NCA Applications

Welcome to the National Challenge Adviser on-line application site.

You can navigate through the site using the tabs at the top of this page and are advised to read the application guidance before starting to complete the application form. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to receiving your completed application.

Any queries on the application process should be sent to:

Email: nsrecruitment@nationalstrategies.co.uk

or contact us on : 0845 850 1444

Job title: National Challenge Adviser

Job Purpose

As a National Challenge Adviser (NCA) your role will be to provide support and challenge to secondary schools that are below, or at risk of falling below, the 2011 floor target of 30% of pupils achieving 5+ A*-C grades, including English and mathematics, at the end of Key Stage 4 so that these schools improve sufficiently so that they exceed and stay above the floor targets by 2011 at the latest.

National Challenge Advisers will be contracted to work with one or more local authorities and will be required for most local authorities except those in City Challenge areas (London, Greater Manchester and the Black Country), where schools will continue to be supported by City Challenge Advisers and SIPs.

The National Challenge Adviser will be the School Improvement Partner (SIP) for the school and for that reason applicants must be or become accredited SIPs, as well as having a strong and successful track record in working with schools with low levels of achievement to make rapid improvements. Opportunities will be available for suitably experienced individuals to become accredited as SIPs, if they are not accredited already.

You will provide the challenge and support that is crucial to keeping the school on a secure improvement path. As part of this you will play a key role in determining and brokering the appropriate support package for each of the schools you support, which will be available through the National Challenge.

As a National Challenge Adviser you will play a central role in the success of the schools you work with and of the whole National Challenge. You will be part of local, regional and national teams and will be able to provide advice and support to help shape the programme at all levels.

Accountabilities

National Challenge Advisers will be employed directly by, or contracted to, one or more LAs who will manage and direct their work (The DCSF will contract with National Challenge Advisers for Academies). You will therefore be accountable for your work to your employing or contracting LA. You will report on the progress of schools you are working with jointly to the LA and the DCSF, via the National Strategies Senior School Improvement Adviser (SSIA). You will also work as part of a national team, sharing experience with other NCAs, and working with the DCSF to shape the development of the National Challenge. You will be expected to maintain close liaison with the DCSF via the SSIA who will organise and chair the monthly regional network meetings of National Challenge Advisers.

Person Specification

We are looking for experienced school improvement professionals who can work effectively as part of a team. You will be willing to learn from everyone you work with, including schools, local authorities, the DCSF and other NCAs. You will have expertise in school improvement and a track record in raising attainment, whether from your experience of being a secondary head teacher or substantial experience as a senior manager in a school and within an LA school improvement service or similar organisation. You will have a strong track record of providing effective support to head teachers in relation to school improvement. You will be able to:

Diagnose the causes of pupils’ low attainment, assess the school’s performance and plans for improvement
Prescribe and then broker the support the school needs from the local authority, the National Challenge and other providers
Coach the school leaders to raise attainment, monitor how the school implements its improvement plans and account for the impact of your actions

Skills and capabilities required

Significant successful experience in supporting schools that have relatively low levels of pupil attainment and ensuring they make rapid and sustained improvements
Understanding of their assigned schools’ performance, self-evaluation, the causes of low attainment and capacity for improvement
Understanding of the range of school improvement support available through the National Challenge, the National Strategies and other providers and ability to broker effectively
Ability to help their attached schools to keep the school’s improvement plan on track and resolve problems quickly
Understanding of the resources and support available from the local authority and other members of the Children’s Trust
A good understanding of wider well-being issues and the crucial role parents play in their children’s learning, and how these factors contribute to improving learning
Ability to commit the time to provide intensive support to schools
Accredited as a School Improvement Partner
Ability to spread best practice by working with several floor target schools
Ability to work as part of a team with National Challenge Advisers from across the country, to share best practice, to learn what others are doing and inform the future development of the National Challenge

Specific responsibilities

The National Challenge Adviser will:

Provide up to twenty days support for between 3 and 6 floor target schools (up to fifteen extra days, in addition to the five SIP days already allocated to each school)
Conduct regular formal reviews with the local authority and the National Strategies about the progress of each school
Provide reports on their contacts/discussions with and visits to attached schools, in the prescribed format, to the LA and National Strategies within 48 hours of contact with the school, and in matters of urgency make immediate contact by phone or e-mail with the LA and the National Strategies’ SSIA
Attend meetings of the local National Challenge board as required
Carry out the roles and responsibilities of the School Improvement Partner as identified in the SIP Brief available at http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/docbank/index.cfm?id=8508

