Outstanding Professional Development from a Collaborative Educational Community

In 2011, Rushey Mead Academy was one of only 100 schools nationally to be designated to become a National Teaching School. This status, which was initially only awarded to Outstanding Schools, meant that together with an alliance of strategic partners, Rushey Mead Academy had responsibility for leading a self- improving school system in the local area and beyond; it accepted a collective responsibility for the performance of the schools within the Alliance, not just its own.

The Teaching School has always had many strong NLEs, LLEs and SLEs who have all contributed to the improvement in outcomes for those young people attending the schools where their support has been implemented. The successes enjoyed by schools working collaboratively with each other have been wide ranging and are testimony to the ideology of a self-improving model.

Intent on expanding its capacity as well as maximising its potential for impact, the Teaching School was a founder member of the East Midlands, South Yorkshire and Humber Teaching Schools Alliance (EYSYH TSA). Its members were all prominent Teaching Schools who themselves realized that self-improvement does not only come from collaboration between schools, but also between alliances of schools.

In 2021, the Department for Education overhauled the Teaching School system and what had grown to a network of over 800 Teaching Schools was replaced by just 87 Teaching School Hubs. Rushey Mead Academy has been designated as the Teaching School Hub for Leicester City and South Leicestershire, serving 210 schools within this area. At the Leicester & Leicestershire Teaching School Hub (LELTSH) we understand that the quality of teaching is the single biggest factor in determining pupil achievement. To this end, we support schools and trusts within our region (and wider) to recruit, train, develop and retain the very best teachers, support staff and leaders, working in all phases and types of schools, and at all stages of their careers.

For more information about the Leicester & Leicestershire Teaching School Hub, please visit our website – www.leltsh-tmet.uk