Partnerships (including independent/state)

Independent state school partnership

Project description

• Initially we backed a local state school (girls, community school, 11-18) with a financial partner in their bid for Special School Status in MFL. This was successful and they were rapidly awarded Leading Edge Status (one of very few, c. 100, schools in the country). Along with this status comes the commitment to help other schools in the area with a particular emphasis on staff training and professional development.
• The KCS Senior Mistress (Heather McKissack) was appointed to the state school's Governing Body and has initiated and helped sustain many partnership initiatives (staff and pupils). These are well sustained projects; viable and mutually beneficial. The staff initiatives have been predominantly to do with joint training (ITE and Middle Managers, particularly) and the pupils' projects have been directed towards the Talented and Gifted (Years 7, 9, 11 and 13) although they are much broader in their scope at almost every level (especially at Y11 where GCSE pupil support is well established).
• We are now backing the Federation of this girls' with a boys' school in the area, under the same Head and Governing Body, and hope that the latter will, in time, enjoy similar high levels of attainment and improved community confidence. Our work is now even more focused on ensuring the success of the partnership as it moves in this new direction.

Benefits

Our pupils: mixing with others and learning to integrate and showing mutual respect

Their pupils: breaking down barriers and benefiting from the extended teaching sessions

All teachers: working together and appreciating each others' differences and attributes

Our school: working in our community and learning from each other

Their schools: financial backing and status, life-line for the boys' school

Others: community confidence on the back of a strong independent school backing maintained schools in the area

School

Contact

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