LANDMARK is not built on instinct or anecdote. It is grounded in decades of international research into what makes school leadership effective, and what happens when it is not.
Across this body of research, one conclusion has remained consistent: leadership is second only to classroom teaching in its impact on pupil outcomes. Not because leaders teach lessons, but because they shape the conditions in which great teaching can happen.
LANDMARK draws on the most significant and well-evidenced strands of this research, translating them into a practical, assessable and developmental framework that makes leadership visible, rigorous and impossible to ignore.
"Leadership is not an additional layer of school improvement. It is the foundation. LANDMARK makes that foundation explicit, rigorous and impossible to ignore."
Suzanne Owens, LANDMARK Director
Leadership improves outcomes indirectly by shaping the organisational conditions that enable effective teaching. Leaders set direction, develop people and create alignment. This is the central claim of LANDMARK.
Leadership is not held by a single individual. It is enacted through relationships, expertise and context across the organisation. This underpins LANDMARK Staging Posts 3 and 7.
Sustainable improvement is built through collective professional strength: human capital, social capital and decisional capital. Leadership must build confidence, shared purpose and professional trust.
Collective teacher efficacy is among the most significant influences on pupil achievement. Leadership's role is to build the shared belief in impact that makes this possible.
Leadership is experienced in daily interactions. How leaders listen, respond, challenge and support shapes culture more powerfully than policy. A school's culture is not what is written; it is what is lived.
"Great schools are not built by accident. Every day, in ways large and small, someone makes a landmark decision: how to lead, who to trust, what to prioritise and what kind of place a school should be. LANDMARK exists to recognise the leaders who get those decisions right."
Suzanne Owens, LANDMARK DirectorPrefer to share more detail? Use the full registration form →