LEADERSHIP in association with
CPD
www.usethekey.org.uk
Working together
Flourishing,
finite, fading
or floundering
collaborations?
Bridging the gap
School leader Jo Smith
on the secrets to working
together successfully
WONDER WHETHER you spent a significant
I
amount of time last term forging a collaboration
between your school and other local partners.
Perhaps your students are already getting
a great deal, benefiting from expertise and
facilities at a neighbouring school while you
host events for visiting students.
Maybe you feel as if you are shedding blood,
sweat and tears formalising partnership agreements,
writing safeguarding protocols, or hammering out joint
timetables.
If you have got to this stage then you must truly feel
you are working in collaboration. But how healthy is
the partnership you are working in? How will you even The research found that flourishing or successful A new headteacher joining the partnership will be difficulties encountered in collaborative working,
know if your efforts will last? finite collaborations have at their core a high level of harder to bring up to speed than a headteacher who specifically in order to share strategies for managing
Research for the National College for Leadership of trust and professional respect among the leaders of the helped set the partnership up. Likewise, the frustrations and resolving inevitable disagreements.
Schools and Children’s Services published last month partner schools. for those established partnership leaders at going over Professionally managed differences can actually
looked at what it takes to make a collaboration last. It The basis of this is regular conversation within a old ground need careful managing if the collaboration move a collaboration forwards and should be perceived
came to several conclusions. culture of genuine openness. This is best cultivated in is to hold its attraction for them. as different from irresolvable conflict. The deliberate
Some are designed with a practical end in mind: varying locations so that school leaders experience the Another significant threat to sustainability is if the behaviour described as collaborative thuggery can be a
perhaps the securing of funding or the completion of ethos and circumstances of their partner schools and benefits of collaboration are not shared either among the positive driver for collaborative success.
a joint project. Others are built to last and show signs feel an equality of ownership within the partnership. different schools or indeed within individual schools. Headteacher development programmes should
of flourishing longevity. Without careful nurturing and It is inevitable (and indeed right) that all school This might be an issue of finance allocation among consider giving aspiring headteachers the opportunity to
a clear sense of direction from the start though, all too leaders will feel a protective instinct for their own school schools or as a result of a vacuum of communication explore the benefits of collaboration while developing
many may end up as floundering ventures or even and this should be respected by partner headteachers. within a home school. their leadership styles in order to manage conflict and
worse end dramatically and inconveniently. However, in a flourishing collaboration each school All those interviewed agreed that heads of more hence promote sustainable collaborations.
Collaborations deemed to be successful and leader should be willing to adopt the best practices from successful schools have an important role to play in The appointment of a new headteacher, if not
sustainable over a period of time could be described other schools in the collaboration. collaborations. They have to be conscious of not being carefully managed, can reduce the effectiveness of
as “flourishing”. The literature and interviews held Even in flourishing collaborations it is inevitable seen to be dictating collaborative policy, but instead a collaboration. One way of circumnavigating such
as part of the research highlighted the importance of that disagreements will arise. These need to be worked seen as facilitating change and development. danger is for leaders of sustainable collaborations to be
establishing common aims and objectives and the through in a sensitive and respectful manner. involved in the recruitment process of a headteacher
need to be flexible to enable such collaborations to Flourishing collaborations will sometimes reach a
Key findings
within a partnership of schools in order to promote the
flourish. A strong commitment and desire to make sticking point. In such circumstances it can be helpful Successful collaborations need to be built on common culture of collaboration from the outset. SecEd
collaborations work in the long-term was clear from the for a collaborating leader to deliberately provoke aims and objectives. As well as being agreed by the
successful school leaders interviewed. contention to move the collaboration forwards, headteachers involved, these need to be shared within • Jo Smith is vice-principal at Long Field School in
The commonly held view among school leaders a practice that has been memorably described as each individual school community so that governors, Leicestershire and a research associate at the National
that successful collaborations are, by their nature, “collaborative thuggery”. senior leaders and staff understand the purposes of College. Email smithj22@longfield.leics.sch.uk
sustainable was tested. In many situations, those A flourishing collaboration should share its joint collaborative working.
