What is LocalED?
LocalED is a pilot project to test new locality models for the English school system led by local authorities, combined authorities and school led partnerships.
The project began life as a report published in March 2021, following research sponsored by the Association of Education Committees (AEC) Trust and BELMAS, the British Educational Leadership, Management and Administration Society.
A key finding of the research, which explored four leading international systems, was that – to borrow a phrase from educational researcher Michael Fullan – ‘Leadership from the Middle’ through locality-based governance and partnership working is key to building school systems that can deliver excellence and equity.
The updated literature review available here draws on the latest research confirms this analysis.
What are the pilots focusing on?
Following the final report in 2021 and subsequent interviews and consultation, which made several recommendations to strengthen the role played by locality-based partnerships, the AEC Trust launched LocalED focusing on pilots to explore three approaches:
- Support for vulnerable pupils
- Combined Authorities as the base for supporting school improvement
- Towards a new model of accountability
Each pilot is running for 2 years, between April 2022 and July 2024, and a report on learning from the pilots will then be published.
Why a locality-based approach?
Latest updates on the Projects
LocalEd Conference: celebrating success, sharing best practice and planning for autumn
August 2024
On June 25th, 2024, we hosted a conference at Coram Fields in London, bringing together participants from our three pilot projects. This event was a valuable opportunity to exchange ideas, provide updates, and strengthen our initiatives.
Throughout the day, we:
- Shared success stories and constructive feedback to enhance our storytelling and lessons learned before our national event in January 2025.
- Identified key learnings across the pilots, focusing on locality working.
- Developed plans to sustain the impact of our pilot work into 2025.
The conference was organised by Simon Day and the Isos partnership and representatives from all pilot projects attended.
The leaders of the Pilots, the support team and Alan Parker, Chair of the AEC Trust, who is funding the Project
You can read our ‘One Year On’ update (published in October 2023) here.
Further information
