Challenge Partners (www.challengepartners.org) is a national network of 300 high-achieving schools focused on improving the quality of teaching and leadership, leading to school improvement and better outcomes for children and young people.

Challenge Partners encourages schools to learn from one another and share their expertise in local hubs and centrally-run events. Specialist programmes are available on narrowing the gap for Pupil Premium children and improving teaching and learning, while expert working groups on topics such as Early Years, Maths and Well-being focus on exploring the newest research and sharing best practice across the country.

Brindishe Schools work with ten or more other local schools in Lewisham and the South East in what is known as the ‘Lewisham Hub’. The schools in our hub meet together each half-term to share good practice and discuss national and local issues. Funding for training is shared between schools in the hub, which supports staff at all levels to improve and move their practice forward.

Membership of Challenge Partners includes a Quality Assurance Review for each school in the partnership every year. Senior leaders from Challenge Partner schools nationwide are trained to conduct reviews alongside an Ofsted lead inspector. The review team visit a school for two days and spend time looking at a school’s performance data and visiting classrooms with the school’s own senior leadership team to evaluate teaching and learning in the school.

The latest independent Challenge Partners reports can be viewed on each school website.