Diocese of Exeter

Federation and Management Partnerships

Toolkit To complement the Diocese of Exeter

Guidelines on Federation and Management Partnerships

Diocesan Board of Education

June 2010

Working Together Toolkit

This toolkit is designed to complement the Diocesan Guidelines on Federation and Management Partnerships. The toolkit contains a series of questions each centred on a particular theme. The list of questions is not exhaustive, but it is recommended that all the questions in the toolkit are discussed and agreed by a Governing Body prior to any commitment being made to enter into a formal agreement or partnership. Genesis 31:45-48 ‘So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. Then Jacob said to his brethren, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there on that heap. And Laban said “This heap is a witness between you and me this day.” The imagery of the stones used throughout the toolkit is a reminder that each of the questions and related discussion points help to build up a clear picture for a school and its members of what is important to clarify, change or sustain and uphold – each stone is a marker which will build into a visible reminder of the development process, and should be seen not only as a process, but a crucial epoch for the future of the school and its history. Any movement towards a potentially permanent change to the structure and dynamic of a school should not be taken lightly, nor without considerable consideration and discussion, and these questions below can assist with this process. It is strongly recommended that the Diocese of Exeter through its Diocesan Board of Education (DBE) is involved at every stage of the discussion and decision making process and your Diocesan Education Officer should be your first point of contact: ccyp@exeter.anglican.org 01392 294950 www.exeterccyp.org

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“School federations enable us to share best practice, facilities, expertise and to learn from the strengths of excellent teaching” ‘An Introduction to School Federations’ DCSF Innovations Unit

What are the strengths – and areas for development of your own school? Are there any specific issues to take into account?

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What are the strengths – and areas for development of the other school(s) you are considering partnering with / or you would look for in another school?

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Raising Standards

How will any planned partnership working improve and enhance teaching and learning and social development of pupils across the schools?

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What improved educational experiences will pupils receive as a result of working in partnership?

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What are the advantages for your school and your pupils?

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Are there any disadvantages for your school and pupils?

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What will be the benefits for the staff in your school?

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How will your partnership working be of benefit to your governors and governance of your school?

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What are the things you cherish most about your school and its Church school status?

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What are the non-negotiables for your school? (i.e. what might be the ‘deal-breakers’ as you progress forward)

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Learning from others

Are there any similar models of partnership working or Federations locally that you could contact or visit to learn from?

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If you have contacted or visited another school or Federation, what were the main things that worked / didn’t work / were of interest to you?

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If you have another school(s) as a potential partner it is helpful to do a SWOT analysis at this stage:

What are the potential Strengths of this partnership? _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Weaknesses? _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Opportunities? _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Threats? _______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Supporting paperwork and engagement with the Diocese

Do you have a copy of the Diocesan Working Together Timeline and supporting papers (see below) for Church schools?

_______________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Devon Local Authority ‘Federation Toolkit for Schools’ has been produced to assist all Devon’s schools in exploring the options available and is recommended reading for all schools embarking on this process. www.devon.gov.uk The DBE have also produced two important guidance documents available from your Diocesan Education Officer or our web-site www.exeterccyp.org

Federation and Management Partnerships

Guidance To complement the Diocese of Exeter

Toolkit on Federation and Management Partnerships

Diocesan Board of Education

Diocese of Exeter

Working Together

Diocesan Recommendations on Partnership working for Church Schools

Diocesan Board of Education

Diocese of Exeter

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Collaborative working, Management Partnership or Federation? Collaboratives are many and varied – schools often find these easy to operate within, as there are no fixed legal arrangements or structures, therefore allowing for easy networking and sharing. Some schools, however, require a more structured partnership. A Federation or Management Partnership is formed where there is some type of formalised agreement to work together.

Which model of working do you think is the best one for your school and its needs?

