THE chief executive and staff at Minehead Middle School have been selected for a top role supporting schools in challenging circumstances.
Paul Rushforth (above) is one of more than 80 headteachers to be appointed as a National Leader of Education (NLE) in the latest recruitment round.
NLEs, along with staff in their school - designated a National Support School (NSS) - use their success and professionalism to provide additional leadership capability in other schools.
NLEs are deployed to suit the needs of each school needing support. The type of support provided is flexible and can sometimes involve NLEs becoming executive headteachers.
They also have responsibility for developing the next generation of NLEs and national support schools.
Mr Rushforth said: “I’m delighted that Minehead Middle School has been designated as a National Support School and that I will be able to support other schools both within and outside our Trust in the role of NLE.”
Many NLEs and NSSs report improvements at the schools they support.
National College for Teaching and Leadership chairman Roger Pope said: “It’s fantastic that school leaders like Paul Rushforth have the passion and ambition to help improve the life chances of young people, not just in their own but in other schools as well.
“The aim of national leaders of education is to drive improvement in under-performing schools.
“We now have over 1,200 NLEs and we’re working to increase this number further to spread educational excellence everywhere.”
Mr Rushforth and the other successful heads have been invited to attend a formal induction and training event for the role in driving school improvement.