Collaborative
working
between schools
Nigel Warbis, Education Improvement Officer
Helen Martin, School Organisation
30 March 2011
Why collaborate?
• Improving provision and outcomes for
children
• Preserving unique characteristics your school
(as a non-negotiable of the arrangement)
• Seizing the initiative to shape the future for
your school community
• Better value for money/economies of scale
(e.g. school business manager)
• Recruiting/retaining quality headteachers work/life balance
• Enabling the headteacher to concentrate on
leadership and extend impact
Why collaborate? Cont….
• Professional development of staff (teamwork,
shared meetings, shared planning, leadership
opportunities)
• Development of distributed leadership
• Recruitment of staff (more attractive posts)
• Sharing strengths
(classroom/administration/governors)
• Helping to secure the best possible provision
for your school community in the long term
(whatever the future holds)
Risks
• If/when a National Funding Formula is
introduced it will have major implications for
all schools. Small schools will be particularly
vulnerable.
• By working in collaboration schools will be
better placed to meet the future learning
needs of pupils.
• Working in isolation or denial is not an option
for governors wishing to preserve the unique
characteristic of their school community and
make best provision for their children.
Types of collaborative working
• Informal partnerships
• Collaborative governance (joint
committee) – formally soft federation
• Executive Headship (contract of
partnership/joint committee)
• Federation
• A shared Trust
• Multi-school Academy Trusts
Today’s workshop
• We will be looking in more detail at the various
types of collaboration
• This is a look at the various options – not all of
these will be right for your school or
community
• Governors need to decide on whether
collaboration can meet the needs and
challenges of your school and what form this
should take
• The Local Authority can help with technical
issues and processes, and experience from the
rest of the county
Executive Headship
• One Headteacher leading two or more schools
• Enabling the headteacher to concentrate on
leadership
• Can enable good and outstanding headteachers to
extend their influence beyond their own school
• Recruiting/retaining quality headteachers
• Not the same as federation
• The Local Authority recommends that Executive
Headship should be accompanied by robust
governance arrangements
What are the options for governance
with an Executive Headship?
• Manage the partnership through
Collaborative Governance - a joint
committee with delegated powers to oversee
the partnership and make some decisions on
behalf of both schools
• Each school retains its own budget and its own
governing body
• Extend and formalise the collaboration through
Federation – a single governing body for both
schools
• Why an executive headship arrangement is not
sustainable in isolation (headteacher work/life
balance, recruitment and retention)
What is Federation?
• Where two or more maintained schools share
a single governing body
• Each school remains a separate entity and has
its own budget
• Often accompanied by a single headteacher,
but this is not compulsory or permanent
• Can be dissolved if the aims of the federation
are not being met
Potential benefits of federation
• Formalises and secures a partnership within a
manageable framework of one governing body
• Rationalises the workload of the Executive
Headteacher (where one is in post) and
governors
• Provides opportunities for shared staff and
leadership arrangements and appointments
across the federation
• Increases the opportunities and flexibility for
maximising the sharing of resources – funding
can be spent across the schools in a federation
• A strong foundation for resilience against
future financial and other pressures (but no
guarantee of long term sustainability)
A shared Trust
• Trust schools are local authority maintained
schools that are supported by a charitable Trust
• A Trust can consist of schools and external
partners, such as higher education institutions
or other agencies
• A Trust can support one school or a number of
schools – this is known as a shared Trust
• A Shared Trust between a number of schools
offers an opportunity to put in place long-term
sustainable partnership arrangements, build on
existing collaboration and develop a shared
sense of direction
What do Trusts do?
• Appoint some governors to the governing body
of each school
• Hold the schools’ land and buildings ‘on trust’
• The Trust model is flexible and schools and
partners can develop the model to meet local
needs
• The Trust could be used as a vehicle to develop
joint projects or commission shared services to
ensure resources are used to maximum effect
• This could reduce administrative burden and
provide a better deal on procurement
• The Trust’s income must be used for the
Trust’s charitable purposes (i.e. back into the
schools in the Trust)
What are the implications for
governing bodies?
• Trust schools are local authority maintained
foundation schools (not community Schools)
• The governing body will be the employer of staff
and set the admissions arrangements
• Schools can change to foundation status and
acquire a Trust in one consultation process
• Governing bodies retain responsibility for the
running of the school and decisions about its
future
• Could be accompanied by federation or
collaborative governance arrangements
Academy schools
•
•
•
•
State-funded independent schools
Outside of local authority control
Set their own ‘broad and balanced curriculum’
Employ their own staff and can set pay and
conditions
• Have control over their land and buildings
• Are responsible for additional duties and
tasks that would previously have been
undertaken by the LA
Governance of Academy Schools
(single Academy model)
• The Academy Trust
• A charitable company limited by guarantee
• Has control over the land and assets
• Enters into a funding agreement with the
Secretary of State
• Has strategic responsibility for the running
of the Academy
• The Governing Body
• Directors or trustees of the Academy Trust
• Manages the Academy on behalf of the
Academy Trust
Multi-school Academy Trusts
• An Academy Trust can run more than one
Academy school
• A group of schools can convert together
under one Academy Trust, or schools can
convert under an existing Academy Trust at a
later date
• Multi-Academy Trusts have a board of
Directors, as well as Local Governing Bodies
for each Academy
• There are also other potential collaborative
models between separate Academy Trusts
Considering Academy status
• The LA will build partnership working between
all schools regardless of designation
• We advise all governors when exploring
academy status to research as much as possible
• The LA has serious concerns about the capacity
of single primary schools, particularly small
schools, to cope with the additional workload
and demands of academy status
• A larger grouping, such as cross-phase multischool Academy Trusts, may be a desirable
model
What to think about
• What should your partnership look like?
• What are the benefits for the whole school
community?
• Preserving unique characteristics of your school
as a non-negotiable of the arrangement
• Who will manage the consultation process and
how?
• Keeping parents and the community engaged
• What are the alternatives?
How can the LA help?
• Local knowledge
• Access to local and national experience
and expertise
• Partner in securing school improvement
and support services (e.g. HR, legal)
• Can help to ensure statutory proposals
are met and support processes relating to
personnel and finance requirements
• Working with partners to explore ways of
promoting sustainability
www.cornwall.gov.uk/collaboration
Cornwall Council
County Hall
Truro TR1 3AY
Tel: 0300 1234 100
www.cornwall.gov.uk