School staff qualify for positions of leadership

SCHOOL middle managers and leaders from across Wales are preparing to embark on the next stage in their careers after graduating with new qualifications.

Cardiff-based Portal Training delivers leadership and management qualifications for teachers aspiring to senior leadership positions.

The qualifications, which sit under the higher apprenticeship banner (Level 4 and 5 Diploma through the Institute of Leadership and Management – ILM), are currently being delivered to more than 200 school leaders in Wales.

The learners have a range of different management roles within schools – ranging from heads of department and heads of year at secondary schools to members of management teams in primary and special schools.

This summer’s graduation was an opportunity to celebrate the success of more than 50 teachers who have successfully gained the qualification.

It was also an opportunity to hear from the Welsh Government’s director of school standards Steve Davies on the importance of developing leadership and management capacity.

Jayne Jones, a teacher at St Joseph’s RC Primary School in Blaenau Gwent, said: “The ILM course in leadership and management has made a huge difference to my professional practice.

“It has developed my leadership and management knowledge and skills and given me the confidence to take on a greater leadership role within my organisation.

“I would not have been able to do this without the support of the staff at Portal who have helped me at every step.”

Robert King, headteacher of Llanwern High School in Newport, said: “The staff group at Llanwern High School who will shortly complete the Portal ILM programme have been professionally challenged by an interesting range of sessions and providers and consequently they have all made progress in their respective areas of school leadership.

Gwawr Booth, director at Portal, said: “Portal is a truly Welsh organisation and we’ve just celebrated our sixth birthday, along with another milestone of working with over 400 schools across Wales.

“The ILM leadership and management qualifications were adopted in 2013 following feedback from schools, local education authorities and education consortia highlighting the lack of specific educationally-focused leadership and management qualifications for teachers.”