Deadline: 16 December
Interviews: 6th Jan
Contract period: Jan 2026 – Jan 2028 (Programme official start date, 27 Jan)
Big Education is rethinking education by nurturing the head, heart, and hand of every child. Alongside running schools, we deliver leadership programmes that challenge traditional boundaries between education, community, and wellbeing.
Building on the success of the Old Kent Road Family Zone – a thriving, community-led initiative hosted at Surrey Square Primary School (part of the Big Education Trust) – we are expanding this work through a Community Leadership Programme.
The programme trains school leaders to act as anchors for community wellbeing, helping them move towards a ‘working with’ mindset. Family Zones connect schools, local partners and residents to co-design solutions that improve mental health, belonging, and opportunity.
We are seeking an independent evaluation partner to assess and strengthen this work as it scales across London and beyond.
Purpose of the evaluation
The evaluation will serve both impact and developmental functions:
- Impact: To evidence the outcomes of the programme — particularly shifts in leadership mindsets, changes in school culture and partnerships, and resulting wellbeing and other impacts.
- Developmental: To generate real-time learning for Big Education and partners, supporting programme refinement, scale-up, and policy influence.
The evaluation should provide credible evidence for policy makers, funders, and school leaders, while building a rich understanding of how this way of working takes root and creates lasting change.
Core learning and evaluation questions
- Mindsets and practice: In what ways does the programme shift school leaders from a deficit model to one centred on ‘working with’ communities and mental health? How does this translate into practical changes in relationships, policies, and practice?
- Programme content: How well has the content matched the needs and context of participants, and to what extent has programme implementation supported its intended goals?
- Scaling and replication: What enables or constrains the model’s wider adoption across schools nationally? How can these insights inform a credible scaling strategy and influence future policy?
Methodology
We expect a mixed-methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative data:
- Baseline competencies and confidence of participants
- Baseline level of community engagement for participating schools
- Impact on participants and schools during and after the duration of the programme
- Qualitative case studies of programme impact to include perspectives of both participants, school staff and community stakeholders
- Formative learning loops and collaborative reflection sessions with Big Education.
- Secondary data analysis
The design should balance rigour with flexibility, embedding participatory approaches and co-produced insights from schools and community members.
Key deliverables
- Evaluation framework, indicators and baseline data (March 2026)
- Interim report, including: progress, methodology, emerging evidence and initial recommendations (Jan 2027)
- Final report including: executive summary, background/context, purpose/scope, methodology, findings, secondary data analysis, conclusions, lessons learned and recommendations. This would also sit alongside accessible outputs including executive summary, slide deck, case studies for funders and policymakers (Jan 2028)
- Outputs which support clarification and refinement of our theory of change and model
What we’re looking for
- Proven expertise in education and community leadership learning design and systems change
- Experience balancing impact measurement and developmental learning.
- Strong facilitation and stakeholder-engagement skills.
- A reflective team who are open to feedback and able to collaborate with the project team
- Ability to translate insights into clear, user-friendly, actionable recommendations and insights
- Development of assets to enable powerful communication of findings and insights
- Profile and connections within relevant sectors to support dissemination and impact
Proposal requirements
Please provide:
- An expression of interested including (no more than two-pages, size 12 font):
- A brief overview of your organisation
- Relevant experience
- What excites you about this project and why you are interested in this work
- Proposed approach
- Capabilities and track record of undertaking similar work
- What you see the potential challenges being
- Team composition and roles
- Timeline and budget
- Two examples of previous relevant evaluations
Please send expression of interest or enquiries to Ellie Lister, Head of Strategy and Partnerships (ellie.lister@bigeducation.org) by 16th December.
