School partnerships mean different things to different people, including:
- joint events or shared facilities
- relationships with parents or feeder schools
- charitable support for a partner school overseas
- cross-sector co-created projects
- business partnerships
- research collaborations with universities
and everything in between!
Understandably, these different flavours of partnership (brilliantly described in Graeme Lawrie’s book “50 useful things to know about school partnerships”) beg the question: “who leads partnerships?”
One answer comes from the people who attend our #PartnerChat Breakfast Briefings:
These lovely people have a plethora of job titles: over 150 across our 330+ members! Some are classroom teachers or non-teaching coordinators; others are heads, deputies, or development professionals.
But what they all have in common is a desire to connect with other schools. Why?
Because the variety of culture and expertise in their partner schools enhances their own practice. Because it helps scarce resources to go further. And because, ultimately, it provides a better education for the children.
When inspectors visit, these schools are proud to point to the diversity and enrichment and school improvement which has come from their partnerships with other schools.
What is really exciting, though, is the development of our collective professional practice in this field, whatever the job specification. No longer is partnership working a ‘nice-to-have’ area of activity in our schools. It’s now embedded as part of a good school’s education.
In the last few years there has been burgeoning support for those working in cross-sector partnerships:
- School Partnerships Alliance (S.P.A.), which grew from a grassroots organisation (the Schools Together Group) that I formed with Tom Arbuthnott, Sarah Butterworth and others – with the added research focus that Margaret Hunnaball brings and Oliver Blond‘s brilliant leadership.
- Graeme Lawrie’s inclusive and generous WhatsApp community (message me if you’d like to join).
- Our (Astin Consulting’s) #PartnerChat network, Partnerships WorkBook, partnerships training coursesand bespoke consultancy.
- and many other practitioners who generously share their experience and advice.
If you lead a school, or lead partnerships within a school, or are a careers lead or classroom teacher looking to build opportunities outside your school, please know that there is a warm community of professionals with vast experience of partnerships. And you are very welcome – whatever your job title!
Christina Astin, “Partnerpreneur”?!