HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLS TO FORM INNOVATION NETWORKS

26 Jun 2002 12:11 PM

More than 500 schools across England are set to work together through a system of pioneering networks which will see them learning from one another, promoting innovation and sharing best practice.

At a two-day conference starting tomorrow (June 27) the leaders of the 48 networks, involving a total of 512 schools, will gather to mark the launch of the ground-breaking "Networked Learning Communities" programme, which is being spearheaded by the National College for School Leadership (NCSL).

The project, which is being jointly funded by NCSL and the Department for Education and Skills, involves groups of schools working together in partnership with other educational bodies such as LEA's, universities and community partners. Each network will receive up to £50,000 a year in matched funding over three years, starting from September.

David Jackson, Director of Networked Learning at NCSL, said: "This is about groups of schools working in partnership for the benefit both of one another and the whole education system. There are already wonderful things happening in England's schools but we need to be able to share and to learn from what we know. This bottom-up initiative is specifically designed to achieve this sort of collaborative learning and knowledge sharing. Through the networks school leaders and their teams will be able to support each other in tackling problems, learn from each other's experiences and experiment with new and innovative ideas."

David Miliband, Minister for School Standards, said: "The next phase of reform for our schools is not more of the same. It is about releasing innovation and creativity at a local level. The Networked Learning Communities programme promises to do exactly that. By bringing schools together to share their ideas, the best practice displayed by the most innovative schools will become standard practice for all schools"

For some of the sucessful networks the programme will provide a springboard for them to formalise and build on existing partnerships, but the majority of the networks are new groupings of schools inspired by the values of the programme and the desire to work interdependently for the benefit of pupils and adults.

Sue Jenkins, co leader of a network of eight rural schools in Shropshire, said: "We're similar schools with the same sort of issues and we find it very useful to meet together. Results can be replicated and we can act as a mutual support group. We're clearly committed to working together but what the networked learning community bid has done is to formalise the whole process. Now we want to move forward and be more innovative."

The scheme has also inspired a wide range of proposals. A partnership of schools in the Dorchester area plan to introduce an Early Intervention programme aimed at identifying the youngest children who are at risk of being excluded from school. A team of professionals will then work with the children by taking them out of the classroom and looking at their social and emotional skills as well as working with parents.

Meanwhile a London network is keen to use ICT to cut down on paperwork and to share knowledge about professional practice. Laurian Adams, co-leader of the network, said: "We're going to buy in software and evaluation sheets and build a resource bank of good lessons, using ICT to cut teachers' administrative duties so that they are facilitating learning rather than filling in paperwork"

Key contributors at the Nottingham launch conference include David Hopkins, Director of the DfES Standards and Effectiveness Unit, Tom Bentley, Director of the independent think tank Demos, Charles Deforges, until recently Director of the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme, and Lauren Resnick, Ruth Sutton and Ann Kilcher from oversees.

Press contact: Claire Gould, NCSL Media Relations Manager - 0115 846 7048

Notes for Editors:

Schools working together on their own initiative to raise standards of teaching and learning and build leadership capacity is a key part of the vision for the second phase of reform set out in the White Paper Schools Achieving Success and the Education Bill. The Networked Learning Communities programme aims both to stimulate and support this across an increasingly large part of the education system and to help us understand better how to create and sustain effective networks of schools.

Clusters of schools, in partnership with other educational bodies, were invited by NCSL to bid to become part of the "Networked Learning Communities" programme in February this year. In addition to the first set of 48 networks, a further 37 networks, involving 392 schools, have been shortlisted for a possible January start subject to further strengthening of their proposals and the outcome of the DfES Spending Review.

The first set of Networked Learning Communities consists of 351 primary, 146 secondary and 15 special schools. The number of schools in each network ranges from 6 to 21.

Funding may be used in a variety of ways including to try out new teaching methods, to provide a range of professional learning activities, research and coaching opportunities for staff, to set up study sessions and networks for headteachers, or to pay for facilitation and consultancy support.

NCSL will provide support for the networks in the following ways:

- Consultant/facilitator visits to networks
- Support for enquiry activities
- Network to network learning
- Online community support
- Distributing regular newsletters and other publications to showcase best practice and processes

- Hosting conferences to communicate the work of the networks to the rest of the education sector

The following is a list of the 48 networks, including the name and school or organisation address for one of the co-leaders from each network:

Southampton Learning for Leading Network - Sally Stanton, Kanes Hill Primary School, Southampton.

