Every school working in partnerships: because no school can do it alone
No school can meet the needs of all its pupils alone. Delivering the Pupil and Parent Guarantees will require schools to work in partnership with other schools and with wider children’s services, in order to offer more by working together than any one partner could alone and to provide better value for money. At the same time, federation and other partnership solutions will become central to tackling weakness and extending the reach of the best leaders. Partnerships with wider children’s services as part of the Children’s Trust will mean that schools can tackle problems early.
In particular we will:
ensure that local partnerships in every area extend curriculum choice, including to the new Diplomas, to specialist teaching and to extended services, taking advantage of the near-universal specialist system;
legislate to make clear that schools have responsibilities for children across the area as well as those on their own roll;
continue to accelerate the creation of Academies – to 200 by September 2009, with a further 100 the next year – and Trusts;
establish a system for accrediting high-quality education providers who wish to run Accredited Schools Groups and require local authorities to consider the use of these providers to tackle underperforming schools;
extend the powers of strong governing bodies to allow them to directly sponsor Academies;
reduce the barriers to schools and other partners pooling funds and resources to achieve better value for money;
support the creation of multi-agency teams in schools and bring schools and wider services together in Children’s Trusts; and
fund a leadership and partnership national support programme to support schools to manage change as partnerships develop.
In addition, Ofsted is introducing a revised grade for partnership working and will carry out more co‑ordinated inspections for federations.
3.1 Because we know that no school can provide the full guarantee to every pupil and parent through acting alone, partnership must become central to the organisation of the system. Schools will need to work with one another and with other partners in education and in wider children’s services if they are going to provide the full range of opportunities that children and young people will need for success. Likewise, if the very best of our current provision is to become the norm for every child, then we need to extend the reach of our best leaders and our best schools, so that more children can benefit from their excellence.
Collaboration will become central to the organisation of the school system
3.2 Over recent years, schools have increasingly chosen to become involved in collaborations in order to achieve more for children and young people by working together than they could by acting alone. For example, the large majority of primary and secondary schools are working together to offer the full range of extended services, and virtually all schools are working together in School Sport Partnerships, which have transformed the amount of PE and sport being done by children and young people across the country. At secondary level, virtually all schools are working in consortia in order to prepare to offer the full range of 14 new Diplomas to young people in Key Stage 4 – something which they could not do alone.
3.3 Increasingly, these partnerships are being formalised, with shared governance for the activities being done together. Sometimes, more formal arrangements – federations, shared Trusts, executive head teachers responsible for more than one school – are bringing schools together to respond to local challenges or to improve schools. The benefits of all these forms of partnership are increasingly clear in the enhanced opportunities available to children and in the better results they are achieving.
3.4 Over the coming years, in order to ensure that the Pupil and Parent Guarantees are made a reality for every pupil and parent, to the highest possible standard:
a. local partnerships of schools will extend opportunity for children, young people, parents and school staff, with schools working together to offer more between them than they could alone;
b. federation and other partnership solutions will tackle underperformance in the school system, transfer excellence and extend the reach of the best leaders, governors and schools;
c. partnerships between schools and wider children’s services will ensure that children, young people and families have access to the range of services they need, so problems can be tackled early;
d. schools working together in a range of circumstances will generate efficiencies which can be reinvested in provision for the children they serve; and
e. we will eliminate barriers to partnership working.
We now set out how each of these will be made a reality.
Local partnerships of schools will extend opportunity
3.5 Existing partnerships of schools have yielded significant benefits for pupils, parents, school staff and others. Secondary and primary schools working together on transition from Year 6 to Year 7 have made a significant difference to the learning experience of children and young people. Primary schools sharing specialist teachers have been able to provide opportunities to children that they could not have done alone. Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships have achieved very significant improvements through schools working together. However, the building blocks are now in place to go much further in order to deliver the Pupil and Parent Guarantees.
