WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY....
FROM ACTIVITY TO IMPACT: MAKING
COLLABORATION COUNT
Comment by DANIEL LEONARD, CEO at Penrose Learning Trust
T
here is a particular kind of ‘collaboration’ that most school leaders will recognise: a full agenda, a positive discussion and a great deal of goodwill, and yet no discernible change the following morning.
This is what happens when collaboration becomes an objective in its own right. Trusts can point to networks, working groups and shared events, but activity is not impact. The
test is whether pupils receive better support and staff spend less time solving problems that colleagues elsewhere have already solved. Start with the problem, not the network Our schools value autonomy and therefore had largely operated independently. Good practice existed across the trust, but it was not consistently shared. Similarly, previous collaboration had not always felt purposeful. To combat this, and to deliver genuine impact, we started asking what the specific challenges were that were holding schools back, and how they could be addressed in unison. That work identified priorities including SEND provision, assessment, safeguarding, attendance, transition and pupil progress at KS3. We built forums around those issues, rather than creating broad groups and hoping useful work would emerge.
Our networks now connect primary leaders in key areas such as early years, English and maths, while SEND and safeguarding colleagues work across phases. For example, primary and secondary SENCOs have worked together to develop a blueprint for effective inclusive practice across phases. Secondary subject faculties sit alongside groups focused on attendance and raising standards, while our early career teacher network and AI working group address priorities that affect staff across individual schools.
Purpose needs structure
Goodwill is not enough to deliver real action or change. Staff need protected time during the school day, clear direction and a shared understanding of what each session should produce. Our forums are senior-led and facilitated, often through two-hour sessions within a termly cycle. Senior involvement keeps the work connected to overarching improvement priorities, but it should not make the discussion top-down. We also moved from online meetings to face-to-face sessions after staff told us they found in-person work more valuable.
Judge it by what changes
Early internal evidence of this new approach to collaboration from our primary schools is encouraging. Schools that had previously underperformed have seen significant improvements in attainment since aligned assessment systems and collaborative subject networks were introduced.
We are careful not to claim that meetings alone caused those gains. However, what we can see is that shared assessment information made gaps clearer, subject leaders could compare approaches and support become more targeted.
Our secondary work is in its earlier stages and will take time, but begins with priorities such as Key Stage 3 alignment, primary-secondary transition and a coherent curriculum from nursery to 16. The lesson for trusts is to start with a diagnosed need, protect time to address it and define what should be different afterwards. Collaboration matters when it leads to better practice, less duplication and time for staff, and stronger support for pupils.
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www.education-today.co.uk October 2026
HEALTHIER SCHOOL MEALS MUST NOT BECOME A BARRIER FOR SEND PUPILS
Comment by AMANDA WRIGHT, Head of Whole School SEND at nasen
W
e support the ambition behind healthier food in schools. Good nutrition matters for every child’s health, concentration and readiness to learn, and no one would argue with wanting the best for children.
At the same time, we would urge the government to think carefully about how these changes are introduced, because for some children, food is far from straightforward. Some children experience sensory processing differences, and for others, conditions such as avoidant/ restrictive food intake disorder, or ARFID, mean that only a narrow, specific range of foods feels safe to eat. For these children, a sudden change to what is familiar and available at lunchtime is not a small adjustment. It can become a real barrier to being at school at all. School should be a place where every child feels they belong, and mealtimes are part of that. If a child arrives to find that nothing on offer is something they can manage to eat, the risk is that school starts to feel like somewhere that does not understand them. For children who already find attendance difficult, that added pressure can tip the balance. We want healthier food to bring children in, not to push more of them away.
Our ask is that the new standards are implemented with flexibility designed in from the outset, not accommodations added as an afterthought, so that schools and caterers can plan sensitively, keep suitable options available and work with families so that no child is caught out by change. The specialist sector has real expertise in designing environments, including mealtime routines and how choice is presented, that work for children with sensory and eating differences. That knowledge should be drawn on rather than left aside. Healthier food and inclusive mealtimes should not be competing design problems. A menu built with sensory and eating differences in mind from the start is deliverable for every child, not just some. We would also want reassurance on funding. If the cost of providing new and healthier meals is passed to schools, it is essential that this does not come at the expense of provision for children with SEND. Getting children’s health right and getting SEND support right are not competing goals, and neither should be traded off against the other.
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