Partnerships
Collaborative Innovation Network for System Leadership
in partnership with the University of Worcester Institute of Education
Background
Leaders in education are faced with challenges that are hard to define, cut across organisational and sector boundaries and lack clear solutions.
To complement traditional leadership and improvement models the Collaborative Innovation Group for System Leadership is a new form of system leadership – one that connects leaders across schools and trusts, builds trust and professional generosity, and generates the collective capacity to innovate, adapt and respond to emerging needs.
The Collaborative Innovation Group creates a space for CEOs and system leaders across the three counties of Worcestershire, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to come together with the University of Worcester to shape, test and scale innovations that strengthen the education system for all learners.
CEO Members
- Peter Cooper – CEO, Heart of Mercia Multi Academy Trust
- Emma Pritchard – CEO, Black Pear Trust
- Dafydd Lawday – CEO, Mercian Educational Trust
- David Coaché – CEO, New Education Trust (formerly Bengeworth Academy Trust)
- Matt Mechin – CEO, The Rivers CofE Academy Trust
- Guy Shears, CEO, Central Region Schools Trust
- Lee Gray, CEO of The Shires MAT
How We Work Together
Together we practice Connecting, Aligning, Learning and Making – four modes of collaborative impact that help us move from intent to action on shared problems.
Our ethos rests on building the capacities and conditions that enable courageous collaboration.
Capacities we bring:
- Resilience and optimism in the face of complexity.
- Humility and openness to learning from other sectors.
- Courage to disrupt patterns and think outside the box.
- Commitment to professional generosity and influencing across the system.
Conditions we nurture:
- Safety and vulnerability – a space to share hardest challenges without ego.
- Energy and action – turning dialogue into progress.
- Collective purpose – recognising we are greater than the sum of our parts.
- Generosity – sharing knowledge, resources and capacity for the benefit of all.
Purpose
Strategic Purpose (CEOs Group):
Convening and stewarding a Collaborative Innovation Group of education leaders in a way that connects organisations and priorities, builds trust, commitment and professional generosity, and models sustainable systems leadership so that we can identify, align and scale innovations that enhance learning and improve effectiveness across our settings and the wider system.
Sub-Group (Action/Delivery) Purpose:
Exploring, testing and integrating innovations (including digital transformation) through cross-MAT sub-groups in a way that collaborative and openly shares learning and resources so that individuals and teams are enabled to learn, try out and innovate ways of improving organizational effectiveness and education for students.
Strategic Intentions / Four Pillars:
1. Building Strong Central Teams: Strengthen collaboration across MAT central teams to add value and capacity.
2. Enhancing Collaboration Across Trusts: Expand mentoring, coaching and expertise exchange across schools and MATs.
3. Role-Specific Networking: Establish functional peer networks (e.g. for COOs, HR, governance, estates, digital leads).
4. Influencing Across the Region: Promote local and regional collaboration, aligning with national DfE Learning Sets and regional skills agendas.
Get Involved
If you are interested in joining one in with this partnership between organisations, please contact Shaun McInerney (s.mcinerney@worc.ac.uk) in the first instance.