For each school:

Provide support in generating an accurate evaluation of performance and produce a clear and accurate judgement on its capacity to improve
Assist it in ensuring it has an accurate and robust self evaluation that clearly identifies the areas that require improvement in order to address low attainment
Support it in developing a systematic approach to the data to identify particular groups of pupils who are underachieving
Challenge and strengthen the school’s improvement plan, assessing the strategy for improving teaching and learning and tackling barriers to learning including through the delivery of extended services and helping the school to focus on core priorities
Support it in identifying where it should engage with local partners through the Children’s Trust, including health and social care services, the third sector, as well as parents to help it address barriers to learning such as SEN, mental health issues, bullying, wider family or community factors
Help it to identify what support it needs from the local authority and providers of school improvement services and prescribe support from the packages available through the National Challenge
Support it in achieving coherence in implementing major reforms to curriculum and qualifications, workforce or extended services which can be particularly demanding for schools with insecure leadership
Support it in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the 14-19 reforms, helping it to ensure that more students stay on in learning post-16
Ensure that it is successfully implementing effective teaching practice in the core subjects of English and mathematics using the renewed secondary frameworks
Regularly evaluate and monitor the impact of improvement plans, through visits to the school and scrutiny of pupil tracking data and pro vide the school, LA and National Strategies with accurate and robust feedback on the school’s current performance
Formally assess its progress every term, reporting to the local authority and the National Strategies
Offer advice about adjustments to the support provided to the school and, where judged necessary, the need for a radical solution or formal intervention

National Challenge Advisers will receive substantial support in carrying out this challenging role and will have opportunities to shape the development of the National Challenge programme. They will:

Attend networking and CPD events as required by the LA and the National Strategies
Learn from and share experiences with National Challenge Adviser colleagues across a region
Provide advice to LAs, the National Strategies and the DCSF on the progress of the National Challenge and how improvements can be made and take part in planning the future of the National Challenge programme

Application Guidance

We have introduced an on-line application process to facilitate more rapid processing of applications. It should be noted, however, that there is no facility to save your application and return to it later. You will therefore need to complete the application in one session and should be prepared for the following:

Referees

You will be asked to provide the names and full contact details, including e-mail addresses, of two referees as follows:

For serving headteachers, the first reference must be the Chair of governors who will be required to agree to your work as an NCA. The second reference should be from the school’s maintaining authority, usually the local authority. If in a LA, this will normally be the Director of Children’s Services.
For staff employed by a local authority, the first reference must be from the Director of Children’s Services (or be provided on his or her behalf). The second should be from a serving headteacher with whom you currently work
For applicants who work independently, (e.g. former headteachers or former LA advisers), the first reference should be from the current or most recent employer. The second should be from another person who can comment on your professional ability.

Pen portrait

Drawing on your current and previous roles and experience, you will be asked to identify what benefits you would bring to the role of NCA and to demonstrate how you meet the key aspects of the person specification. You would be well advised to draft your responses in Word and paste them into the application form when you get to the relevant section.

A brief paragraph will be required under each of the headings below:

Evidence of significant experience and training relevant to improving the performance of low attaining schools
Evidence of understanding and successful, active engagement with the range of school improvement support available through the National Challenge, the National Strategies and other providers, and the ability to broker it effectively
Evidence of an ability to help a school keep its improvement plans on track and resolve problems quickly
Evidence of understanding and successful engagement with the resources and support available from the local authority and other members of the Children’s Trust
Evidence of a good understanding of wider well-being issues and the crucial role parents play in their children’s learning, and how these factors contribute to improving learning
Evidence of a commitment to ongoing professional development and a willingness to work as part of a team, with National Challenge Advisers from across the country, to share best practice, to learn from others and to inform the future development of the National Challenge

National Challenge Advisers - Questions and answers

A.Appointment and selection process

Who will National Challenge Advisers work for?

National Challenge Advisers will be employed by local authorities, but they will need to work together as part of a national and regional team. Because many LAs have relatively few schools below the floor target, many National Challenge Advisers will work in more than one authority.

Why are you running a national recruitment exercise?

There are three reasons:

To help local authorities to attract the very best people by drawing as much attention as possible to this new role
To help cross local authority recruitment as many National Challenge Advisers will work in more than one authority
To start to build a national team which will help shape the future of the National Challenge.

Who will appoint National Challenge Advisers?

Applicants to the national pool will be selected by the DCSF supported by the National Strategies. The appointment process to local authorities will be jointly managed by local authorities and the DCSF, supported by the National Strategies. Local authorities may appoint directly or draw from the national pool.

