Cognita’s commitment to empowering and building capacity across school leadership was the driving force behind the launch of a new four-day Middle Leadership Programme in 2025/26. Over 70 educators have already participated in the first two days, delivered separately in Dubai, London, and Latin America, giving each region the opportunity to explore leadership within its own school context while benefiting from shared insights across our global system.

Created by educators for educators, the programme reflects a powerful collaboration across Cognita’s Regional Education teams. It is tailored to support year group, subject, and pastoral leads, those who are at the heart of shaping teaching excellence and fostering a positive, thriving school culture.

Across all three regions, participants engaged in reflective, collaborative, and discussion-based learning focusing on topics such as leadership of self, leadership of others, and the effective leadership of pedagogy. All programme activities sought to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills required to respond to authentic leadership challenges within their schools.

Feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants awarding the programme a five-star rating and 96% strongly agreeing they would recommend it to a colleague. One teacher from the UAE noted,  “I was encouraged to think deeply about the different elements of the programme and had ample opportunity to reflect on how it links to my current role. It was very engaging and interactive.”

Simon Camby, Group Chief Education Officer, reflected:

“Having now run three cohorts of the new Middle Leadership Programme (MLP), it has been amazing to see leaders from around of global community turn up as true learners. Of course there is learning from the programme content. But there is also huge learning potential from engagement with the other participants. It has been a privilege to engage with such smart people who genuinely want to make an increasing difference through their learning in our schools.”

With the final two days scheduled later this academic year, teachers will return to explore the topics of leading school improvement and evidence-informed action. This phased structure ensures that leaders can apply new learning in their schools before deepening and extending their practice, strengthening leadership across the Cognita global community.