Partnerships with private schools help pupils, says Ofsted
The Government’s education watchdog has said that school pupils are benefiting from partnerships between state and independent schools.
Most partnerships, which range from co-operation on training for laboratory technicians, to a joint dance project, have helped to foster an imaginative, creative and exciting classroom and extra-curricular activity, according to Ofsted.
The partnership programme was set up by the Government in 1998 to help to build bridges between the independent and state sectors and to break down negative preconceptions.
Ofsted, in a report published today after visiting partnerships created under the independent/state school programme (ISSP) in the last two years, says that while it is too early to say how effective they are in raising standards, the signs are “encouraging”.
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector David Bell said: “By working together, instead of in isolation, independent and state schools are sharing ideas, resources and the expertise of their teachers, and pupils are benefiting from these new structured relationships.”
But inspectors found that the take-up and bidding for the partnerships was patchy geographically, and noted that while some local education authorities recognised the benefits of the partnerships and became involved, others have not.
The report also says school governors could play a wider role in spreading the benefits of the partnerships, and calls for a more rigorous assessment of the impact of the partnerships on pupils’ progress.
Approaches to assessment would benefit from being shared among schools in partnerships, and parents could play a greater role in promoting awareness of the way in which schools are working together, it adds.