3.6 As early as 2001, in our White Paper Schools – Achieving Success, we set out our vision of a fully specialist secondary school system, in which, because there would be a range of schools with different specialisms in each area, every secondary school pupil would have access to centres of excellence in subjects across the curriculum. Now, thanks to the hard work of schools, the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), the Youth Sport Trust (YST) and other partners, we have a truly specialist secondary system – with well over 90% of all secondary schools having achieved specialist status.
3.7 As a result, through partnership working, it will now be possible to achieve the ambition of children having access to centres of excellence across the curriculum. Through these partnerships, specialist expertise in science (including access to triple science GCSE) and languages, for example, can be made available to all. Likewise, School Sport Partnerships are transforming opportunity in sport. We will continue to work with SSAT and the YST to make sure that we seize the transformational opportunities now presented by the specialist system and the local and national networks of schools now in place.
3.8 Reform of education for 14-19 year-olds means that virtually all secondary schools in the country are now in partnerships, working together to offer the new Diplomas between them. As a result, these schools are developing approaches to timetabling and logistics which allow them to share staff, offer opportunities on their sites to young people on the rolls of other schools, and develop teaching across a consortium. Working with all our partners, we will make sure that all young people have access to the full range of new Diplomas by 2013 and that we take advantage of the Diploma consortia to extend access to other subjects as well.
3.9 In precisely the same way at primary level, we are seeking to make sure that children have access to specialist mathematics teaching in every school. Particularly in smaller primary schools, which may have only two or three classes, this will only be achievable through schools sharing staff. Likewise, primary schools wishing to have more specialist subject teaching in other subjects in order to make the most of the new Primary National Curriculum will need to work in partnership with other schools to make this a reality. And collaboration between different types of institutions, such as between schools and alternative providers; primary schools and early years’ providers; or secondary schools, colleges and work-based learning providers, all support children and young people to make a successful transition to the next phase of learning.
Case study: 14-19 Partnerships
The introduction of the new Diplomas has meant that across the country, schools are working in area‑wide consortia to ensure that they can offer the full range of Diplomas well to all their students. As a result, they have developed a number of creative solutions.
In Wolverhampton, all the schools and the college work together according to a compatible curriculum framework and model, so that it is possible for students across the area to access courses in any institution in the city.
In York, North Yorkshire LSC and York 14-19 Partnership have developed a curriculum modelling tool in order to plan for the raising of the participation age and achieve the right mix of provision for 14-19 year-olds. As a result, they are able to plan together the range of provision that will be needed and the number of places on different courses, according to a shared vision.
Both approaches have been widely shared and used in other areas.
3.10 We expect that over time, schools will seek to bring together a number of local partnerships where that makes sense. For example, schools have shown that by working together, sharing resources and expertise, they can make a real difference in tackling persistent absence and intervening earlier to improve behaviour. We are legislating to put Behaviour and Attendance Partnerships on a statutory footing. Our expectation is that these partnerships will be aligned with Safer School Partnerships (SSPs) – the successful mechanism for ensuring structured joint working between schools and the police. Likewise, addressing special educational needs can prevent behaviour problems from arising, so sharing expertise in that area can be important as part of tackling poor behaviour. Equally, however, sometimes disengagement from the curriculum contributes to behavioural problems, so it makes sense for work on widening curriculum opportunities and on improving behaviour to be brought together. And the role of extended services and extra-curricular activities in tackling these issues can be important. So we will make sure that there are no barriers to schools bringing together the range of partnerships in which they are involved where that makes sense for them.
3.11 It is particularly important for children with special educational needs or disabilities that the range of provision in their area – mainstream schools (with or without specialist units) and special schools – work in partnership. We reaffirm parents’ right to exercise choice over the type of school for their child with SEND. All 21st century special schools should have high expectations for what their pupils can achieve, promote the skills and confidence needed for independence in adult life, provide opportunities for disabled and nondisabled children to play and learn together and share their expertise – whether in leadership, SEN or the curriculum – with other schools. Special schools are developing partnerships with social care and health services to provide integrated services for their pupils and for children in the local area, which we welcome.
