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International Extended Placements for School Leaders
International Extended Placements for School Leaders
The International Extended Placements for School Leaders programme is a joint project between VSO, NCSL, NAHT and ASCL.
Since June 2007 VSO has sent two cohorts of NAHT School Leaders to spend a term working alongside senior educationalists in Namibia and Rwanda, sharing ideas and best practice.
Thanks to new funding from the National College for School Leadership, a third group of 12 School Leaders will be able to depart in early 2009, sharing their skills for 3 months with colleagues in one out of four developing countries in Africa. Each school will receive £5000 to help cover the costs incurred during their secondment.
The key aims of the project are:
- To provide current UK School Leaders with an opportunity for personal and professional growth and renewal.
- For future UK School Leaders to experience a taste of acting up in the School Leaders absence with the potential of encouraging them to aspire for more senior roles.
- To encourage UK students’ understanding of the wider world as a result of the increased confidence and enthusiasm of the returning School Leader, and to incorporate the Global Dimension into their schools curriculum, leading to improved UK social cohesion.
- As part of a well structured VSO overseas education programme senior educationalist, schools and children in developing countries benefit from the skills of UK School Leaders.
The UK benefits of the pilot scheme were independently evaluated, and the full report can be downloaded below. Here are some quotes from the report that show how the project met its objectives.
Participant, P52. I returned to my UK school with renewed energy, enthusiasm and drive and a clearer sense of priorities, both personal and professional. I feel enormously privileged to have had this experience and would recommend other school leaders to take up any similar opportunity they may have.
Acting Head, P35. I really enjoyed [the experience]. So much so that I am thinking of headhip shortly...[ What are the things you enjoyed?] I think making decisions really, I know it sounds silly but having the opportunity to be the one that had the final say. This teacher, an experienced deputy, was in the final stages of the NPQH, and will apply for headship as soon as a suitable post becomes available.
Evaluators comment, P47. One very important outcome placement was that those school leaders who already had a strong global commitment have now strengthened this, and are even more determined to transform their school communicates. And those whose ideas were initially limited have now made a start in developing their own understanding by reading and learning from others around them, and to embed the global dimension into the school curriculum.
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