What are the stages in the selection process?

There will be two stages:

The creation of a pool of potential National Challenge Advisers by the end of August
Selection of National Challenge Advisers by each local authority. This will take place at the start of the autumn term.

How will candidates be selected for the pool?

Each application and references will be reviewed against the person specification and job description. This information will be used to create a pool of potential National Challenge Advisers from which local authorities may recruit.

How will National Challenge Advisers be recruited from the pool?

Local authorities will interview applicants from the pool of potential national challenge advisers. Local authorities with few schools below the floor target may group together and run joint interviews. The DCSF and the National Strategies will support local authorities at the interview stage and may be represented on the interview panel.

All National Challenge Adviser appointments will be approved by the DCSF. Successful applicants will attend a short confirmation meeting with a National Strategies or DCSF adviser to conclude the appointment process.

Is this the only way to become a National Challenge Adviser?

We have set up this process to help local authorities find the best people to be National Challenge Advisers. Some local authorities may choose to appoint NC Advisers from their existing cadre of SIPs or advisers, if they have suitable people available, who are stronger than the candidates available from the national pool. As with all NC Adviser appointments, these will be subject to agreement from the DCSF.

Does entry into the pool of National Challenge advisers guarantee a job?

No. Local authorities will appoint as many NC Advisers as they need from the pool.

Can applicants choose where they work?

When applying to the national recruitment exercise, applicants will have to indicate which region or regions they are prepared to work in. Each local authority will only invite to interview people those people in the pool who have indicated that they want to work in the authority’s region.

We are not appointing National Challenge Advisers to work with schools in London boroughs, Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan) or the Black Country (Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton). These areas are already part of the City Challenge programme.

National Challenge Advisers appointed through this process will work with LA maintained schools. Academies will continue to receive support from advisers appointed by the DCSF. They will also work with together with other National Challenge Advisers in their region.

How many posts are there?

It is not possible to give a precise number; it will depend on how each local authority, in consultation with the DCSF, decides to deploy its NC Advisers. National Challenge Advisers are needed to work with every school below the floor target of 30% of pupils getting 5 or more A*-C grades at GCSE or equivalent including English and mathematics other than those in City Challenge Areas. At present there are 638 such schools. We expect each National Challenge Adviser to work with at least three schools.

Do National Challenge Advisers need to be accredited as a School Improvement Partner?

National Challenge Advisers will be the SIP for each school that they work with. Applicants who are not already accredited as a SIP will need to complete the SIP accreditation. They should apply to enter the pool of potential NC Advisers now and apply for SIP accreditation at the same time. Please see http://jobs.tes.co.uk/job.aspx?jobId=513674 If these applicants meet the criteria for inclusion in the pool of NC Advisers, we will ensure that they are able to complete the SIP accreditation before taking up post as an NC Adviser.

B.Expectations of National Challenge Advisers

What will a National Challenge Adviser do?

Please see the person specification and job description [Click here to view it]. Each school’s National Challenge Adviser will also be their School Improvement Partner (SIP).

How many schools will each National Challenge Adviser work with?

To help to develop their expertise in working in a range of circumstances, each National Challenge Adviser will work with between three and six schools.

How many days work will a National Challenge Adviser do with each school?

Each school will receive up to twenty days support from their National Challenge Adviser, depending on need. This will include the five days of SIP support already allocated to each school. The decision of how much support each school needs will be made by the LA and DCSF.

What other commitments will National Challenge Advisers have to undertake?

National challenge advisers will need to:

attend half termly meetings with the local authority and the national strategies where the progress of each school will be reviewed based on a report from the NC Adviser
attend monthly regional networking meetings of National Challenge Advisers to share practice and experiences and inform the development of the National Challenge programme
take part in training and attend occasional national conferences to learn about and shape the National Challenge

Who will National Challenge Advisers report to?

NC Advisers will provide reports to the half termly review meetings on the progress of each school that they work with. They will write a note of visit each time they are at the school. These documents will be available to the local authority, the National Strategies and the DCSF.

C.Funding, terms and conditions

Who will employ National Challenge Advisers?

National Challenge Advisers will be employed by or contracted to the maintaining local authority for each school that they work with.

How much will National Challenge Advisers be paid?

Each local authority will decide how much to pay National Challenge Advisers. We expect NC Adviser jobs to attract £600+ per day for each day that the NC Adviser works with a school. Their funding from DCSF should be sufficient to provide this level of remuneration.

