COLLABORATION Partnerships in practice


The SSAT’S Alex Galvin explains what is involved in


achieving Consultant School Accreditation


by both the current government and their predecessors. At the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT), we have developed the Consultant School Accreditation to recognise and quality assure the vital work of those schools which support other schools. There are two levels of accreditation: Accredited


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status and Advanced status. Both are designed to formally acknowledge and enhance the contribution of schools, as well as informing wider strategic development within the SSAT networks and beyond. All schools are assessed against four criteria: the


nature and number of staff involved; the range and frequency of the support offered; the extent to which outreach work is embedded in the operation of the school; and the quality and impact of the activity. Accredited status is available, at no cost, to any


school which can demonstrate its commitment to working collaboratively with colleagues in other schools to transform learning and raise achievement. The Advanced status is awarded to schools which


have a proven track record of collaboration and can demonstrate in-depth and sustainable outward-facing


ARTNERSHIP WORKING between schools is widely acknowledged as being one of the most effective mechanisms through which to bring about system-wide improvement. It is an approach to school improvement that has been recognised


in formal partnership working since 2003. It works with a variety of schools at both regional and national levels in a wide range of areas including leadership and curriculum. It also acts as a consultant within the local authority on subjects including coaching methodologies, SEN and effective teaching and learning. Deputy headteacher Jill Silverthorne said: “We


strongly believe that we have a responsibility to share our experiences and learning with others, to mutual benefit.” While clearly having much to offer other schools,


both Fosse Way and Bishop Stopford also believe that as consultant schools they equally have much to gain and to learn. Ms Silverthorne added: “Although we may be


effective practitioners in some areas, we are never experts in everything. Thus partnership working is a fundamental way to share learning, reflect on practices and procedures, and be challenged about our established ways of thinking.” As a special school, Mr Gregory says partnership


working enables his staff to “maintain a close connection with mainstream developments and to be re-energised through professional engagement outside their own school”. Outreach work is an effective mechanism for


work involving staff at all levels. There are currently 43 SSAT Advanced Consultant Schools, all of which have a history of sharing their experience and expertise across a wide range of areas. Two schools which have recently gained the


Advanced status are Fosse Way School in Radstock, Somerset, and Bishop Stopford School in Kettering. Fosse Way is a special school which caters for


around 150 pupils aged three to 19 who, for a variety of reasons, find it difficult to be successful within mainstream schools. Staff support a range of schools and organisations, including a local SEN network of 23 primary and secondary mainstream schools. The school is a local authority provider of training


to teaching assistants and also a provider of staff physical intervention training through accredited trainers. Headteacher David Gregory said: “We applied to become an SSAT Advanced Consultant School as we


wanted recognition for the range and quality of the work that we engage in locally, regionally and nationally.” He said the engagement of Fosse Way staff with


colleagues in other schools “creates a dynamic, outward-facing and exciting atmosphere in which to work and help schools to provide higher quality inclusive learning environments for their own pupils”. Fosse Way is the first school in the UK to pilot


Project SEARCH, which aims to move students directly from school to work avoiding conventional post-16 courses for pupils with special needs. In partnership with Royal United Hospital in Bath and the local authority’s Adult and Children’s Services, students over the age of 16 in their last year of schooling undertake internships at the hospital. Mr Gregory explained: “There has been a


recognisable positive shift in hospital staff expectations of students with special needs. After just six months of the project, to the delight of parents and all involved, a student successfully applied for a permanent post at the hospital.” Meanwhile, Bishop Stopford School is a large 11 to 18 comprehensive school which has been involved


Union address: NUT ASDAN’s qualifications...


Award of Personal Effectiveness (AoPE) Certificate of Personal Effectiveness (CoPE) Personal and Social Development (PSD) Employability


Community Volunteering Qualifications (CVQ) Nick Clegg is out of touch


Last week,SecEd reported on the Lib Dem vote against


academies and free schools. The move delighted Christine Blower


...can be used to: boost levels of achievement and attainment


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improve GCSE results across the whole secondary curriculum


develop essential skills for life, education and employment


THE NUT is delighted that the Liberal Democrats at their autumn conference overwhelmingly voted against the academies and free schools programme. It would seem that Nick Clegg would do well to listen to the views of his own members rather those of his new found friends in the coalition government. The debate that took place from the conference


floor clearly showed up the conflict between Liberal Democrat and Tory values. The fault line in the coalition government will clearly be on education policies and the importance of a fair education for all. Academies and free schools are Tory policies


For more information visit: www.asdan.org.uk/qualifications


and stand in direct opposition to previous Liberal Democrat thinking. In the run up to the General Election, many teachers would have believed that the Liberal Democrats had the best policy on education. That however is not what has come out of the coalition agreement – not on tuition fees, not on schools. We had expected better – and we had good reason. Before the election we had Sarah Teather, now


the Lib Dem children’s minister, triumphantly saying that her party “provided the only opposition to the academies project” and of the free schools programmes that it was a “shambles”, but where is her opposition now? Academies and free schools will not lead to a


fairer, more equal education system. In fact, in many cases the reverse will be true. Selection, which Nick Clegg seems to find so abhorrent in our education system, will be rife. The grass roots of the Liberal Democrat party


spoke passionately about why they rejected academies and free schools. They know, as does the NUT, that implementation of this policy will lead to a fragmentation of the education system which will benefit the wealthy and leave the most disadvantaged behind. It is a costly and divisive policy that is not wanted and not needed. What David Cameron describes as a “state


monopoly” of our schools is in fact local democratic involvement in education. He fails to understand that the framework of local authorities enables schools to work together in an educational community which places the achievements of pupils, not profit, first. The coalition government is intent on breaking up


state comprehensive education and privatising large chunks of it. That is what these programmes are really about. This coalition government’s ideological attack on state education has to be opposed. Academies and free schools are an attack on the very existence of free state comprehensive education which is democratically accountable. The combination of this privatisation and the


cuts to come will leave schools with larger classes and teachers with deep concerns about how they can provide a high quality educational experience to all the children they teach. Nick Clegg is desperately out of touch with his


own party and the majority of the country where there is no appetite for the coalition government’s educational reforms. If the Liberal Democrat leader truly has a vision that all schools should be equal then he needs to return to policies which ensure a good local school for every child and every community working within the local authority family of schools.


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


developing leaders at all levels. At Bishop Stopford, staff at all levels are involved in consultancy work. For example, the site supervisor, business manager, and members of the administrative team have all shared expertise including focusing on efficiencies in finance and procurement and co-ordinating assessment procedures for one curriculum area across eight schools. Application for Consultant School Accreditation is


an indication that schools are keen to widen the scope of their partnership work and share their expertise more widely. The schools within the network represent some of the most outstanding and innovative practice in the country and it is exciting to see the impact that this kind of school-to-school collaboration can have.


SecEd


• Alex Galvin is head of programmes at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust.


Further information


For more information about Consultant School Accreditation, visit www.ssatrust.org.uk/achievement/ consultantaccreditation/Pages/default.aspx or email consultantschool@ssatrust.org.uk


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SecEd • September 30 2010


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