Schools Together Group discussion meeting, 26 March 2019at Abingdon School

Sustaining Partnerships#STGpartnerships

Programme5.00 Arrival and refreshments

5.30 Welcome and introductions: Christina Astin (Events Subcommittee) and Michael Windsor (Headmaster of Abingdon School)

5.45 Speakers: Jeremy Thomas/Robin Southwell-Sander (introduction: setting the scene), Sarah Moir (the importance of a coordinator and funding), Juliette Moxham (how useful is an MoU?), Owen Carter (evaluating the partnership’s outcomes)

6.20 Panel discussion, with questions from the floor

7.00 Thank you from Sarah Butterworth, Chair of the Schools Together Group, followed by further refreshments

7.30 Close

WiFi network: Visitor - Abingdon School; password: wimbledongreenSpeaker Biographies

Robin Southwell-Sander, Abingdon School @ASPartnershipsRobin is the Director of Partnerships at Abingdon School where he teaches Geography, coaches various sports teams and runs a day house. For the last four years Abingdon has been working very closely with a partner school, Fitzharrys, where they have set up opportunities for staff and student collaboration which have been unquestionably beneficial to both schools.New to the post, Robin looks forward to developing Abingdon’s existing partnership programme further, building on the excellent practice seen in the Abingdon Science Partnership, under the leadership of Jeremy Thomas.

Sarah Moir, East Kent Schools Together partnership @EKSTpartnership

Sarah has been the Coordinator for East Kent Schools Together since January 2018 and works closely with all the steering groups to support all areas of the partnership. Prior to this role Sarah worked in Development in schools and also in arts organisations, most notably at the National Portrait Gallery, London where she focused on building corporate partnerships, introducing a Development Board and individual giving.

Juliette Moxham, St. John’s Primary School, CheltenhamJuliette has been headteacher at St. John’s Primary School, Cheltenham since 2014, having spent 20 years in the classroom. She takes a keen interest in inclusion, having been a SENCo and studied for an MEd in Inclusive Education at the University of Gloucestershire. Her school has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a new partnership with Cheltenham College.

Owen Carter, ImpactEd @od_carter Owen is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of ImpactEd, an organisation partnering with schools to support them in

evaluating the impact of the programmes they run. Prior to running ImpactEd, he led a number of research and evaluation projects at the education charity The Brilliant Club and developed a digital platform for teacher professional development at Optimus Education. Owen is a winner of the 2018 Teach First Innovation Award.

Steering Committee, 2018-19*subcommittee chairs

Sarah Butterworth, Chair (Highgate School)

Events Subcommittee*Christina Astin (The King’s School, Canterbury)Leo Winkley (Shrewsbury School)

Policy & Research Subcommittee*Peter Hatch (King’s College Wimbledon)Scott Baker (LAE Stratford)

Members & Publications Subcommittee*Tom Arbuthnott (Eton College)Brian Crosby (Hope Learning Trust, York)

Website Subcommittee*Annette Aylett (York ISSP)Nicki Mattin (Spires Academy, Canterbury)

Please contact us if you would be interested in serving on the steering committee or one of its subcommittees, or if you could offer to host a future meeting.

Our thanks to Lisa Foye for her administrative help with this event and Rob Southwell-Sander and colleagues at Abingdon for hosting.

We are especially keen to expand the reach of the group within the state sector; please encourage colleagues to join the mailing list by emailing Lisa at:

info@schoolstogether.orgWhy a theme of “Sustaining Partnerships”?Those of us who came together to form the Schools Together Group in 2016 have been pleased to see a number of positive developments in the way schools partner within and across sectors even in three short years. By sharing good ideas and common concerns we’ve highlighted the language around partnership and how important it is that collaborations are genuine mutual. In our last meeting we explored some innovative cross-phase projects and the benefits of enhanced understanding that these can bring.

We’ve also seen schools of both sectors move on from the one-off partnership event and embrace longer-term and richer collaborations, whether cross-sector ISSPs, large MATs or two neighbouring schools. Time allows trust to build and understanding to strengthen – just like

any relationship. Schools better appreciate each others’ strengths and challenges; our learning from each other deepens - and so does our professional respect.

But it’s not easy to sustain a partnership over the years necessary to make a difference. Teachers are busy with many other responsibilities and priorities. The one passionate individual who made the initial contact moves on or gets promoted. Budgets and timetables are stretched more than ever. And in any case, was it worth the effort?

Our speakers today are all experienced in making partnerships sustainable.How do we know if a collaboration is having an impact and deserves to be sustained?Does a written agreement help to underpin commitment?Where can we turn to for funding ideas, and will a dedicated administrator help to keep things going?

Please share your own thoughts on what works well in our discussion this evening – and thank you for coming!

Conference - Friday 7 June 2019, Highgate SchoolOur third annual conference takes place at Highgate School on Friday 7th June. This is a whole day event from 10 – 4 and will feature four workshop sessions as well as keynote talks and a panel discussion. Our previous conferences (at Eton and in York) have been very popular and a great opportunity for learning, discussion and networking.

This year the conference will have two strands which participants can follow (or mix and match!):Exploring Partnerships will feature workshops aimed at supporting those who are relatively new to partnership working or wish to initiate new collaborations, and Developing Partnerships will suit more experienced colleagues/schools looking to expand what they do.

Please visit https://www.schoolstogether.org/events/ i n the coming days for more details and to sign up to attend and/or offer a workshop. Please spread the word.

Christina Astin, March 2019

Thank you for coming!