with the Teaching School Hub Director to review membership, construct meeting agendas, and agree meeting notes
  • The Teaching School Hub publishes the membership of its strategic partnership board through its website/webpages
  • At each meeting, members of the board are asked to declare any pecuniary interests. In particular, this should include declaration of any work currently, or potentially, undertaken, for the Teaching School Hub. These declarations are recorded. In circumstances where a board member declares a significant number of pecuniary interests, then their membership is reviewed, in consultation with the Teaching School Hub Council.
  • Notes of the meeting are recorded and distributed to all members within two weeks of the meeting
  • The Teaching School Hub Council can request to have supplementary items on the agenda of any of the board meetings