Challenge Partners
For existing members
By being part of the Challenge Partners Heart of England Hub, you are choosing to collaborate with like-minded leaders from across five different counties. Senior Partner Rob Hardcastle, CEO of Hatton Academies Trust and Hub Manager, Nick Salisbury, Co-Principal at Sir Christopher Hatton Academy play a vital role at both the national and local level leading Challenge Partners to fulfil our aims. Please click the below login area to access more information.
Challenge Partners is a national partnership of over 500 schools committed to reducing educational inequality and improving the life chances of all children.
Through collaboration, challenge and professional development, working together to ensure every school can benefit from the combined wisdom of the education system. Linking successful schools with external knowledge, to drive up the performance of all schools, leaders, teachers and pupils.
Hatton Academies Trust leads the Challenge Partners Heart of England Hub. We are a collaboration of schools working together to secure improvements and personal development on shared priorities.
“Our mission is to reduce educational inequality and improve the life chances of all children. Through collaboration, challenge and leadership development, we are working to ensure every school community can benefit from the combined wisdom of the education system.”
Our Hub is made up of 22 schools and is one of the largest in the country. It supports the education of almost 15,000 students. One of our priorities is to create a sense of community. We achieve this through establishing effective channels of communication. Each school has allocated a member of staff to our steering group, whose role is to encourage greater collaboration and to establish a “personal approach”. As a hub, we are committed to collaborating with each other in order to raise outcomes for our pupils. Our meetings are structured so that they address our common priorities, and the meetings give members the opportunity to share practice and work together.
Challenge Partners Brochure - 2025-26
Challenge Partners BIO - 2025-26
Challenge Partners Impact Report - 2024
Interested in joining?
Challenge Partners Heart of England Hub can help your school through:
- Leadership development activities
- School quality assurance and peer reviews
- Opportunities to share best practice and collaborate at local and national level
- Programmes to tackle the attainment gap for disadvantaged children
- Help for outstanding schools to get even better
- Inspirational and coaching to develop the school leaders of the future
- National and local events
Challenge Partners Heart of England Hub Senior Partner - Rob Hardcastle
Email: hardcastler@hattonacademiestrust.org.uk