Two years ago, as AET stepped forward to create a regional model, six schools from Burton-on-Trent to Quinton united to become the Midlands Region Primary team. As the Regional Education Director overseeing school performance in this region, bringing these schools together into one unified regional unit has been marked by a significant yet gradual transformation that we are still trying to enact.
To function effectively as a team, we have developed a vision of what education in the Midlands can and should look like. This vision goes beyond academic targets; it's deeply rooted in the passions and values of the communities we're privileged to serve. Every one of our academies thrives within dynamic communities rich in languages, cultures, and beliefs.
Instead of viewing this diversity as an obstacle, our regional leadership team embraces it as an invaluable collective strength. Staff across our schools are exposed to various faiths and religions that enrich their worldview, steer their moral compass and help them to weave new stories, poetry, and music into an education that makes our community immeasurably richer.
Over the past two years, as schools within the Midlands have established a regional identity, we have worked hard to develop an education that meets the needs and desires of our communities through deep collaboration - working together to support each other.
This collaboration is particularly important because the Midlands region is a mixed picture of performance and outcomes, with some of the highest-performing schools in the country but also some schools that require targeted support. In developing a genuinely collaborative approach, it has been and remains crucial to recognise the bright spots in all schools and shun a culture that values only a select few as ‘the best’.
Every school has a contribution to make to this regional structure. We have unpicked the strengths in the region and each school, whether that be curriculum or the next generation of leaders. Every school now shares its Planning, Preparation and Assessment (PPA) timetable and, wherever possible, aligns days so that virtual sessions can be arranged for schools to work together.
However, building culture goes beyond the scope of sharing best practice - it requires real openness. And that remains a work in progress for us.
My first school visit as Regional Education Director was to my former school, where I had been Executive Principal. On this visit, I pointed not to my triumphs but to my shortcomings and encouraged my colleagues to dissect my legacy, warts and all. The aim was, and still is, to show that if we want to improve, this can’t be about comfort - we need to be open to a healthy dose of honesty and constructive critique.
Accepting criticism, especially from peers you respect and admire, is a test of character yet absolutely foundational for growth. Two years in, we're still not quite there - this cultural transformation is a journey.
We have seen in our region that there is liberation that comes with success - leaders have been more open, willing to let their armour down and entertain the possibility of pushing further for improvement. Our leaders who are running schools bathed in the glow of an 'Outstanding' Ofsted rating or SAT results that would make even the most hardened cynic tip their hat have been more likely to put themselves under the microscope for scrutiny.
Critique? Bring it on. Challenge? Yes, please.
Contrast that with the school leaders still on their uphill climb, many teetering between the belief of what's possible and what’s expected. For them, vulnerability can be a lived experience. Each question from a peer, each suggestion for improvement, can land not as a feather but as a weight. Exposure feels not like sunshine but like a harsh spotlight.
For school leaders, where every day is a grinding battle, the invitation to be critiqued can feel more like an inquisition than an opportunity for growth. It's not a failure of will or intent on their behalf - but emotional bandwidth. The emotions of school improvement can be complex, filled with a nervous energy that bounces between hope and overwhelm.
But when school leaders have unmasked their challenges and asked for help, incredible generosity has arisen from the regional model. Colleagues are willing to visit each other's schools, listen to pupils read, undertake pupil voice discussions, and quality assure safeguarding procedures.
We have clearly made significant progress, but even two years in, the work is still only just beginning. It continues to be my responsibility to show principals the benefits of a culture that welcomes the need for improvement. Indeed, we are still rewriting the book on what leadership looks like when humility is at the forefront.
The mission for our region is writ large - to forge a culture of support so robust, so anchored in the tenets of collective ambition, that all of us can feel emboldened to open our doors and welcome new ideas and ways of thinking for improvement. After all, our collective strength is only as strong as our weakest school.
This is part of a series that takes an honest look at the priorities of each of the five regions at AET.
For more on our priorities in the Midlands, Damien Kearns, Secondary Regional Education Director, shares his commitment to school improvement with a focus on localism.
As an introduction for this series, Rebecca Boomer-Clark explains why we have revised our operating model and established five distinct regions.
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