• Offered for Year: 2025/26

• Module Leader(s): Dr Lisa Ramshaw
• Lecturer: Mrs Stephanie Bingham, Professor Rene Koglbauer

• Owning School: Education, Communication & Language Sci
• Teaching Location: Mixed Location

Semesters

Your programme is made up of credits, the total differs on programme to programme.

Aims

The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) for teachers and school leaders are a set of prestigious professional qualifications widely recognised in the sector and have been designed to transform the support and development offer for teachers and school leaders throughout their career. Each NPQ is underpinned by a framework, which sets out the learning objectives of each of the qualifications.
These NPQ framework are the latest addition to the wider suite of teacher education-focused frameworks, the Initial Teacher Training Core Content Framework (embedded also in PGCE courses) and the Early Career Framework (ECF). Combined they form the golden thread of teacher and school leader development in England.

This module is designed for participants to gain M-level credits alongside their Level 7 NPQ programme, if they successfully complete all assessment components.

Outline Of Syllabus

To date ten NPQ frameworks have been approved, with five being specialist NPQs (developing leaders in specific areas) and five being whole-school focused leadership NPQs.

The specialist NPQs (12-month programmes):
• NPQ for Leading Teacher Development (NPQLTD) – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading the professional development (PD) of other teachers in their school.

- Overview of content: Teaching: Consolidating ECF, designing and delivering PD, and implementation in own context.

• NPQ for Leading Behaviour and Culture (NPQLBC) – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading behaviour and/or supporting pupil wellbeing in their school.

- Overview of content: Consolidating ECF, culture, enabling conditions for behaviour, complex behavioural needs, PD and implementation in own context.

• NPQ for Leading Teaching (NPQLT) – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading teaching in a subject, year group, key stage or phase.

- Overview of content: Consolidating ECF, culture, how pupils learn, subject and curriculum, classroom practice, adaptive teaching, assessment, professional development and implementation in own context. .

• NPQ for Leading Literacy (NPQLL) – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading literacy across a school, year group, key stage or phase.

- Overview of content: Teaching: consolidation of ECF, developing language, reading and writing, PD and implementation in own context.

• NPQ for Leading Primary Maths (NPQLPM) – for teachers who have, or are aspiring to have, responsibilities for leading Primary Mathematics across a school, year group, key stage or phase.

- Overview of content: Teaching: consolidation of ECF, embed mastery approaches to teaching maths in primary schools, lead school to teach maths effectively, working collaboratively with senior leaders and teachers.


The Leadership NPQs (18-month programmes):
• NPQ for Senior Leadership (NPQSL) – for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a senior leader with cross-school responsibilities.

• NPQ for Headship (NPQH) – for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, a headteacher or head of school with responsibility for leading a school.

• NPQ for Executive Leadership (NPQEL) – for school leaders who are, or are aspiring to be, an executive headteacher or have a school trust CEO role with responsibility for leading several schools.

Overview of content: all leadership qualifications will focus on school/trust culture, teaching, curriculum and assessment, behaviour, additional and special educational needs and disabilities, organisational management, professional development, governance and accountability, working in partnership and implementation in own context.

• NPQ for Early Years Leadership (NPQEYL) – for leaders with a full and relevant qualification who are, or are aspiring to be, managers of Private, Voluntary and Independent nurseries, headteachers of school-based and maintained nurseries, or childminders with leadership responsibilities.

Overview of content: Culture, Child Development, curriculum and assessment, additional and special educational needs and disabilities, organisational management, working in partnership, professional development and implementation in own context.

• NPQ for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs) (NPQSENCO) – for teachers and leaders interested in developing expertise in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) or undertaking a SENCO role in future.

Overview of content: Learn how to co-ordinate special educational needs (SEN) provision throughout school and work alongside other leaders to build a school culture in which pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can succeed meaningfully.

Teaching Methods

Teaching Activities

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

The blended approach to learning recognises that students’ range of prior learning experiences will be as diverse as they are different. It provides differentiated opportunities for them to begin, complement and/or extend their learning about and through effective leadership practice. Online materials will form the basis for each in-person delivery facilitated by school leaders. Serving school leaders from a range of contexts will enable challenge and support at an appropriate level for each student. Pastoral and assessment support will be available through the Newcastle University Educational Leadership Centre team. This approach helps to deliver the learning outcomes at the level of the individual. It also allows possibilities for networking, collaboration, peer support and continuous learning.

Assessment Methods

The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners

Other Assessment

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The assessment components for this module are aligned to the NPQ requirements.
a)       Attendance and engagement are carefully monitored as only those learners that meet the required engagement threshold are entitled to progress to the case study assessment.
b)       Problem solving exercises and reflective gap tasks are intended to help students to test students’ acquired knowledge and understanding as well as help them to reflect on how they have implemented the learning into their practice.
c)       Case Study: Students will be presented with a school-based scenario and are requested to respond as leader to the issues presented. They are required to draw upon the module content and materials, the appropriate NPQ framework and the related literature.

All assessment components, in line with national approaches, will be assessed as FAIL/PASS.

Reading Lists

• EDU8907's Reading List

Timetable

• Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
• EDU8907's Timetable