Specialist Leaders in Education (SLEs) 

The concept of the SLE role was introduced in 2011. The role aims to help to improve the quality of school leadership through school-to-school support, ultimately raising standards and improving outcomes for children. 

SLEs are outstanding middle and senior leaders who have the skills to support individuals and/or teams in other schools. They understand what outstanding leadership practice in their area of expertise looks like, and are skilled in helping other leaders to achieve it in their own context. SLEs focus on developing leadership capacity. While other roles (e.g. advanced skills teachers) focused on developing classroom expertise, this role is about developing other leaders so that they have the skills to lead their own teams and improve practice in their own schools. This may be done through one-to-one or group support and could involve a variety of activities.

BEST Education Services and School Improvement Team have successfully recruited and trained a team of SLEs to work in Central Bedfordshire. The Team is responsible for their deployment and have set a daily rate of £350 (minimum allocation of time is a half day) for commissions in Central Bedfordshire. If you are not in Central Bedfordshire and are interested in commissioning a SLE please contact Alison Wilshaw (details below).

The areas they cover include-

• KS 1/2/3/4/5 English                                               
• KS 1/2/3/4/5 Maths                           
• KS 1/2/3/4/5 Science
• MFL    
• HPA                                                               
• Humanities                                        
• PE
• Performing Arts 
• Music 
• SEND
• Early Career Framework Training
• NPQs
• EYFS
• Phonics                    
• Wellbeing
• Equality & Diversity                                          
• Behaviour/Attendance
• Art & DT

If you are interested in working with a SLE or would like to find out more about their areas of expertise, please contact:

Alison Wilshaw on AWilshaw@bestacademies.org.uk 

Susanne Combe on scombe@bestacademies.org.uk

Sarah Pearman on spearman@bestacademies.org.uk

 

 

Name	Specialism
Richard Scoot	Behaviour & Attendance
Becky Byrne	Behaviour / SEN
Emily Wrigglesworth	English
Alex Mason	English (KS3/KS4/KS5)
Sarah Horne	EYFS
Lisa Lenk	EYFS
Ashliegh Ferdinand	EYFS & Leadership
Alan Lovesey	Geography
Hannah Potter	Geography / Teaching & Learning
Vicky Lake	Humanities
Douglas Leonard	Maths
Sarah Hughes	Maths (KS1/KS2/KS3)
Lynn Minshull	Maths (KS1/KS2/KS3)
Juliet Parker	Maths (KS1/KS2/KS3)
Aaron Beckett	Maths (KS3/KS4/KS5)
Justin Togher	Maths (KS3/KS4/KS5)
Katherine Brown	MFL
Sarah Robson	PE (KS2/KS3)
Joya Brahmachari-Limb	Perfoming Arts / Teaching & Learning
Kate Mackenzie	Phonics / English (KS1)
Christian Langley	Science (KS2/KS3/KS4/KS5)
Katie Bridge	Teaching & Learning
Flora Burt	Teaching & Learning / Humanities