Inter-school collaboration

Inter-school collaboration can be mutually beneficial and help all parties flourish – but how, exactly? We asked our readership about their experiences

Maggie Duncan
School business manager
The Redeemer CE Primary School

We are a two form entry primary school that has helped many schools, locally, through school improvement groups and school-to-school funding through our teaching school status. In 2013 we were asked to help a small local rural primary school with leadership and teaching and learning and, in 2014, we entered into a collaboration agreement with the school to provide leadership and support. We provide the school with an executive headteacher and it is run, day-to-day, by two part-time assistant headteachers, one of whom is a very experienced SENCO. We also provide time from our family worker, ICT manager, higher level teaching assistant and cleaner. We have fully seconded a teaching assistant to the school for a child with a specific educational and health care plan. When we entered into the agreement the school had only 40 children and now, due to the relationship with our school, and the fantastic work their own staff have done to move the school forward, there are 62 on roll.

The two schools have really benefitted from the pros of collaboration. They have made savings with group procurement, undertaken training together, gone on school trips together, taken part in workshops together, cut down on administration by sharing policies and procedures and constantly share knowledge and expertise across the schools. This means the children are able to access a wider range of teaching and learning, take part in more life experiences and make relationships outside of their own cohort. The small business that operates the afterschool club at our school has also achieved higher numbers of attendance due to the other school sending children to the provision. It really is about teamwork.

In these current, unprecedented, times, the collaboration has really shown its strength by allowing our school to become a hub for the children without the undue stress of an unknown venue with unknown adults in the same building. We have kept our staff as safe as possible by joining the two teams onto one rota, meaning staff members can still provide a childcare service for our children of keyworkers and vulnerable families, while only attending the school very minimally.

Brian Herbert
Business manager
Ferrars Junior School

Collaboration has been a key word in education for the past few years, but how good are we at it? I’m fortunate to have some really good schools that are local to me so it gives us a great opportunity to work together.

Catering

I talk about this all the time! Getting together with three or four other schools, and employing your own catering manager, opens up endless opportunities and gives you so much flexibility with your food. We now have 37 food-based curriculum activities that are delivered by the CM.

Moderation

We have two teachers trained in moderating other schools, and we have a reciprocal arrangement.

Area partnerships

Eleven local schools are in a group; some are maintained and some are academies. We make decisions together and all the HT are in constant communication using Whatsapp. Half-termly meetings are well-attended, and a range of decisions are made as a group.

Challenge inspections

These are useful if you have some experienced leaders within a group. Our HT is a trained OFSTED inspector and will happily spend a couple of days at another school, challenging what they do, and asking the right sort of questions.

These are just a few examples of what our school does, but I also collaborate through an email group with 20 other local SBMs – which works really well, sharing information or giving an opinion. There are many ‘collaborations on social media, too, with colleagues from across the country sharing good practice or just staying in touch. The world really is a small place, and there is a myriad of help, knowledge and advice out there.

It’s not for everyone, but the knowledge that you can gain just by talking to someone is great – which, in turn, makes your own school a better and more knowledgeable one.

Alison Moon
Trust business manager
Veritas Multi Academy Trust

As an ISBL fellow, I quickly developed a network of SBLs on Twitter. This has offered a game-changing level of support where people share experiences and woes on a daily basis. More recently I have begun to collaborate in a new way; I was keen to develop a business manager offshoot from the ‘Kent MAT Alliance’ CEO group. This has complemented the virtual collaboration available and moved my practice to another level.

What was evident from the start was that all attending were equally in need of a support network. The role requires you to be an expert in so many different areas, and we found that we had different strengths; for the first time, we had a sounding board. 

One of the most innovative ways of collaborating has been working through a programme of peer reviews. An initial trial was set up, with three of the trusts, to develop peer reviews. Three areas were identified to be included – school improvement, governance and risk and finance and resource management. The CEOs would carry out self-reviews with key personnel relevant to the area, RAG rating various aspects. They would then meet with the other trusts (along with the other personnel) to discuss the detail of the reviews, gain a flavour of how things are done in the other trust and a re-evaluation would then take place where necessary. This was a process where we were required to really look inwardly, and be honest about our practice. This was highly valued by all and a process that we intend to continue.

I would certainly recommend collaborating with others. We are always learning.  During this uncertain time the group has supported each other with a forum for questioning, seeking guidance and sharing advice and support, and working our way through learning how to conduct virtual meetings and how to set up new free school meals voucher distribution systems, among many other things – all whilst adhering to audit and compliance protocols.