Oct 14, 2023 | Leadership, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Secondary
A school in East Kent regularly lets another use its sports pitches on Friday afternoons. It’s the sort of collaboration which happens all the time between schools in a trust. However, in this East Kent example, these are not schools in a trust but a different sort of collaboration: a state-independent school partnership. Here, an independent school is using the pitches at an academy. The academy finishes early on a Friday and the independent school is short of PE space. It’s a simple case of schools working together to solve a problem....
Oct 14, 2023 | Leadership, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Secondary, Updates
When I was appointed to the newly-created role of Head of Partnerships at the King’s School in Canterbury in 2014 some colleagues wondered if it had something to do with marriage guidance counselling! Partnerships are still a relatively new concept for some independent schools. Many are charities and look to fulfil their status through bursaries and outreach yet need to survive as businesses. Partnerships are different from outreach: co-designing educational projects with other schools can enable everyone to thrive; education is not a...
Dec 21, 2022 | Leadership, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Secondary
At a recent partnership training event a participant asked me: “if independent schools lost their charitable status, do you think they would continue to partner with state schools?” My immediate answer was yes, of course they should – partnerships between state and independent schools bring enormous value to both partners. All schools improve by collaborating with others, especially when they plan their partnerships strategically. If it is genuine partnership which is mutually beneficial and involves activities co-created from the basis of a...
Dec 1, 2022 | Communication, Leadership, Partnerships, Primary, Professional development, Secondary, Updates
If you like to bookmark some reading for the holidays, here are some links to articles and blogs on the subject of school #partnerships which I’d particularly recommend. Some of the authors spoke at the #PartnerChat Symposium on 9th November 2022. 1. John Smith from RGS Newcastle– on bursaries vs partnerships:https://educatinghumansblog.blogspot.com/2022/10/measuring-performance-in-education.html 2. Lynne Bianchi from the Great Science Share for Schools – on listening as the best form of outreach...