Case study: Parkside Federation
Parkside Community College in Cambridge is a high achieving secondary school of about 600 pupils, assessed by Ofsted as ‘outstanding’ in all areas. The Parkside Federation began in 2005 when it took on another Cambridge secondary school, Coleridge, which had had a period in ‘special measures’ and was threatened with closure. Andrew Hutchinson, the principal of Parkside, became Executive Principal of the Federation, members of the Parkside senior team and middle managers moved across to Coleridge to provide leadership there and develop it as a ‘second Parkside’, with the same ethos, approach to education and systems – even the school uniforms have been designed and the buildings decorated to be similar.
Teachers are organised in faculty teams covering both schools, led by Federation middle managers. All staff are appointed to work across the Federation. The Parkside approach means that teachers get continuous support to improve their teaching; and because middle and senior management appointments are made across the Federation, there are more opportunities for staff. The students also have wider opportunities: the Federation has introduced more curriculum choice, through allowing students to take courses on both sites – including the new Diplomas which have proved very popular. Results at Coleridge are improving, the school is oversubscribed and the aim is that it too should become an outstanding school.
The Federation continues to grow. In 2008, Ridgefield Primary School adopted the trust which supports the Federation. At the end of 2008, the Federation through its trust won a competition to establish a new secondary school nearby. A new Sixth Form will open in 2011, offering different qualifications to those currently available in Cambridge – the International Baccalaureate and the new Diplomas.
As a result of the Federation, many more students can benefit from the excellent leadership at Parkside, there can be greater curriculum choice for pupils, excellent opportunities for staff to develop and real efficiency gains. All this while remaining true to the vision of a network of human scale schools where staff, students and families work in partnership to achieve success.
3.12 At the same time as taking advantage of the opportunities presented by partnership for pupils on their own roll, it is important that schools take some responsibility for pupils in the area more widely. We will legislate to make clear that the school may use some of its resources for this sort of work and to take on these wider responsibilities. We will make clear that the school has responsibilities:
first, to the pupils on its own roll;
second, to other children and young people in the wider area; and
third, to the wider community which it serves.
And we will make clear that a key responsibility of the governors of the school is to hold the leadership of the school to account for the effectiveness of its service to these communities, and the standard of education provided to those communities.
3.13 Similarly, the collaborative approach has real benefits for staff. Partnerships create opportunities for sharing professional development, for examining practice elsewhere, taking on wider roles across a number of schools and for developing understanding of a wide range of professional roles within children’s services – and through all of this, to grow leaders for the future. The TDA and the NCSL have developed an approach to accrediting and supporting consortia of schools to carry out professional and leadership development which will be implemented in the coming years.
3.14 In order to recognise the importance of partnership working, Ofsted is introducing a revised partnership grade for introduction from September 2009, and is already moving to introduce more streamlined and co‑ordinated or joint inspections for federations. Alongside this we will look to ensure that, as far as possible, they have single or common School Improvement Partners.
Case study: The Kemnal Trust
The Kemnal Trust was formed in 2008, based on Kemnal Technology College. The Trust has since taken responsibility for three other schools: Welling, Debden Park High and King Harold School. The schools retain their distinct personalities but share an Executive Principal (John Atkins), knowledge, systems and teachers.
Kemnal was brought in by the local authority to take over the day-to-day running of Debden after it was placed in special measures in January 2007; the same happened with Welling School in January 2008. Kemnal introduced its systems to both schools, ensured that there was good leadership on site, bringing in leaders and expertise from other schools in the Trust and made sure that there was good support and professional development for all the staff. As a result, both schools came out of special measures on their second monitoring visit – the quickest recorded turnaround for secondary schools.
Welling’s most recent Ofsted report states: “The school’s incorporation into the Kemnal Trust is bringing a range of benefits, including economies of scale in the upgrading of resources such as information technology and access to specialist skills, ensuring that there is good value for money.”
Hard edged partnerships will extend the reach of the best leaders
3.15 Just as partnerships extend opportunities for pupils, parents and staff, so too they can extend the reach of the best school leaders, leading to significant improvement. There are now many examples where federations, Trusts and other multi-school models have tackled problems in schools which have been identified by Ofsted as weak or failing. In some cases, schools which were once in special measures have subsequently become ‘good’ or better schools following federation or other forms of collaboration.
