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Leading Edge Partnership
As the lead school within our Leading Edge Partnership we have pioneered developments in the following three areas: new technologies, 14-19 and learner voice. We have recently negotiated a new action plan with our partners: Cirencester Kingshill School, Central Technology College and Brockworth Business and Enterprise College. This focuses on ?? and we plan to contribute to The Achievement Show in London this summer.
We have created an ICT research and development team and responding initially to our own needs we have developed Reports Manager an information system designed by teachers for teachers. This open code/source software has been shared with other schools and has subsequently been developed to incorporate ‘best practice’ and ensure ‘fitness for purpose’.
Following our achievement of the Applied Learning specialism, we have transferred our commitment to the 14-19 agenda from Leading Edge to our involvement in ‘The South Cotswold Partnership’.
Enhancing ‘pupil voice’ remains a core strand within our Leading Edge Partnership. This has become embedded within the culture of the school. Pupils contribute to our development and participate, not only in the school council, but also in our anti-bullying, sustainable schools and Comenius teams and youth and community projects. Pupils have contributed significantly to our Premises Development Plan and ‘building learning power’. We have a team of trained ‘learning consultants’ who work with faculty staff and apply the principles of Guy Claxton’s work and the Personal Learning and Thinking Skills (PLTs) in the new National Curriculum framework to encourage their peers to reflect on their own learning and model effective practice.
Our team of Innovation Co-ordinators work across the partnership with the pupil learning consultants in each school and pioneer new learning and teaching strategies which are subsequently shared through our collaborative on-line INOV8 toolkit.
As a Leading Edge Partnership we are committed to:
- Creating and sustaining an explicit climate of experimentation and innovation
- Going beyond ‘show and tell’ to the level of 'validate, demonstrate and transfer'
- Learning what will transfer, how and why, and develop the skills of doing so
- Ensuring all work ultimately impacts significantly at the pupil level
In essence, as contributors to the LEPP, we all need to be able to identify and spread what is confidently believed by all involved, to be the ‘best’ and ‘next’ practice. Going beyond the traditional practice of 'show and tell' is the first step in the process of transformation. LEPP seeks to encourage teachers and school leaders to reflect on what they are doing and how they can proactively contribute to one or more of the eight new 'National Programmes'.
For too long the best practice has been locked in the classrooms of individuals or, at best, within some schools. If we are to transform the way we educate and maximise the potential of every child it is essential that the mechanisms are put in place to find, quality assure and transfer practice.
If LEPP is about true partnership then innovative activities, exam performance and capacity to transform must develop partnership wide. Similarly rigorous evaluations of partnership initiatives must take place to ensure that resources are being effectively deployed and are impacting at the pupil level across the partnership.
For more information about Leading Edge Partnerships follow this link: http://www.ledge.org.uk/