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Leadership Federation models usually involve sharing an Executive Headteacher, although options are possible where all schools in the Federation retain their own Headteacher. However, this limits any potential financial flexibility to achieve improvements or changes elsewhere. Sharing a high quality Executive Headteacher means that the schools involved benefit from sharing expertise and leadership. Usually this arrangement means that the Executive Headteacher has more non-teaching time (or even no teaching commitment) so they are better able to do their job and to provide leadership and support to other staff. As teaching and learning responsibility points could also then be offered in the school, it would provide teaching staff with more career progression opportunities – something currently lacking in many small schools. The supporting roles of Head of Teaching and Learning in each school also allow opportunity for leadership experience for middle leaders, within a supportive and mentored environment. The issues surrounding Church schools and the appointment of Leadership staff to the Federation are the same as for Management Partnerships and you are requested to view the earlier section of this paper for more information on this area. VA schools in particular should be extremely cautious of this model, with the necessity of the Governing Body to renounce the ability on Headteacher and Executive Headteacher appointments to give preference to a candidate’s religious opinion or beliefs; thereby relinquishing the ability to be able to appoint a practising Christian into the leadership role of a VA Church school.

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Leadership and management

What leadership model do you think will be best for your school?

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What are the leadership strengths of your school and what would you look for from another school in terms of developing your future leadership?

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Who will lead your school and what model will this take – Federation or Management Partnership (Executive HT) and who will manage the day-to-day running of the school?

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If you are to have an Executive HT – will you advertise and/or interview for this post (interview as recommended by the DBE)

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If you are to have an Executive Headteacher, what skills and abilities will you look for in an applicant? What will you include in the Job Description / Person Specification?

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If you are to have an Executive HT from another school – how will you ensure the Christian distinctiveness of your school is upheld and developed through its leadership model?

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How will you appoint a Head of Teaching and Learning (or similar SLT role) and how will you ensure they support and develop the Christian ethos of your school?

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Will other SLT roles across the planned partnership also have a responsibility for supporting and developing the Christian ethos of your church school?

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Governance – Federations

What are the current strengths and areas of expertise in your Governing Body?

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How will the planned partnership model work strategically across the schools in terms of governance?

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Federation of VA schools – are you intending to federate with another VA school(s) as recommended by the DBE?

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VA schools – how would you manage the governance of your church school if you federate with a VC or Community school and lose the foundation governor majority?

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What would the composition of the governing body look like in the new model?

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Have you ensured that the Ex-officio Foundation Governor role is protected?

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Have you considered also including any other parish priest as an Associate Governor?

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Are you aware of your school’s Trust Deed and whether this will affect your planned partnership model?

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Ethos Committee Schools engaging in a Federation are encouraged to create an Ethos Committee for each school. This is one of the ways in which schools can ensure their own distinct Christian ethos and approach can be maintained and supported – and even developed more deeply. This is particularly relevant when Church schools federate with schools of differing category.

Will you ensure that you have an Ethos Committee for each Church school? (or a joint Ethos Committee) Who will be the representatives on this committee and how will it function?

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What areas of importance will the Ethos Committee focus upon? What are the areas for development from your last SIAS inspection?

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Working with local schools

Which schools do you already work well with in your local area or Local Learning Community?

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How will any planned arrangements affect these relationships and how will you continue to ensure that you also work collaboratively within broader school partnerships?

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Getting started

Who will be part of the committee to progress the planning and consultation process?

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Who needs to be involved in the consultation process and how will this be covered?

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List all the contacts you will need to have as you progress:

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List all the information and resources you will need to have as you progress:

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List all the formal paperwork you will need to complete as you progress:

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And most importantly:

Why are you considering this for your school? Make a note of the Vision you have for this project and keep this in mind as you progress forward.

_______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please remember that the Diocese of Exeter and the Diocesan Schools’ team are here to help you at each step along the journey. We are here both to support – and challenge – you, in order to ensure that the decisions you make are the very best ones for the children and schools in our care. By progressing through this toolkit at an early stage we hope that this helps you to carefully consider the decisions you may need to make. This is however not a definitive list so please also contact your Diocesan Education Officer for further support and advice. CCYP office 01392 294950 ccyp@exeter.anglican.org

May 2010.