3.16 A number of mechanisms have been used to spread the most effective leadership, management and systems. Formal federation of the governing bodies is one model. Academies and Trusts have been another, with Academy sponsors and Trust partners bringing additional external expertise and new, challenging thinking. A significant number of these sponsors and partners are themselves high-performing education institutions (whether maintained or independent schools, colleges or universities). National Leaders of Education are designated by the NCSL together with their schools, as National Support Schools, to provide support to other schools facing difficulty. Local Leaders of Education in City Challenge areas provide similar support.
3.17 As we drive forward the National Challenge (to make sure that no secondary school has fewer than 30% of its pupils achieving 5 good GCSEs including English and mathematics), we will continue to accelerate the creation of Academies and National Challenge Trusts to tackle the lowest performing schools in the system. By September 2009, there will be over 200 Academies open, with a further 100 opening in September 2010 and some 70 National Challenge Trusts introduced over the next two years.
3.18 Through these mechanisms and in other ways, there are already a number of organisations, such as the Harris Federation, the Kemnal Trust and Greenwood Dale Charitable Trust, operating or supporting the leadership and governance of more than one school. We will now go further to promote this model of groups of schools as a mechanism for overcoming underperformance and spreading excellence in the system.
3.19 We will develop and promote an accreditation system for education providers wishing to operate groups of schools – Accredited Schools Groups. To achieve accreditation, providers will need to demonstrate sound governance; effective leadership and management; a strong model for managing and improving schools; a track record of improving outcomes for children and young people; and the capacity to achieve transformational change in the schools they are supporting. We will develop the accreditation system working with partners including NCSL. We will make available £20m over two years to support accredited providers to develop their capacity and to take on underperforming schools in need of change.
Case study: Cabot Learning Federation
The Cabot Learning Federation was developed in 2007 between John Cabot Academy, the educational sponsor, and Bristol Brunel Academy (BBA). The aim has been to improve standards for all students through a focus on shared teaching strategies and staff working across both schools.
Results have improved at BBA in 2008 to 35% of the students gaining 5 A*-C grades including English and mathematics from 19% in 2007. In June 2009 BBA’s ‘good’ judgement from Ofsted noted “The Academy welcomes and values support from wide range of sources in particular from its educational sponsor John Cabot Academy. The Executive Principal plays a valuable role as critical friend, advisor and strategic leader.”
David Carter, the Executive Principal, believes passionately in this model:
“Working together has accelerated progress in both Academies. The sharing of staff, teaching resources and new ideas has created confidence not only within the schools but also within the communities they serve. In September 2009 both Academies are oversubscribed and this is evidence that the federation is boosting the confidence of parents and students alike.”
3.20 Where schools get into difficulties – whether they are in an Ofsted category or weak in other ways – many local authorities already look to commission support from other schools or other providers. In future, as providers are accredited, we will expect all local authorities to consider the use of an Accredited Schools Group – where a school is placed in a category, or is otherwise a cause for serious concern – as a solution to the problems the school is facing. In time, as the number of these Groups increases, we will expect this to be one of a limited menu of options (including closure and Academy or Trust status) we would expect the authority to choose from. We will develop further the Commissioning Support Programme to help local authorities in their role as commissioners in these circumstances.
