What is the NPQ Flex?

In the first year, the CofE/CES NPQs have worked with just under 2000 participants across the country, with the numbers expected to rise to over 3000 by February 2023. This has been achieved through an excellent network of 87 Delivery Partners serving all areas of England. However, the current delivery model makes it complex for Secondary Schools to engage in significant numbers to the same course (because of the cover issues of having multiple staff out of school at a time).

We have been approached by a number of secondary schools nationally to enquire as to whether they can become Delivery Partners and deliver the programmes ‘internally’ as part of their CPD package to large groups of staff in order to maximise the numbers of participants accessing this fully funded training at this time. This delivery model is:

• DELIVERED BY YOU in line with local timings/practical arrangements for delivery, with content split into smaller chunks to enable effective delivery 
• TAILORED BY YOU to local context, enabling school leaders to focus delivery on specific policy or procedures within school, whilst retaining full fidelity to the NPQ framework and preparation for assessment 
• EMBEDDED BY YOU within a school’s CPD programme for groups of 15 staff on each course (for example, all Heads of Department on the NPQLT, or all pastoral staff on NPQLBC) 
• FUNDED FULLY BY US by generous ‘per participant’ fees which would be paid directly to the school, to support actual delivery costs, or provide support for staffing costs for leadership time

In partnering with the CofE/CES for this approach, the central team would provide full training and resources for all facilitators and coaches, and embed the school into its regional team of Delivery Partners in the local area. Access to peer-learning from other Delivery Partners and shadowing would form part of the strong quality assurance processes. In addition, while there would likely be sufficient participants to fill the NPQLT/NPQLTD/NPQLBC programmes in any secondary school (who would otherwise not be able to access this free training), there maybe a need for the school to work with its neighbouring secondary partner (2/3 maximum) to create cohorts for NPQSL/NPQH of 15.