Ian Menter is Professor of Teacher Education, Department of Education, at the University of Oxford

The city of Oxford is indeed fortunate to be home to two of the world’s leading universities – one ancient and one modern.

Given the city’s reputation as a seat of learning, it is not surprising that each of the universities has a department specialising in education.

These two departments each have a great track record in teacher education and professional development and in educational research.

So it was that when the opportunity came about around a year ago for the two universities to work together on a very significant local initiative we jumped at the chance to collaborate.

Oxford City Council had become concerned about the challenges being faced by a number of primary schools.

They commissioned an external expert, Anna Wright, formerly a director of children’s services in Reading, to investigate what might be done to support these schools to improve the educational outcomes for their children.

Given that the city council is not an education authority – that responsibility lies with Oxfordshire County Council – this was a bold and innovative step for the city council to take.

When Anna reported she recommended that two development programmes be commissioned, one to support literacy and numeracy learning in the schools, the other to support the development of leadership among the staff.

The council accepted these proposals and put both opportunities out to tender.

It was the latter initiative that attracted colleagues in the two universities’ schools of education.

During summer 2012 a team of us worked together to draw up a proposal for a “world-class educational leadership programme”.

The proposal also drew in a consortium of other schools in Oxfordshire, which delivers training on behalf of the county council, giving it a firm local footing.

When we submitted our bid, we competed with about ten other proposals from all around the country.

We were delighted, following an interview with councillors and heads, to be awarded the contract.

The programme started in January of this year and will work with two cohorts of middle and senior leaders, one during 2013 and the other in 2014.

The current cohort consists of 40 staff drawn from eleven primary schools in the city.

Participants take part in one major day conference each term where they hear from international experts but also have intense discussions about how to develop their own skills and to work collaboratively with the other staff in their schools.

Each teacher on the programme is also part of an “action learning set” which meets twice each term.

These meetings provide an opportunity for participants to discuss how to maintain continuous improvement of teaching and learning.

Two “public seminars” are also arranged each term where all colleagues from the schools, including members of the governing bodies, can attend and hear about the latest developments and research findings in school leadership.

These have been held in the excellent environment of Oxford Brookes’ Harcourt Hill campus.

Another distinctive feature of this year’s programme has been the teaming up with a number of schools from the city of Leicester.

Senior leaders from Leicester schools have been taking part in the programme, ensuring that there is a outward facing aspect to the programme and that participants can learn from other settings – which have some similarities and some differences with Oxford.

The response from the participants has been most encouraging. There is great enthusiasm and sense of purpose as participants identify the key challenges in their own settings and work to address them. The longterm aim of the programme is to build a self-sustaining culture of leadership development in the schools that will lead to improved outcomes for children.

It really is important to retain our excellent teachers in the city and to provide them with opportunities to further their careers and raise the attainment of all of our children.

Leadership for Learning – an innovative university-led programme in Oxford primary schools