3.21 We have extended and are extending further local authorities’ powers of intervention in cases of underperformance so that they have all the tools they need. We encourage all local authorities to use these powers robustly – and where appropriate in cases where schools are coasting as well as when performance is low in absolute terms. In addition, we will seek to extend the Case study: Cabot Learning Federation The Cabot Learning Federation was developed in 2007 between John Cabot Academy, the educational sponsor, and Bristol Brunel Academy (BBA). The aim has been to improve standards for all students through a focus on shared teaching strategies and staff working across both schools. Results have improved at BBA in 2008 to 35% of the students gaining 5 A*-C grades including English and mathematics from 19% in 2007. In June 2009 BBA’s ‘good’ judgement from Ofsted noted “The Academy welcomes and values support from wide range of sources in particular from its educational sponsor John Cabot Academy. The Executive Principal plays a valuable role as critical friend, advisor and strategic leader.” David Carter, the Executive Principal, believes passionately in this model: “Working together has accelerated progress in both Academies. The sharing of staff, teaching resources and new ideas has created confidence not only within the schools but also within the communities they serve. In September 2009 both Academies are oversubscribed and this is evidence that the federation is boosting the confidence of parents and students alike.” Secretary of State’s powers to intervene directly in cases where local authorities are unable or unwilling to do so. Partnerships across the children’s services will tackle barriers to learning
3.22 To meet their pupils’ needs and remove barriers to learning, schools are increasingly drawing on support from a range of specialists, such as social workers, psychologists, health professionals and the police. A growing number of schools are now working in formal local clusters that bring together all schools in a geographical area alongside a range of other providers and wider services, including third sector run children and family projects, for children and young people. These operate on a range of models, according to local needs and circumstances. Some areas have chosen to include adult services so they can co‑ordinate support around whole families.
3.23 A school-based model is increasingly being adopted where local buildings permit. But not all schools can have on-site teams and primary schools are least likely to do so. Therefore, schools often need to work in clusters in order to benefit from multiagency teams; it becomes viable for a multiagency team to be based in schools, if the resource is shared well between the schools (as well as to support children not on a school roll), so that all children in the area have access to the services they need.
3.24 Increasingly, as clusters become stronger and more formalised, they will be able more effectively to commission a range of services to meet the needs of children and young people on behalf of the local authority and the Children’s Trust. We will support this model of clusters being able to commission a range of services, where the local partners agree that it is the best way of securing the best access to and quality of services for all children. We will work with our delivery partners, including SSAT and the Commissioning Support Programme, to identify and spread effective practice in order to build the capacity of schools as commissioners. We believe that this has the potential to deliver improvements for children across the range of Every Child Matters outcomes. We recognise, of course, that some services will need to remain central, due to their specialist nature.
Case study: Plymouth’s Locality Commissioning Model
Plymouth Children and Young People’s Trust has developed an approach to commissioning and delivering integrated services for children and young people based on six localities, each focused on groups of schools.
In South West Plymouth, the Locality Commissioning Group brings together a full range of partners from different sectors to commission services based on an agreed analysis of local needs. At its heart is the Plymouth Excellence Cluster, a collaborative partnership of over half the schools in the locality.
The Plymouth Excellence Cluster has developed a range of support services including learning mentors, counsellors, family workers and the co-located Multi-Agency Support Team (MAST) made up of educational psychologists, education welfare officers, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services workers, family therapists and police youth intervention officers. All schools are guaranteed a response from MAST within four working days, and there has been a very positive impact on the behaviour, engagement and attendance of those receiving support.
3.25 Our legislation to strengthen Children’s Trusts will support these developments. We are formally requiring Children’s Trust Boards to be established, and extending the number of statutory ‘relevant partners’ – who will be accountable to each other through the Board for delivering their contribution to the strategy for improving wellbeing (set out in the Children and Young People’s Plan for the area). Subject to Parliamentary approval schools, including Academies, will become ‘relevant partners’, and therefore represented on the Board and able to influence the strategic direction, commissioning and delivery of services for children, as well as being accountable to the other partners for their contribution.
3.26 We will expect local areas to establish an effective system of representation for all schools, taking account of the need to ensure that representatives, typically school leaders, can speak on behalf of a number of others and making links to Schools Forums. We plan to consult on statutory guidance and regulations on these issues in autumn 2009. We will also give schools practical support and guidance to make the most of their ‘relevant partner’ status.
