For more than twelve years, Louise Quaid has woven Challenge Partners into the fabric of her leadership and school improvement work. Now Executive Principal of Littlegreen Academy and Redwood Park Academy, both serving pupils with significant, complex and diverse needs, she has used the network to regrow a school, develop emerging leaders, strengthen professional culture and connect her staff to expertise far beyond their trust. Her journey demonstrates how collaborative challenge, shared practice and national peer support can drive long-term improvement in special school settings, while nurturing confidence, wellbeing and professional curiosity along the way.
My relationship with Challenge Partners began early in my leadership career. My first Quality Assurance Review was a baptism of fire, sitting alongside experienced leaders from completely different schools and articulating my thinking out loud. It stretched me, but it was transformational. That early challenge shaped the leader I am today, which is why we continue to work with Challenge Partners. Schools evolve, and so must we. The reviews are now a core part of our annual cycle, helping us test our self-evaluation, develop new leaders and keep asking the right questions.
Challenge Partners has played a major role during some of the most difficult moments in my career. When Little Green Academy joined the trust, it had been judged inadequate by Ofsted and had seen seven headteachers in twelve years. Staff were exhausted by instability. Signing up to Challenge Partners was one of our first decisions. The network offered colleagues space to pause, reflect and talk professionally without feeling judged. For a struggling school, that was powerful.
A visit to a Challenge Partners special school serving pupils with social, emotional and mental health needs was particularly influential. Their approach to behaviour and wellbeing gave us the language, clarity and confidence we needed to move forward. That visit helped kick-start Little Green’s turnaround. Today, it is a good school.
Over time, the fear of reviews has been replaced by pride. Staff now see them as support and celebration rather than judgement. The impact has extended beyond my own schools too. Reviewing elsewhere and taking part in the Leadership Residency Programme* has broadened my understanding of the system, and I’ve seen colleagues grow in confidence and strategic insight.
Our local Beacon Hub has strengthened collaboration between special schools across five local authorities, including much-needed attention to leadership wellbeing. And Challenge Partners provides something else I value deeply: advocacy. As a special school leader, I don’t have a direct route into policy conversations. Challenge Partners does, and at a time of SEND reform, that matters.
If asked whether the partnership is worth it, I would say absolutely - but only if you engage fully. Visit schools, host reviews, send leaders out, join your hub. It is some of the best professional development available.
Most importantly, Challenge Partners models the culture I want in my schools: collaborative, respectful and rooted in the belief that people want to do well. My journey would have been very different without it. It has shaped me, strengthened my schools and improved pupils’ experiences. This is why we keep coming back.
*The Leadership Residency Programme is a Challenge Partners' programme available to and run by our Hubs, which drives focused leadership development through purposeful immersion in another school.