West Derby NLC - Mr G Murphy, Broughton Hall High School Technology College, West Derby, Liverpool

North East Bradford NLC - Chris Thompson, Hanson School, Bradford

South East Sussex Schools - Di Hawksby, Bexhill High School, Bexhill on Sea

Maghull and District Cluster of Schools - David How, Aintree Davenhall Primary, Aintree, Merseyside

Hexham Partnership of Schools - Tony Webster, Queen Elizabeth High School, Northumberland

Ellis Guildford Family NLC - Helen Ridge, Hempshill Hall Primary School, Bulwell, Nottingham

Cambridge Super Network - Colleen McLaughlin, Cambridge Super Network, University of Cambridge, Cambridge

Small Schools Managing Improvement Group - Sue Jenkins, c/o St Peter's Primary School, Edgmond, Newport, Shropshire

Developing the Autonomous Learner - Sue Attard, Lark Rise Lower School, Dunstable, Bedford

The Transforming Learning Networked Community - Maureen Bates, St Thomas More High School, North Shields, Tyne and Wear

Janus - Brian Mulroy, Education Offices, Bootle, Merseyside

WF7 - Norman Clear, Yardley Primary School, Chingford, London Penwith Learning Community - Robert Mitchell, Mounts Bay School, Heamoor, Penzance, Cornwall

EXCEL - Mary Rose, Sir Bernard Lovell School, Bristol

Manchester School Improvement Network - Peter Eavers, Sacred Heart Primary School, Wythenshawe, Manchester

The Organic Learning Project - Sue Egersdorff, Education Department, Chester, Cheshire

Knowsley Networked Learning Community - Linda Turner, Centre for Educational Leadership, The University of Manchester, Manchester

Rushden and Higham Ferrers NLC - Helen Barrett, Higham Ferrers Junior School, Rushden, Northants

South Birmingham NLC - Sue Barratt, Bourneville Junior School, Bourneville, Birmingham

South West London NLC - Jacqueline Smith, Lampton School, Hounslow

Think First - Connecting the Curriculum for Learning - Geoff Coulson, Rustington Community Primary School, Rustington, West Sussex

Networks Learning from Learning in Tunbridge Wells - Chris Davies, Bishops Down Primary School, Tunbridge Wells, Kent

City of York Assessment for Learning Initiative - Alison Wilcock, Key Stage Three Stategy Team, York

Dorchester Area Schools Improvement Partnership - Julie Taylor, Thomas Hardye School, Dorchester

North West Arts Colleges' Learning Network - Simon Taylor, North West Arts Board, Manchester

The North East School Based Thinking for Learning Consortium - Mel Rockett, Education Development Centre, Stannington, Morpeth, Northumberland

Consortium for School Improvement - Richard Thomas, The Bromsford School, Wickford

Cambridgeshire Outreach Network for Education - Di Beddow, Bassingbourn Village College, Royston, Hertfordshire

Network A (Nurturing Networks to Improve Learning) - Rosie Connor, The Stable Block, Leicester

Hartlepool Networked Learning Community - Mike Layton, Jesmond Road Primary School, Hartlepool

CHIP Consortium for Learning - Viv Clark, Brindle Gregson Lane Primary School, Hoghton, Preston, Lancashire

The Walsall/Coventry Consortium - Sue Major, Joseph Leckie Community Technology College, Walsall, Wednesbury

Opportunity Zone - Trish Franey, Henbury Secondary School, Bristol

Boston Schools' Improvement Partnership - Kirstyn Moffat, Boston St Mary's Primary School, Boston, Lincolnshire

Winsford Education Partnership - Hilary Berry, Winsford SRB, Winsford, Cheshire

North of England Cluster of NLC's: Transforming Schools (consisting of four networks) - John Baumber, Rivington and Blackrod High School, Horwich, Bolton, Lancashire

From, At and Around - Laurian Adams, Queens Park Community School, London

Partnership Across Lancaster - Mike Barnes, Scotforth St Pauls Primary Schools, Lancaster

The Redbridge Learning Community (consisting of five networks) - Pete Dudley, Lynton House, Ilford, Essex

Kingsbridge NLC - Geoff Ashton, c/o Standish Community High School, Standish, Wigan, Lancashire