Case study
Consortium:
Concorde takes off
The Concorde Partnership has been several years in the making. Dorothy Lepkowska looks at its approach to
Diplomas, including a focus on New Siblands, a special school also offering Diplomas
he creaTion of the Mr Baker said establishing the partnership of the schools. The leaders of the various lines
T
concorde Partnership, in south was difficult and not helped by some sections of learning – known as LLoLs – also meet
Gloucestershire, has taken several of the community having an adverse attitude regularly.
years and has not been without its to Bradley Stoke which was hard to shake off. Furthermore, the strategic travel group
challenges. one of the turning points came when other keeps abreast of student movements between
collaboration between secondary schools clusters of schools – which were perhaps not the centres and works closely with the local
and colleges in the area goes back to the mid- as viable working in isolation – came forward authority and bus companies to ensure
1990s when Filton college, together with two to get involved in concorde. student safety.
secondaries, Filton high School and Patchway Two years ago, the successful castle and “The travel group has been collaborating on
college, began to share some aspects of post- Marlwood schools, in Thornbury, came the development of cycle lanes and looking
16 education. forward seeking membership, as did new at the pedestrian infrastructure so that in
But it was the opening of a completely new Siblands, a special school (see page 14). transporting pupils around we can keep as
school, Bradley Stoke community, in 2005, “castle and Marlwood were both high- many cars and minibuses off the roads as
which really changed the face of the consortium. achieving secondaries and did not really need possible,” Mr Baker added.
“We were located in between the two to co-operate or collaborate with anyone,” Mr This year will see changes to the way the
secondaries and were close to the college,” Baker said. “it was really Diplomas that drove Functional Skills element is delivered. Until
explained Dave Baker, Bradley Stoke’s us all to develop and expand, and that is what now, students have been taught in Diploma
headteacher and current chairman of the we have been working on. having a special groups, but the partnership has conceded that
partnership. school on board was also unusual.” teaching in pupils’ home centres would be
“We set about trying to arrange some More recently, the partnership has been more practical.
protocols in working together at a time when joined by Brimsham Green and chipping “From next September we will be extending
there was some opposition to the opening Sodbury schools. This means there are now the Diploma offer and apprenticeships will
of our school. This has depended on the seven secondaries, one special school and a run alongside these, so we will have to think
construction of some new housing, which has college working in collaboration. carefully about how we present all these choices
since not been completed due to the recession “The size of the partnership now means to students,” added
and slump in the market, so there have been that we are able to meet demand for Diploma Mr Baker. DD
some demographic effects. courses, and as a group we are well placed
“While there was an initial need for the to deliver the full offer in a way we might
school, there remains a huge amount of choice not have done if we had been a smaller
in the area.” group, even in terms of alignments and
Mr Baker joined Bradley Stoke in 2004 timetabling,” Mr Baker added.
from Sir Bernard Lovell School, where he “We are also financially viable, and have a
was deputy head, and which is part of the workforce infrastructure. There is a full-time
successful and well established Kingswood 14 to 19 co-ordinator within the partnership,
Partnership of schools and colleges, also in as well as two other posts in the support team
South Gloucestershire. who work on a temporary basis.
“i knew the importance of partnerships and “one is a senior member of the college staff
what these entailed,” he said. “it was really who is seconded for one day a week to provide
important for us to collaborate and indeed strategic leadership to the partnership and
our bid for post-16 funding and the building make sure we are moving forward in the right
of a centre for year 11s, was based on us being direction. The other is seconded for two days
in partnership. and it is their job to ensure quality assurance
“our offer to students is completely in with the partnership.”
conjunction with collaboration, including concorde also has a strategic group
joint timetabling and the offer of courses in which meets monthly, and a curriculum
different locations.” development team of deputy heads from each
Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 1 Spring 2010 13
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