Middle Leader Secondments Pilot RD1045

Background

The Department for Education’s (DfE) vision is for a highly educated society in which opportunity is more equal for children and young people, no matter what their background or family circumstances.

There is strong evidence that leadership and the quality of teaching and learning are the most important factors in improving pupil outcomes. NCTL, an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE), believes that it is middle leaders, such as heads of department, heads of year and those in whole school middle leadership roles who are best placed to improve the quality and consistency of teaching in schools and in tackling the challenge of in-school variation.

However, we also know that some schools struggle to recruit excellent middle leaders and that more needs to be done to attract the best leaders and teachers to the schools that need them the most. This pilot programme will seek to determine the drivers and barriers to encouraging the movement of our best middle leaders into challenging schools; and to establish the impact of strong middle leaders in raising standards and building capacity across the school system.

The new contract

The new contract being tendered is to enable a pilot programme where 100 excellent middle leaders will be seconded into England’s most challenging schools.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL), an executive agency of the DfE, is therefore seeking one national provider (or consortium) to:

1) Design, develop and deliver a pilot programme to second 100 talented middle leaders into England’s most challenging schools for one year, starting from January 2016..

2) Deliver the programme with national reach and with a particular focus in the East of England region, a high priority area where 30 of the secondments are expected to take place.

Additional information: A contract duration of a maximum of 21 months expected to be from contract award in July 2015, subject to contract negotiations and the agreement of DfE Ministers.

Indicative key dates for this procurement activity 23 March.2015 – issue of invitation to tender via REDIMO 11 May 2015, 14.00 – deadline date for bids. July 2015 – indicative contract start (subject to contract negotiations and subject to agreement with DfE Ministers).

Supplier webex event. NCTL are holding a supplier webex event on Friday 27 March 2015. This event will provide the opportunity for interested organisations to gain a better understanding of the Middle Leader Secondments Pilot Programme and the indicative timelines. Login details are as follows:

Topic: Middle leaders secondment pilot programme Date: Friday, March 27, 2015 Time: 2:00 pm, GMT

To register for this meeting

1. Go to https://nationalcollege.webex.com/nationalcollege/j.php?RGID=re8f223aae04f263476889daa33534ebe 2. Register for the meeting.

Once the host approves your request, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the meeting.

To view in other time zones or languages, please click the link: https://nationalcollege.webex.com/nationalcollege/j.php?RGID=r6d09156074424b962db1283c7ebb6128

For assistance

1. Go to https://nationalcollege.webex.com/nationalcollege/mc 2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support". You can contact the meeting facilitator at: [email protected] 1-0115 982 9282

Registration for the procurement. This procurement will be run through an e-procurement system REDIMO. REDIMO is used for contracting for works, goods and services that are awarded following an electronic competitive tendering process. Registration allows organisations to e-tender for procurement opportunities. If your organisation is interested in participating in this procurement (RD1045) you will need to register on REDIMO (If you are not already). Please register at https://REDIMO.nationalcollege.org.uk/selfservice/pages/public/supplier/registration/supplierRegistration.cmd

NB (The Category which this procurement will be launched is AB01, therefore to participate you must ensure that you register against this category. Please e-mail our helpdesk mailto:[email protected] if you have any queries with registering your details on REDIMO. Once the Invitation to Tender is launched it will be visible for bidders to respond. This Invitation to Tender will be launched on Monday 23.3.2015. All Tender documentation will be made available from REDIMO and Bidders should ensure that they have read all documentation prior to submitting a response. All bidders will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement before key documents can be released via REDIMO. Where appropriate, the successful bidder will be required to deliver a Deed of Guarantee at the same time as the execution of the Agreement.