interviewed agreed. successes the research suggests. Rather than celebrating Long-term sustainability is not a pre-requisite for
Further information
However, they also described successful individual success, the healthy state of the partnership all successful collaborations. This is especially true To access to the research and interviews that led to these
collaborations that were established to access certain can be communicated to all stakeholders through of finite collaborations which have a natural lifespan findings, see the full Research Associate report, entitled
funding streams and hence had a finite lifespan. shared statistics and press releases. and for which an end point is defined early on in the Flourishing, Finite, Fading or Floundering: Building a
A “finite” collaboration it seems might purposefully project. Sustainable Collaboration at www.nationalcollege.org.
exist for a given time when funding had been
What are the threats to collaboration?
School leaders need to be honest and frank about uk (search for the report title).
accessed and a specified outcome reached and then be Practically all those school leaders interviewed
dissolved. highlighted the crucial need for objectives to be
Many collaborations are established to be sustainable agreed among collaborating school leaders. For
but are less successful for a variety of reasons. Some finite collaboration with measurable outcomes,
Leadership Q&A
‘
Flourishing collaborations will sometimes reach
Do building contractors need to be CRB
a sticking point. In such circumstances it can be
checked and if so, who covers the cost?
helpful for a collaborating leader to deliberately
THE SHORT answer to this question is that building take responsibility for checking sub-contracted staff,
contractors will only need a Criminal Records Bureau and for paying the costs of doing so.
provoke contention to move the collaboration
(CRB) check if they are likely to come into contact Once you have confirmed that any building
with pupils. contractors likely to have access to children have
The Department for Children, Schools and been appropriately checked by their employer, you
forwards, a practice that has been memorably
Families (DCSF) guidance on this issue states that might choose to make a note of this in your single
children would not normally be allowed in areas central record. However, this is at the school’s
described as ‘collaborative thuggery’
where builders are working for health and safety discretion.
reasons. Therefore these workers should ideally have When examining the single central record, Ofsted
no contact with pupils at all. will only expect to see evidence of vetting and
The DCSF guidance confirms that contractors recruitment checks for people who have regular
collaborations will fade gradually as the leaders a pre-determined lifespan needs to be agreed who come on-site to carry out emergency repairs of contact with children; e.g. staff, volunteers and
perceive that the initial objectives are unattainable or and communicated from the start. I
’
n such a case, equipment, and who would not be expected to be left visiting instructors.
no longer desirable and have been overtaken by more sustainability is less of an issue. unsupervised in school or further education premises,
pressing priorities. The leaders of these collaborations Where the aspiration is to build a flourishing do not need to be CRB checked.
Claim your free trial of The Key
may still be committed to working together on future collaboration, different expectations, aims and If a school judges that a CRB check is necessary, Answer by Sarah Goodman, specialist researcher
projects. Such partnerships might be described as objectives need establishing. where possible the requirement should be included as for The Key, a national guidance and support
“fading” collaborations. The collaboration should be designed to be long- part of the contract for the building work. service for school leaders in maintained schools in
Unfortunately, some collaborations “flounder”, lasting, with sustainability as a key success factor. In a We called the DCSF to discuss this issue in more England. It provides tailor-made practical answers
characterised by continual disagreement and in the nutshell, flourishing and finite collaborations bring with detail. A representative explained that if conducting to questions on all aspects of school leadership
most extreme cases, by irresolvable conflict. The them the need for different objectives and aims to be “appropriate checks” is part of the building contract, and management. The Key is offering a free trial to
collaboration may have been forced by outside agencies understood by all involved from the start. the contractor would be expected to incorporate this all maintained schools in England until February
or particularly driven by one school leader, and hence One threat to this is when a change in personnel into the estimated cost of the work, and ensure the 19. To sign up for free resources and guidance
it is unlikely that common shared objectives were ever means that different members of the partnership have checks are carried out. go to www.usethekey.org.uk and click on activate
crystallised. Such relationships might be categorised as different levels of understanding and knowledge of the The contract could also stipulate that the contractor membership.
floundering collaborations. purpose and progress of the collaboration.
SecEd • February 11 2010 13
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