3.27 In turn, as partners in the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), Children’s Trusts can represent the views of schools in the context of wider community priorities. The LSP informs and influences the strategic vision for a local area (the Sustainable Community Strategy) and, in partnership with the local authority, agrees the priorities for improvement in the Local Area Agreement (LAA). Through the agreement and delivery of the LAA, LSPs offer Children’s Trusts an opportunity to shape and contribute to the delivery of the full range of outcomes relating to children and young people locally. Area-wide inspection through the Comprehensive Area Assessment will draw on regulation and inspection findings of schools and other local agencies. Inspectorates will inspect partnership arrangements further if there are concerns that priority outcomes are not being achieved or if other major governance issues emerge.
Case study: Ashington Learning Partnership, Northumberland
Ashington High School became a Trust School pathfinder in 2006, with two middle schools and two first schools. Initially, the five schools had five heads, with five deputy heads and a number of assistants. An executive head was added as an additional management tier. However, through natural wastage and internal appointments, a layer of management has been removed. The net saving is £120,000. Ashington is using this money to improve the quality of teaching and learning across the Trust.
The partnership now has the scale to make considerable savings, including sharing caretaking resources, jointly letting the grounds maintenance and cleaning contracts. The partnership has saved £220,000 per year which it is using to benefit children and young people.
Partnerships will create efficiency
3.28 Alongside the other benefits, there is significant evidence of improved value for money as a result of partnership working, giving schools the ability to invest more resources to benefit children and young people. Pooling of funding, joint purchasing and sharing of staff, facilities and technologies across sites can all create benefits. The NCSL’s School Business Manager pilots have delivered significant cost savings for schools, working across partnerships. The benefits for small, rural schools are particularly significant – and can make schools viable which would otherwise not be, allowing them to continue serving their community.
3.29 We will continue to support schools to use School Business Managers in partnership in order to save money, and look to support small schools to create effective partnerships. We will ask governing bodies to consider whether federation or shared headship would make sense for individual schools at key moments – for example, when there is a head teacher vacancy – helping to support succession planning for headships as well as the viability of schools. We will promote and eliminate barriers to partnership working
3.30 As we implement this White Paper, we will ensure that barriers to partnership working are removed where they exist and that it is easier for schools, heads and governors to take on wider roles. We will extend the powers of school governing bodies, so that those that are high performing and meet the requirements for accreditation can propose new schools, and directly sponsor Academies. And through our response to the School Teachers Review Body, we are extending the rewards available to successful leaders of more than one school to incentivise the best heads to become system leaders.
3.31 We will fund NCSL to lead a leadership and partnership national support programme to support schools, local authorities and governing bodies to manage change. We will also commission NCSL to carry out a federation research and development project focusing on the best models of leadership and governance in areas of particular challenge – rural, primary and faith schools. And we will continue to evaluate innovative arrangements more widely – including learning from the first co-operative Trust schools.
3.32 We will explore ways in which we could extend the benefits of formal shared governance arrangements to include the full range of educational establishments – including colleges, independent schools, Academies, Sure Start Children’s Centres and other partners. We will commission work on developing special schools as leaders in teaching and learning practice for children with the most complex learning difficulties including Profound, Multiple Learning Disabilities.
3.33 We will continue to implement the recommendations of the National Council for Educational Excellence to improve partnerships with employers and higher education institutions. We expect every school to develop effective relationships with employers and have a member of the governing body and senior leadership team responsible for business partnerships. We expect schools and colleges to devote time to work on raising student aspirations to take up a place in higher education and to develop effective relationships with employers.
3.34 As important as establishing partnerships, is that we continue to support them to be strengthened. As we work with SSAT and others to build on the success of the specialist schools programme, renewing our emphasis on their role as centres of excellence in their subject areas and on sharing their specialist expertise and facilities with other schools, we will simplify the accountability regime so that decisions about re-designating schools as specialist can be taken locally but rigorously. And we will build on the High Performing Specialist Schools programme to identify the best schools and reward them for supporting improvement across the system.
3.35 This is one important way in which partnerships can drive improvement. As we make partnership central to the system, it is crucial that the accountability and school improvement system; the role of local government; and the national system of funding and support for schools and workforce developments all take advantage of partnership, but all also facilitate stronger, more formal and more effective school partnerships. We turn to these issues in the remaining chapters of this document.