What will be the terms and conditions of employment for National Challenge Advisers?

Terms and conditions will be set by the employing / contracting local authority.

How much funding will local authorities receive for National Challenge Advisers?

Local authorities will be paid using a daily rate for each day that a National Challenge Adviser works with a school. This will be provided for each additional day that the Adviser works with a school above the existing allocation of five SIP days. Local authorities will be able to use this funding to pay National Challenge Advisers for their work in schools and the other elements of their role. They may also use it to meet appropriate travel expenses, administrative support and other on-costs.

D. National Challenge Advisers and National Leaders of Education (FAQs)

Q1. If I am a National Leader of Education (NLE), should I become a National Challenge Adviser (NCA)?

Successful head teachers have a range of career opportunities and will clearly make choices which will suit their individual circumstances. We would like them to take into account how they can offer the most support to schools with low attainment or working in challenging circumstances. This could be by working as an NLE or a National Challenge Adviser. It should be noted that the NCA role, will not in itself, be recognised as an NLE deployment. NLEs and their National Support Schools (NSS) can provide significant support to schools below the floor target and it is important that where effective arrangements are already in place to support a school, they are maintained. NLEs currently working with a school below the floor target will be expected to continue in that role. There will be a new recruitment round for secondary NLEs in September. Priority will be given to schools below the floor target when deploying newly appointed secondary NLEs.

Q2. If I am an 'Outstanding Head', should I become an NLE or an NCA?

There are rigorous criteria and selection processes for becoming both an NLE (www.ncsl.org.uk/nle.htm) and an NCA (www.nationalstrategies.org.uk/ncaapplications). Potential candidates for either post should investigate the role in detail before making an application to either of the roles.

Q3. What should you take into account when deciding whether to be an NLE/NCA?

You should consider the time required, and the match of your skills and experience to the requirements of each role. If you are a serving head teacher you should consider the capacity of your school to cope with your absence and, if you want to be an NLE, its capacity to act as a National Support School, The time requirements of both roles are a particularly important factor if you are a serving head teacher NCAs will be expected to commit up to 20 days per school to three or more schools. The commitment required of an NLE will vary considerably depending on the needs of the school they are working with. It is likely to be even greater than the commitment required of an NCA.

Both roles involve directly raising standards and improving the quality of leadership in schools. NCAs will work to support the leadership team in each school they work with, whereas NLEs and staff from their National Support schools are more likely to take on aspects of the leadership of the school themselves. Both roles suit people who have experience in working beyond their school, and with vulnerable schools and who welcome the challenges of working actually in schools. Both roles will provide opportunities to influence and shape national policy.

Q4. Can you be both a NCA and NLE?

The time requirement for work as an NCA is at least 45 days per year working with specific schools and then associated networking, attendance at meetings and CPD. Work as an NLE is likely to require at least as much time and probably more. It is difficult to see how a serving head teacher could commit enough time from their school to work as an NLE and an NCA however there may be some who can put in place innovative arrangements to make this possible.

Please note: There is no facility to save your application and return to it later. You will therefore need to complete the application in one session.
Useful hint: Type all your information in a word document and then copy & paste it.

Personal Info

Title*		Surname*
Forename*		Other forenames
Date of birth		DCSF teacher's reference number

Contact Details
Address		Email Address*
		Telephone No*
Town/City*		Mobile No
County*		Work No
Postcode*

Current Post

How long have you been in your current post?*
Current role*
Employers name*
Employers Address and Postcode

LA number		Establishment number

SIP Experience

Are you currently accredited as a Secondary School Improvement Partner? YesNo
Secondary SIP Accreditation No.
SIP accreditation is a condition for undertaking the NCA role. Applicants without secondary SIP accreditation should also complete the SIP accreditation form which can be found at: www.ncsl.org.uk/programmes/sips/index.cfm
Are you currently working as a SIP?	YesNo
SIP Work Undertaken (If appropriate)Download template [Please fill it in and attach here]
Note: If you have current or previous SIP experience, please ensure that your pen portrait provides details of how you consider that you have added value in the schools that you have supported as a SIP. Focus particularly on how you have helped to support schools which were underperforming.

