Dear colleague
"Who is looking after the people who look after everyone else?"
It's a question worth sitting with. School leaders carry an extraordinary weight and responsibility for the safety, wellbeing, and futures of children and young people, for the culture and climate of their schools, for the staff who walk through the doors every day trusting in that leadership. And yet the support structures that match the scale of that responsibility are not always easy to find.
That's why the two programmes I’m highlighting this week matter to me. Not as products, but as genuine commitments to the leaders doing this work.
The best professional development doesn't just add to what you know, it changes how you think, how you lead, and how you show up for the people who depend on you. Both programmes are built around something we know makes the difference: time. Time to connect with peers who understand the terrain. Time to reflect on practice, not just receive information. Each blends face-to-face learning with online sessions and expert input, designed deliberately around how busy school leaders actually learn best.
For those stepping into headship, our Headteacher Essentials Programme offers grounded, practical development that sits alongside and beyond the NPQH, rooted in the real challenges of leading a school from day one.
For those leading safeguarding at a strategic level, our Advanced Safeguarding Leadership Programme creates space to develop safeguarding leadership, not just safeguarding compliance, alongside a cohort of experienced peers and specialists.
My opening question doesn't have a simple answer, but it does have a starting point. Investing in the leaders themselves.
Best
wishes
A reminder that we're reviewing and developing our professional development offer and want to make sure it genuinely reflects what you need.
If you have yet to do so, you can complete our short online survey. It takes around six to eight minutes to complete and is open to everyone, whether you attend our events regularly, occasionally, or not at all. It will directly shape what we prioritise and commission next. And if you are willing to go further, there is an invitation within it to join a small focus group and continue the conversation with us directly.
As a thank you, everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win a £25 gift card.
ASCL PD is a leading provider of CPD and leadership development for school, college and trust leaders and aspiring senior leaders across the UK. View our full events calendar for all your CPD needs.
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