3 minute read
Partnerships and the Department for Education
In the past two years, schools and students have faced their greatest challenge of recent years: education through a pandemic. Regardless of how difficult circumstances became, schools have risen to the challenge and navigated through the most testing of times. It is wonderful to learn that many cross-sector partnerships between independent and state-funded schools have actually developed during the pandemic.With so many other priorities competing for your urgent attention, thank you for your continued commitment to this work and for the benefits it brings to students, teachers and communities.
As a relatively new education minister, I have already had the privilege of visiting some exceptional schools. My first official visit was to the South West and Bristol, where I visited schools involved in one of the country ’ s most prolific partnerships. I know that they are not alone, with many more such collaborations happening across the country.
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What I have heard so far on partnerships underlines their importance. The pandemic may have paused elements of this work temporarily, but many schools have, for the first time, discovered the benefits of working with others. In fact, we have seen a new wave of partnerships that have embraced the opportunities of virtual collaborations and on working together to solve common problems. Perhaps most importantly, what I have heard is a continued commitment from schools and sector leaders to do more of this work – not less.
It is clear to me that there are a growing number of ambitious and aspirational partnerships leading the way across the country. Many of those are led and supported by people encouraged by the experiences of others. That is why publications such as this, and Partnerships Week more broadly, are so important.
It is also worth noting that this work has developed immensely over the past few years. Where once we spoke about sharing playing fields, today we talk about partnerships with real depth of purpose; partnerships that deliver lasting impact to the lives of pupils across our schools. We are seeing more and more partnerships that break down barriers between independent, state, faith, selective and all other types of schools. A few years ago, school leaders also used to ask why their schools needed partnerships. Today, we ask the contrary: why wouldn ’t schools partner with others to deliver benefits for their staff and pupils? We are seeing a strong appetite – even
through the pandemic – for partnerships and for deeper, more impactful collaborations. Long may this continue. Finally, I want to acknowledge that the success of this work is in large part due to the commitment of the ISC and the associations. This is evidence of the hard work you put in to making our Joint Understanding a reality. I also want to acknowledge the important work of the newly-formed School Partnerships Alliance, a charity that will play a vital role in bringing practitioners together to share their skills and knowledge.
I leave you with this call to action to schools: give us your ideas and your proposals. We are ambitious about the types of partnerships that are possible. We are on the lookout for new ideas and opportunities. Publications such as this should play a vital role in bringing new ideas forward; I will be delighted to hear more from you as your partnerships develop across the country.
