What can state schools and independent schools learn from one another?
This is a question I have been interested in answering since I met Heather McKissack at King’s College School in Wimbledon in 2010 and learned about the Wimbledon Partnership, which brought together state and independent schools to share best practice and deliver high-quality educational opportunities.
Having taught in both state-maintained and independent schools, I agreed whole-heartedly with the notion each could learn from the other, and it set in motion my own research project at King’s College London to study state-private partnerships and how they work, the challenges they face and their benefits.
Staff development
I gained many insights from over 80 partnership participants that I interviewed - and perhaps one of the most striking areas was the impact on staff development.
For example, in two case study partnerships, there were shared CPD opportunities for staff, such as a year-long development course to prepare teachers for middle leadership positions, led jointly by a state school headteacher and a deputy head from a partner independent school.
This covered aspects of senior leadership, from establishing vision and values to having difficult conversations and recruiting staff.
One state school leader said this had a significant impact by helping staff “onto middle leadership or, in some cases, senior leadership positions”.
He added that this course had improved staff retention as several colleagues had secured internal promotions. One of those to have benefitted, now a middle leader, declared the training “better than the national professional qualification course”.
In this same partnership, graduates joining the independent school without a teaching qualification undertook placements in a partner state school.
This state school’s former head described this as “eye-opening” for them, adding: “Obviously the context, the atmosphere, the class sizes and the resources available were hugely different and I’m sure it enabled the independent school staff to hone their teaching skills, and their understanding of how students learn.”
One of the participating graduates evidenced this, saying that this experience was invaluable in shaping him as a teacher.
Extension and enrichment
Another case study partnership offered a wide-ranging programme of extension and enrichment classes to students from all partner schools.
These sessions were designed to stretch and challenge students, taking them beyond what one participant called “the confines of the national curriculum”.
Each session was co-created by a teacher from a state school and one from a partner independent school. This process of co-creation was cited by several participants as a strong development opportunity for teachers.
One independent school partnership coordinator said: “I learn more from meeting my partnership colleagues than any course has ever given me.”
This type of professional development was highlighted as particularly beneficial for teachers in small independent schools. “I think particularly working in a small school it’s really nice to be able to work with other teachers across the area,” they said.
Some partnerships, including East Kent Schools Together, run subject hubs where teachers can meet to discuss topics, ranging from changes in public examination specifications to teaching and learning approaches.
These meetings offer valuable support for those who may be the only teachers of their subject in their schools.
While some development opportunities are explicitly planned, some partnership teachers praised joint working for giving them the opportunity to “see other ways of working”, adding that this was “CPD for us without us even knowing it”.
Sharing best practice
Finally, several cross-sector partnerships offer staff development opportunities not limited to teachers.
For example, one state school coordinator explained her school has an LGBT+ group that the matron from the local independent school visited to learn more about, while another referred to partnership communities for science technicians, some of whom work alone in their schools.
Partnerships such as the OX14 Learning Partnership offer wellbeing sessions for all staff, from online yoga classes to mental health workshops, which further illustrates the school-wide benefits of collaborative working.
Ultimately, through the research, it was evident that the more equitable the partnership, the more mutual the benefits.
Through pooling resources, partnerships can offer a breadth and depth of professional development opportunities that individual schools alone cannot; just one of the benefits that cross-sector working can bring.
Dr Margaret Hunnaball is researcher in residence for the School Partnerships Alliance and a trustee of the HMCK Charity
