Talking heads: why we decided to become a co-operative school

Speaking heads: becoming a co-operative college fitted in with the schools vision for developing college students into global citizens, says Julie Wilson. Photograph: Julie Wilson

What was your biggest challenge when you took on the position of head at Northfleet school for Ladies?

Right after a long occupation functioning in mixed comprehensives, I moved to Northfleet college for Girls (my initial headship). It was about to be rebuilt below the Developing Colleges for the Future (BSF) programme, so I spent the first many years functioning on preparing for the rebuild. Of program this was extremely time consuming with so many main priorities and decisions that had to be produced continually. I enjoyed it, but felt it detracted at occasions from the day-to-day company of the school – so it was really a relief when the new creating was finished in 2009. But BSF was about significantly much more than new buildings. It was about true vision for transforming understanding and reconsidering training in a a lot wider sense.

What influence did BSF have on you and your college?

BSF took up a good deal of time in sensible terms, but it was also a genuine driver to taking into consideration appropriately what we had been about as a college. I have been really interested in operating with the regional, national and global neighborhood and in my preceding school had worked with a group then known as Imaginative Partnerships which really inspired me. Its technique was to make teaching and finding out prepared for the 21st century and brought creative workers such as artists, architects and scientists into schools to operate with teachers to inspire young individuals and support them find out.

This linked in effectively to the RSA method of inquiry-based mostly understanding. With Inventive Partnerships we acquired involved in a three 12 months undertaking named Change Schools the place college students and employees worked collaboratively on new visions for educating and learning which moved away from just ‘delivering’ lessons to using our open program studying surroundings truly creatively.

You are now a Co-operative Believe in school, what does that imply?

It implies we are sharing the values of the co-operative society, this kind of as democracy, equality and caring for others. Clearly these are values that most colleges subscribe to and couple of would argue with but producing them obvious does in fact make a genuine distinction. There are much more than 200 co-operative colleges in the United kingdom (and a enormous network in other countries) some like ours are co-operative trusts and other folks are co-operative academies. The co-operative schools motion is massive in the north and the south west but it really is developing in the south east.

What was the mechanism for turning out to be a co-operative college?

Initial we had to turn out to be a basis college so we could stand independently. Our funding stays the same from the local authority but the land transfers to the college and the trustees. After consulting widely, we now have co-operative trust standing. Element of becoming a co-operative college is doing work closely with the community and setting up a forum where all stakeholders have a say including workers, college students, parents and members of the local community. This is in addition to governors – and there are governors who are trustees and trustees that are governors.

Why did you decide to turn into a co-operative school?

I had go through a good deal about the co-operative schools motion and imagined it sounded truly intriguing. The governors and I looked at what it would mean and we felt turning into a co-operative college fitted in with our vision for the college as becoming a location in which the improvement of youthful individuals into lively worldwide citizens was at the core of our philosophy.

The entire process took a couple of many years and we moved at the point when the Labour government was actively supporting this – but more and more the recent government is exploring and supporting the ways colleges can function collaboratively as local authorities shed funding and staff. There are more than 600 co-operative colleges in the United kingdom with much more joining virtually daily. I absolutely come to feel the power in numbers and getting component of a motion is really fascinating and supportive. It truly is very difficult for any school to perform on their personal now.

How critical are the college students in a co-operative school?

Pupil voice is a essential characteristic. College students are fully concerned in what we want the college to be like and how we ought to move forwards. One of my sixth formers is getting to be a trustee and governor. Our students are creating a brief film to describe what a co-operative school seems like to the wider local community and how it differs from an academy and the place the school is going.

How important is the nationwide and international dimension of currently being a co-operative college?

I’ve constantly believed it was essential that young folks have their eyes open to what goes on in the planet. We are element of a large network of ethical companies, organisations and colleges across the globe who have signed up to the same ideas of democracy and fairness. Our strapline as a school is: “always learning, studying all methods” so a huge part of our remit is discovering partners locally, nationally and globally to reinforce this. By pulling in the correct kind of partners we’ve been capable to make such a distinction in our college.

Our trustees contain Age Uk, University of the Initial Age, University of Greenwich and we have recently taken on Ground Works Trust – we also have our personal orchard and are expanding our own foods aided by and offered to the local community.

Would you advise other heads to think about becoming a co-operative school?

Yes, it is a genuinely viable substitute to turning into component of a chain which probably isn’t what you have picked. I would say undoubtedly do your background study. Any heads are welcome to get in touch with me and talk about our journey to this point. The Colleges Co-operative Society was quite supportive on the work that demands to be carried out relating to governors and the community, which enabled me to work on developing visions for the college.

Julie Wilson is head of Northfleet college for women in Kent. Uncover out far more about the co-operative colleges at the Colleges Co-operative Society website. Julie is part of a group in London and the south-east area (LASER) co-operative colleges network.

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Talking heads: why we decided to become a co-operative school