View from the Classroom
am currently spending time in each school every day. We have appointed a School Leader in each school and both are very competent, so the day to day running is with them and I aim to have a more strategic role. I meet regularly with both School Leaders and governing bodies. This is a soft federation at present, so we have two governing bodies with a joint committee who will meet termly. To add to the challenge, both schools are expecting Ofsted this year. The federation will be reviewed at the end of the year.
outstanding Academy there was an expectation for us to consider closer collaborations. I have worked with the HT at Edith Weston for a number of years and therefore had an affinity with the school. I was also looking for a challenge and it is so different to Brooke Hill – 95% service families so a transient community and a real international feel, low standard, no financial security, recruitment difficulties - in other words, lots to do!
How does the collaboration work on a day- to-day basis?
It’s still early days but so far we have enjoyed joint training in August – Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar. We’ve set up a joint project about the schools –in preparation for Brooke Hill’s 40th anniversary this month and as an opportunity for us all to get to know each other at Edith Weston. We have instigated joint trips – recently, Years 5 and 6 from both schools went to Beaumanor and are joining forces at a music festival next week. Our staff regularly share expertise. We have developed a joint curriculum for both schools for the next 12 months while we prepare for the new curriculum in 2014 – for which we will undertake training together. We organise joint socials, which is a nice way for pupils and parents to meet and mix. Day to day it is a challenge, though! I
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How have the staff at both schools responded to the collaboration? Staff at both schools have responded positively and with great enthusiasm. It has been seen as an opportunity for succession planning, career opportunities and widening the horizons for both pupils and staff.
What do you see as the benefits of this sort of collaboration, for staff and pupils? As mentioned, it’s good for the staff. For the children, they also get to work together and see the world from a different perspective. We can now share resources, and we have opened up a number of sporting opportunities (Edith Weston only has 88 pupils so cannot always put teams out – this is now resolved as the schools work together). There are also a number of great ICT opportunities which have come about from the collaboration – and most importantly, I’m out of the way for a couple of days each week, which the staff seem to love!
How about the parents - has there been any feedback from them on the work the two schools are now doing?
We consulted widely before embarking on the federation- the parents at both schools had plenty of questions but they are very supportive. So far, they continue to be supportive as very little has changed at Brooke Hill, and the parents at Edith Weston have been very positive as children like coming to school and they say the school is ‘buzzing’. So far, so good!
www.education-today.co.uk
Finally, outcomes - did you set firm outcomes for the collaboration, and if so, how do you assess progress and measure success? For Edith Weston we have set the target to become ‘good’ by the end of the academic year. We need to raise standards, provide a curriculum with breadth and balance, give our school a real identity and encourage the children to be part of the process. We want them to have fun, be positive and to have high aspirations. We also hope to engage parents. That’s a lot to do but we entered our first football tournament last week – they lost both games but were a real credit to us with their determination, hard work and team spirit. The parents loved it too! For Brooke Hill, the intention obviously has to be to maintain our high standards and further develop independent learning throughout the school. Also, we are in the middle of succession planning – the School Leader should be ready to take up a headship by the end of the year. Other staff have also been given enhanced positions of responsibility. All in all, it’s been a very positive and rewarding experience!
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www.brookehillprimary.co.uk u
www.edithwestonprimaryschool.co.uk
October 2013
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