HC 269 Education CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by SCiP5, Education and Media
RE: EDUCATION COMMITTEE INQUIRY INTO SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS AND COOPERATION
I feel I have a unique perspective to share: I have been a teacher and a school leader for thirty years, usually, and by choice, in some of the most deprived and challenging communities in England; I have been CEO of a large Awarding Organisation, with a network representing six thousand schools, colleges, academies and training providers across the country; I am a curriculum innovator, constantly looking for tools, approaches, concepts and ideas that add value to the learning journey, and help young people to consistently exceed expectations.
Summary
The co-operative approach to school leadership and governance is a diamond in the rough, with exceptional potential and continuing to grow stronger, more extensive and more effective with every passing term.
I say this because, in school organisation terms, the co-operative network is comparatively new, and is still learning how best to apply one hundred and fifty years of social and commercial heritage to address a twenty-first century phenomenon, the breakup of the state education system.
With the fragmentation of local school organization, command and control, the co-operative model offers a vibrant and credible alternative to the growth of academy chains or independent academy status, and to the dead hand of ineffective local authority leadership where it exists as such.
The co-operative approach also goes far beyond school organization and process. It has the potential to permeate every part of school and community life. In an era where we are constantly searching for ways to connect young people to their locality, to their accountabilities and to their democratic responsibilities, the values-rich and faith-neutral co-operative framework gives a school and its community a rich toolkit to bring the coalition’s vision of a “Big Society” vibrantly to life.
1. On the differing forms of school partnership and cooperation, and whether they have particular advantages and disadvantages
1.1 Local Accountability The stakeholder model for co-operatives forces local accountability and ownership into the very heart of leadership and governance in a way that no other model does. With this comes empowerment, a key tool for a community to become master of its own destiny;
1.2 National Network I believe that there are approaching 500 primary secondary and special schools, academies and colleges now in the co-operative network, which is pretty staggering given the time-scale. The Schools Co-operative Society supports these schools to develop and grow. I also believe that the “joining costs” are minimal, allowing schools to invest their resources inwardly, rather than suffering significant top-slicing that is characteristic of nearly all academy chains;
1.3 “Not for Profit” This is a genuine statement of intent within co-operatives; let us be clear, the private business sector is “for profit”, it is defined as such; business and commerce is interested in running schools because they are sources of secure revenue. We are now astute enough to realise that a merchant banker interested in running a chain of academies will not declare a “profit” as such, but will make absolutely sure that every service contract from insurance to heating and lighting is generating profit… for years and years. Co-operative business, and the birth of “new mutuals” is beginning to challenge the capitalist world view. A basic tenant of capitalism is competition; a free market needs competition from co-operatives to keep it honest!
2. On how highly performing schools could better be encouraged to cooperate with others
2.1 Co-operative models are based on mutual aid, sharing responsibility for working with other schools, especially those under some pressure. “We’re all in this together”; “mutually we are stronger together” are typical of the reasons given by co-operative school leaders for deciding on the model. This includes a view that schools should work together and take responsibility jointly for securing school improvement. There is also a recognition that working co-operatively helps to avoid duplication and distractions allowing school leaders especially to better focus on the effective leadership of teaching and learning.
2.2 We also need to redefine what “high performing” means. The narrow performance measures that dominate Ofsted ratings do little to identify what is sometimes outstanding practice. Some schools, serving really challenging communities, perform herculean feats to enable progress at national rates… but from a very low starting point. The equity of standing in school co-operatives enable a true celebration and spreading of good practice, irrespective of where it is.
3. On whether schools have sufficient incentives to form meaningful and lasting relationships with other schools
3.1 Standalone academies, or academies as part of chains, have very little incentive to help the school around the corner. The entire philosophy that drives the current round of free school, UTC, convertor and forced academy programmes revolves around generating surplus places so that “good” and “successful” schools fill up, and “weaker” schools wither and perish.
3.2 Co-operative schools serve their communities, are accountable directly to their wider communities, and therefore embedded deeply in their values and principles is the concept of building deep, long-lasting and effective relationships, for the good of the community.
3.3 A decrease in Local Authority influence Strong local co-operative partnerships can jointly support and commission the school improvement services that may have been the province of the local authority.
4. If and how the potential tension between school partnership and cooperation, and school choice and competition can be resolved
4.1 For society to have 100% confidence in the education system, we should aspire to every school being a good school. In a competitive system, where schools are ranked using normative measures, as is the case today, and has been since the dawn of school league tables, there will always be winners and losers: there is no possibility whatsoever of every school becoming a good school, even if the schools lower down the rankings are improving. And if you improve, someone else will suffer in the rankings. This is a completely unacceptable state of affairs
4.2 Co-operation and partnership changes the mind-set, is values-driven, and sees schools working for the common good of their wider communities, not just for their pupils.
5. On whether converter academies’ requirements to support other schools, included in their funding agreements, are sufficient and are effectively policed
5.1 I have not sufficient expertise or knowledge in this area to make a valid contribution
6. On whether academies sponsored by another school receive sufficient support from their sponsor
6.1 Again, I have little data to go on to form a clear opinion
7. On whether school partnerships drive effective school improvement
7.1 School Partnerships can drive school improvement. The London Challenge initiative is a case in point. Co-operative partnerships can also unlock considerable potential through combined use of skills and resources. I have seen quoted a great example of this, in a recent Ofsted monitoring visit report: “The school is part of a collaborative trust comprising several local primary schools and the local high school. Collectively, they are providing some effective leadership, teaching and learning and assessment support, advice and guidance which are helping to accelerate the school’s improvement. By pooling resources, they have made a number of joint appointments, including literacy and numeracy strategy leaders to embed excellent practice across the trust and boost pupils’ achievement”. (Great Preston VC 26/3/13)
8. On whether there are any additional upsides or downsides for highly performing schools supporting others through partnerships
8.1 As stated in 2.2, the real problem is the need to redefine what “high performing” means. The narrow performance measures that dominate Ofsted ratings do little to identify what is sometimes outstanding practice. Some schools, serving really challenging communities, perform herculean feats to enable progress at national rates… but from a very low starting point. The equity of standing in school co-operatives enable a true celebration and spreading of good practice, irrespective of where it is.
October 2013