SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS

Strength in numbers

The Edge Partnership is a collaboration between 10

schools in Birmingham.

Chair Sara Brehony

discusses what the partnership is, how it works, and the benefits for students and teachers

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HE EDGE Partnership has enthused me and I feel like I am just as energetic and fired up as I’ve ever been. My staff are enthusiastic and they love been involved with Edge projects and shared experiences and I think that needs to be seen to be believed.”

These are the words of Ken Lewis, head of Hunters

Hill Technology College in Birmingham. The future of education is in funded local solutions which allow the successful evolution of partnerships that represent common interests and goals across local areas. This concept underpins a forward-thinking partnership

of schools in Birmingham that has recently formalised its relationships by forming a charity and a not-for-profit business arm, both as levers to engage in community cohesion, to raise standards of achievement and attainment and to lift partnership working to new heights.

Union address: NUT

We must protect state schools

With an election result imminent,

Christine

Blower sets out her demands for education

IN THE run-up to today’s General Election, the National Union of Teachers set out in its charter for education. We believe that to ensure a world class education

system for all children there needs to be a guarantee from all parties of a qualified teacher for every child, for every lesson and a continued commitment to personalised learning. Despite the current economic difficulties the next

government should commit to a staged timetable to meet the current prime minister’s target of increasing per-pupil funding in state schools to match that of private schools and there should be an aim to reduce all class sizes to 20 by 2020. In the meantime targeted additional resources are

needed to meet all children’s needs and, in particular, the needs of those from deprived backgrounds. If an education service is to meet the needs of all children, it must be comprehensive in its approach. Every parent should be confident that their child

will be admitted to a good local school. To ensure this is the case any form of selection by ability should be ended. The power to determine the planning of school

provision should be returned to local authorities. The promotion of choice and diversity between institutions is a flawed concept which increases segregation. The expensive experiment with the academies programme should cease and plans to further fragment the system should be dropped. Parents and children have the right to expect fair

and accurate systems of school accountability. Yet, in England, the accountability system is marked by a lack of trust and a top-down approach. Successive

governments have failed to grasp that, where schools are responsible for assessment and evaluation, standards go up, not down. All schools should have independent,

democratically accountable governing bodies. No external body should be able to dominate school governing bodies and the management and leadership of schools. Ofsted inspections should be replaced by an accountability system based on bottom-up, externally moderated self-evaluation which supports, not punishes, school communities and there should be an end to SATs and the high stakes testing arrangements. League tables should be abolished and collaborative arrangements encouraged. There is still much to do in tackling discrimination.

There is still racism on the streets and in our institutions. Homophobic bullying and violence still takes place. Disabled people continue to be barred from full access. Over the last decade there has been an increasing consensus to address issues of fairness and equality. However, there are a number of areas where there needs to be a continued focus and the allocation of resources. Any future government must seek to ensure,

high quality and affordable childcare for all working parents. All schools must be fully accessible to those with SEN/disabilities and adequate resources for schools that experience significant increases in the number of migrants and refugees are needed. It seems inconceivable that even in this day and

age some school and college buildings are not fit- for-purpose. If the next government is serious about giving young people the tools to thrive in a globalised world then every building should be asbestos free, have space for outdoor learning, playing and growing and have low-carbon emissions. We also need to see teachers’ pay protected. A

world class education will not be achieved by cuts in either provision of services or cutting teachers pay or pensions. Our children and society as a whole deserves an education system that is fair and is not dependent upon postcode or parental income. The next government must protect comprehensive state education for the benefit of all, not the few.

• Christine Blower is general secretary of the National Union of Teachers. Visit www.teachers.org.uk

Working together: The headteachers of the Edge Partnership of Schools in Birmingham

With an emphasis on making a difference for their

students and the communities in which they live, the partnership has, over the past five years, embarked on something unusual in the world of education and has developed a template that can be repeated nationally. Three special schools, a grammar school, five

secondary schools, and the new Shenley Academy have formed a community of achieving and innovative schools that has been formally constituted into theEdge Partnership of Schools in Birmingham. The heart of the partnership is a community of professional staff, students and headteachers. The partnership’s evolution has included a deliberate

policy to use the collective resources and energy for the benefit of both the communities of south west Birmingham and the wider teaching profession. This expansion into the charitable and social enterprise sectors is designed to offer the partnership greater freedom of operation in delivering its agenda of giving optimum opportunities for students and their families. So what makes Edge distinctive from the many

other collaborative initiatives? Its ambition and innovation are certainly striking, and its founding principle of partnership work in the truest sense has become stronger and stronger over time. The very high quality of individual school and partnership leadership also marks it out and its sense of energy and willingness to commit resources and time are impressive. Perhaps more than anything, it is the diversity

of the schools and the natural knitting together of often educational extremes that impresses, and the willingness and talent to challenge the status quo and lift up standards at all times. The trust and commonality are clear to see, but what

is distinctive is the harnessing and cross-fertilisation of new ideas across the schools at all levels – departmental, support staff, senior leadership – and the opportunity

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cohesion, support for challenging students, sharing panel work, collaborative work on the Learning for Life programme developed by Colmers School and Sports College, and high levels of professional support and innovation between the heads. There is considerable mutual support and co-

operation, for example with Colmers School working with both Hunters Hill and Victoria schools on the reintegration and acclimatisation of students into mainstream education, and the sharing of resources and staff, for example in music and science. Edge has attracted national and international interest

for a number of its initiatives, but it is perhaps in its initiatives on teaching and learning and behaviour policies, CPD, peer reviews and the sharing of good practice across the schools where the partnership most impacts on young people. A system of inter-school teacher observations takes

place across the partnership, one of many aspects organised by the partnership co-ordinator, Clare Saunders, and the Edge Student Council thrives through regular meetings and educational visits abroad. A successful initiative with regard to behaviour

is the partnership’s FLIP Centre (Flexible Learning Individual Pathways) on the site of Four Dwellings High School. This is open to students who are close to being expelled from other schools in the partnership. The headteachers in the partnership are inspirational:

all with their own identities and fiercely independent, but willing to share in a radical and innovative approach. Although from very different schools, they

What is distinctive is the harnessing and

cross-fertilisation of new ideas across the schools at all levels – departmental, support staff, senior leadership

now as a not-for-profit company to offer professional coaching and mentoring to other schools. This synergy between schools adds the “X” factor

to our success. For example the way that the special schools and a grammar school learn from each other’s practice, the mutual support between heads who work in challenging circumstances, and the benefit from a range of views and backgrounds. Edge took its inspiration from Professor Sir Tim

Brighouse, the then chief education officer in Birmingham, and his vision for networks of local secondary schools throughout the city that would work together. Instead of schools working in isolation, sometimes vying for the same students, he could see that by working together, by having “competition through co-operation and collaboration”, much more could be accomplished. The journey to date has included a particular

emphasis on partnership-wide CPD, student voice, international links and engagement, community

are like-minded and complement each other; there is the confidence to disagree and also to see the potential for development and improvement. The Edge Partnership welcomes the opportunity to

build relationships across sectors and with colleagues across the country.

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• Sara Brehony is chair of The Edge Partnership of Schools, a registered charity in Birmingham, and former headteacher of Turves Green Girls School in the city.

Further information

Edge is running a number of themed conferences during 2010. Remaining events include Leadership in SEN on Tuesday (May 11), Multi-Agency Working (October 6), and Successfully leading schools through challenging circumstances (October 7). For more information, visit www.edgepartnership.org

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