Summary - This case study is the story of how 3 secondary schools took on board the keys to successful collaboration to evolve their Post-16  arrangements into well developed Education Improvement Partnership.        

PLE comprises three neighbouring secondary schools in Plymouth who have formed a unique partnership, driven by the desire to embrace the challenges of real community leadership through taking collective responsibility for learners across the three schools. The partnership was initially borne out of a need to collaborate in the provision of post 16 courses when the LSC began examining value for money in 6th forms. The schools soon realised what enormous benefits were to be gained in delivering greater choice and opportunities for their youngsters. It was a testament to this spirit of collaboration and mutual support that, when further opportunities to collaborate arose, the schools jointly became Training Schools and Leading Edge schools. PLE (Plymouth High, Lipson and Estover Community Arts Colleges) is characterised by a willingness to devise joint solutions to common problems, underpinned by the fundamental principle that the three schools are equal partners, but have their unique and distinctive strengths. The work has attracted the attention of the Innovations Unit, and a recent visit by Charles Leadbeater from Demos.. 

From the outset, we felt it important to devise a common set of values to guide the work of our leadership teams. It was recognised that Heads had frequent opportunities to meet as equal partners, but that we needed to secure commitment amongst leadership at all levels if PLE was to establish the culture of openness and trust that would be necessary for success. Together we drew up the principles and protocols which have proved to be a significant foundation upon which to build, and have guided our actions as the partnership has matured. A shared commitment to role model these values has emerged amongst our teams, as has a promise to challenge behaviour which does not live up to these expectations. Our experience shows that a successful partnership is driven by a professional code of respect amongst staff working in diverse contexts, where there is an inclusive definition of success and where there is openness about our most intractable challenges. The integrity of the individuals involved and the quality of relationships in the partnership have been vital throughout.

PLE now involves over 300 post 16 learners who have spoken highly of the ways in which being part of a wider 6th form has brought immense benefits. Besides feeling that their levels of confidence have grown, 6th formers comment upon the richness of a provision which embraces a wide range of teaching and learning strategies. We now arrange student conferences with high quality speakers: Professor Susan Greenfield addressed a captivated audience about new knowledge about the brain. The students have joint planners, handbooks, social events and student councils. In a city with diverse neighbourhoods and a wide range of social backgrounds, from very challenging to very affluent, we feel this work is helping to break down social barriers and stereotyping. The recent community cohesion conferences addressing the theme of racial equality have been uplifting and groundbreaking in areas of huge potential conflict.

The impact of PLE on staff professional development has also been immense. The main areas of work to date have been:

Leadership Learning for Team Leaders

Talented senior managers across the schools have been identified act as facilitators for team leaders. They have led breakfast meetings and after school sessions on the most persistent barriers they face in raising achievement. Learning Groups act as problem solving forums offering a range of solutions for individuals to try out and report their progress at future meetings. These sessions have received highly enthusiastic evaluations from participants. All agreed this process has been uplifting, challenging and enlightening. 

Teaching and Learning

The KS3 Teaching and Learning units have been trialled across the schools who have worked together on sharing approaches to identified areas of concern. Experienced Heads of Department and AST’s have been seconded to work in each other’s schools, to observe staff in order to provide coaching and mentoring through constructive feedback. The schools have used their joint expertise to focus upon Assessment For Learning, developing an e-portal to share resources and create online communities of learners, and Neurolinguistic Programming to raise self esteem amongst the hardest to engage students.  Joint mentor training for ITT students as part of the Training School initiative has concentrated on assessing the quality of teaching and learning and enabled the three schools to address areas of underperformance. We are jointly responsible for training over 45 PGCE students each year and hold regular ITT conferences on the themes of inclusion, gifted and talented, e learning, amongst others. The trainees are led by some of the most talented practitioners in our schools and all these conferences receive enthusiastic reviews.

Information systems and data sharing to raise attainment

We have invested heavily into shared data systems to facilitate “Academic Review Days” in which students only attend with their parents at allotted times to discuss progress and targets with academic tutors. Solutions to operational issues and installation problems have been explored at joint workshops in which key members of support staff have also worked together, resulting in the establishment of informal support networks, saving expense and hours of wasted time. 

PLE is now in its sixth year and the culture of collaboration is well established, as we have become a Leading Edge Partnership. We felt it was time to “get beyond the feel good factor” by drilling down into our data. We are now researching the realities behind our results and accounting for the variations in achievement. Why, for instance, do some departments succeed against the odds? Why is there such variation in our KS4 Mathematics results across the partnership? We are committed to sharing our PANDA and our FFT data, identifying real underperformance and critical success factors in all our schools. We want to get beyond the league tables and raw data to arrive at meaningful definitions of success. This is going to be our most challenging task, and will be a serious test our statement of values and protocols. 

PLE believes that working in partnership has the potential for deep learning and systemic change. We are driven by an abiding moral purpose to make a “world of difference” and create parity of esteem amongst schools in diverse contexts.  We are beginning to develop our understanding of that over used word: excellence, and gaining professional nourishment and dignity from each other. The real beneficiaries have been our students and we are confident that together we can meet their needs with increasing effectiveness. The philosophy behind Education Improvement Partnerships is exactly what PLE is about and we would be very keen to develop it further. We will be trialling the use of a common School Improvement Partner to help us identify the ways in which we can further capitalise on our partnership activity to raise standards across the three schools. We would also be interested in working with the LEA in writing Service Level Agreements to devise innovative ways to raise standards.

Sue Martin : Headteacher Plymouth High School
Steve Baker: Principal Lipson Community College
Graham Browne: Principal Estover Community College.

Contact: Sue Martin (smartin@plymouthgirls.plymouth.sch.uk or 01752 208308)