
Growing the Top
Helping strong schools sustain and extend their excellence
Growing the Top was founded on the belief that no school remains outstanding by standing still. It is uniquely designed to inspire and inform improvement in strong schools with systemic strengths to share and the humility to appreciate there’s always more to learn and do.
From 2025, Growing the Top and Extending Leading Practice are merged into one programme called Growing the Top. Consistent with our Upwards Convergence model, Growing the Top stimulates strong schools to rise higher, and the whole system to move up.

Overview of the project
Strong schools are carefully matched using a variety of factors to form trios or quads where every school has something to share with and learn from the others. Expertly-facilitated visit days allow host and peer leaders to explore areas of systemic leading practice and address school improvement challenges.
The host school receives external appraisal and support to move forward. Visitors learn from observing and unpicking leading practice in other strong schools and contexts, finding out what has worked for them on their path to excellence.
What does it involve?
The headteacher and another senior leader (always the same one) from each school attend every visit, so trust and collaboration builds over time. The relationships formed often extend to other teachers and leaders and sustain beyond the programme lifespan, and participants have relished the chance to learn and collaborate with peers from different regions.
Participants also take insight and inspiration from whole-cohort events, featuring expert speakers from academia, the corporate world and the education sector. School leaders are challenged to reflect on their own leadership approach, discuss shared priorities with other leaders and examine how to keep adapting their practice and advancing excellence.
“It is excellent to meet with other Heads and SLT on your level who you can learn from/with and grow as a result.”
- Samantha Saville, Headteacher at Ashton Keynes CofE Primary School
Growing the Top offers you:

Collaboration
Meaningful collaboration and growth, working with carefully matched schools to complement and learn from each other’s strengths and differences

Learning
Experiential learning on expertly-facilitated school visit days throughout the year for your headteacher and another senior leader

Support
Support from peer leaders on your school’s development areas, and the chance to observe and learn from exceptional practice in other top performing schools and contexts

Inspiration
Inspiration and stretch at whole-cohort events offering new ideas and provocation
90%
of participants plan to use something they have seen, learned or discussed in their own school’s school improvement journey in the longer term
88%
of participants have seen or learned something they would like to share with other senior leaders in their school