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The National Picture of Leadership Development

The Catholic dioceses of England & Wales work together to form, nourish and sustain leaders in Catholic education. Their national strategy ‘Formatio’, coordinated by the Catholic Education Service, is supported by collaborations in 4 regional ‘hubs’. The work of the North West hub is delivered through the North West Catholic Dioceses Training Partnership (NWCDTP). This, in turn, builds on the work of the individual diocesan education departments, which provide individually tailored and practical support for all their schools and colleges. Our mandate within the NWCDTP is to work on behalf of the 5 North West dioceses to ensure the highest quality provision for schools and colleges in specific areas where joint working is the best approach. Therefore, each Diocese benefits from training that otherwise may not be available. Our programmes are led by relevant serving professionals from across the partnership and beyond, as we aim to offer a continuum of opportunities to nourish Catholic leaders in rapidly changing contexts.

The Training Partnership does not seek to duplicate work done at diocesan or national level. Instead, it focuses on delivering regional programmes that enhance the capacity of the constituent dioceses to offer comprehensive development opportunities in the light of the CES’s Formatio strategy.

The Training Partnership’s main offering is a series of annual, cross-phase programmes for school staff at different points in their career journey. These are the Catholic Middle Leadership Programme (CMLP); Catholic Senior Leadership Programme (CSLP) and the Catholic Headship Programme (CHP). The inter-diocesan and cross-phase nature of these programmes is one of the features appreciated by participants. It creates much wider networking opportunities amongst individuals working in a more varied range of settings. The benefits are both professional and pastoral and can continue long after the programmes have been completed. In addition, those who are at an earlier stage of their career get to work with serving school leaders and other external professionals who support the programmes; as well as with diocesan and Training Partnership staff. This brings both formal and informal opportunities for career advice and guidance and is highly valued by course participants. It also allows diocesan staff to be better informed about those in the Catholic network looking to move into leadership roles.