Headship experience

Are you currently the headteacher of a Secondary phase maintained school, Academy, City Technology College or independent school?		YesNo
Have you previously been (but are not currently) the headteacher of a Secondary phase maintained school, Academy, City Technology College or independent school?*		YesNo
If yes to either question above, please give the number of years that you were previously a headteacher?		year(s)

Local Authority School Improvement Adviser Experience
Have you got experience as an LA Secondary or Cross-phase school improvement adviser / inspector in the last four years?*		YesNo
If yes, please give the number of years that you have been or were an LA school improvement adviser / inspector?		year(s)

Career history
(Download template) [Please fill it in and attach here]

Pen Portrait

Drawing on your current and previous roles and experience, you are asked to identify what benefits you would bring to the role of NCA and to demonstrate how you meet the key aspects of the person specification. A brief paragraph should be provided under each of the headings below:

Evidence of significant experience and training relevant to improving the performance of low attaining schools

Evidence of understanding and successful, active engagement with the range of school improvement support available through the National Challenge, the National Strategies and other providers and ability to broker it effectively

Evidence of an ability to help a school keep its improvement plan on track and resolve problems quickly

Evidence of understanding and successful, active engagement with the resources and support available from the local authority and other members of the Children’s Trust

Evidence of a good understanding of wider well-being issues and the crucial role parents play in their children’s learning, and how these factors contribute to improving learning

Evidence of a commitment to ongoing professional development and a willingness to work as part of a team, with National Challenge Advisers from across the country, to share best practice, to learn from others and to inform the future development of the National Challenge.

References

Your application will only be valid if you supply the names of two referees as follows: For serving headteachers the first referee must be the Chair of Governors who will be required to agree to your work as a NCA. The second reference should be from your school's maintaining authority, usually the local authority. If in an LA this will normally be the Director for Children's Services. For staff employed by a local authority the first reference must be from the Director for Children's Services or provided on his/her behalf. The second should be from a serving headteacher with whom you currently work. For applicants who work independently (e.g. former headteachers or former local authority advisers) the first reference should be from the current/most recent employer. The second should be from another person who can comment on your professional activity. In addition, in submitting this application, you are agreeing to references being sought from any local authorities where you have worked in a SIP role. NB - SEE NOTES ABOVE BEFORE COMPLETION;
Reference 1
Name*		Email Address*
Address		Telephone No*

Town/City*
County*
Postcode*

Reference 2
Name*		Email Address*
Address		Telephone No*

Town/City*
County*
Postcode*

Potential Deployment

Number of schools for which you are willing to act as NCA?* (This will normally be between 3 and 6, although applications from exceptional candidates who are not able to work in this many schools will be considered)	[number please]
Number of days per year you are prepared to work as a NCA* (This would normally be at least 45 days, although in exceptional circumstances the DCSF may be willing to accept an applicant to the pool who is unable to offer this many days. Note that, in addition to these days, NCAs are expected to attend meetings at the LA as required and take part in CPD and network meeting days.)	day(s)
Please indicate the regions you are willing to work as a NCA:
	East Midlands region North East region South East region Eastern region North West region South West region West Midlands region Yorkshire and Humber region

* Please note that alternative arrangements apply to London Authorities and the London region is therefore not an option

Equal Opportunities statement

National Strategies would be grateful if you would take a few moments to answer the following questions about yourself. This section is not taken into account for the purposes of eligibility. Completion of this section is not compulsory and non-completion will not affect your access to the programme. However, if you do complete this section, you will be helping us to monitor equal opportunity issues to ensure that all groups have equal opportunity.
Age	Gender	Ethnic Group
Do you consider yourself to have a disability within the terms of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act? Yes No
If so, please enter the nature of your disability:

Disclaimer

Privacy Statement

This privacy statement sets out how the National Strategies (NS) complies with European Union data protection and other privacy requirements with respect to information about individuals that it obtains stores and uses in connection with online applications.
Any applicant will be required to provide NS with personal and professional information, for example name, school, e-mail address, work address and position. NS will store this information and process it for the purposes identified herein.
For your protection, NS is registered under the Data Protection Act 1998 and has given all appropriate notifications to the Information Commissioner.
How NS use your personal data; By completing an on-line application you are giving permission for your information to be held by us and processed for the following purposes:

Management Information; For NS and its partners to effectively administer and manage the application process

Validation; For NS to corroborate and validate the personal details you provide to us.

Administration; At times, we will share your information with partners who perform certain functions on our behalf, and who do so under conditions of confidentiality. (This will include, but is not limited to, the NCSL in respect of SIP accreditation) Other than outlined above, NS will not pass your details on to third parties without your consent.

Data Protection Act 1998; The information given on this form will be stored in a personal record in the NS SIPs database. It will be used for the purposes of administering your relationship with NS as set out above.

Personal Info

Contact Details

Current Post

SIP Experience

Headship experience

Local Authority School Improvement Adviser Experience

Career history