School partnerships to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence
Introduction
From September 2007 ministers in the Department of Children, Schools and
Families (DCSF) expect all secondary schools, including special schools, pupil
referral units, academies, and city technology colleges (CTCs), to work in
partnership to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence.
Ruth Kelly, as Secretary of State for Education, first
announced this expectation in November 2004. Following that, a number of
practitioners, the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit and Departmental
officials drew up the design principles and outcomes that would be the
foundation of a partnership focussing on behaviour and attendance. These were
announced by Jacqui Smith MP in 2005.
After this announcement, a varied range of 37 pathfinders across the country
developed or extended partnerships based on these principles. In 2007, Jim
Knight in a letter to local authorities and academy principals reaffirmed the
Government's commitment and highlighted drivers for schools to work in
partnership along with early successes achieved by the pathfinder partnerships
and others.
"It's hard to see how the social inclusion agenda for children and
young people could be delivered effectively without a strong partnership
between all agencies, including schools."
Partnership coordinator, Wolverhampton City
Council
Schools and other agencies have always worked together to improve outcomes for
children and young people. Focused and good quality collaboration between
schools, FE colleges and other educational providers, along with other
statutory and voluntary sector organisations, has proved an extremely effective
way to improve the delivery of services and raise standards of education.
Children and young people get greater access to a larger range of
opportunities; education and care can be delivered in new and effective ways.
In particular, school partnerships have proved to be an extremely useful tool
to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence.
Workshops
As a result of the regional workshops we held earlier this year on
school partnerships, targeted youth support and extended schools, the
DCSF has produced a Note of the Workshop outlining the key issues which were
raised.
Letters from ministers
-
November 2004 letter from Ruth Kelly outlining ministers' expectation that secondary schools should work in partnership to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence
-
July 2005 letter from Jacqui Smith outlining the design principles and outcomes
-
January 2007 letter from Jim Knight reaffirming the Government's commitment to schools working in partnership to improve behaviour and tackle persistent absence
Case study
Partnerships in Wolverhampton
"A range of partnerships, from shared budget arrangements in the
school improvement partnership to area SEN and social inclusion panels, to
alternative provision panels and managed admissions and transfers have provided
a coordinated, holistic and effective approach for our young people. By
building on existing partnership structures, by involving a range of staff from
different professional background and by ensuring schools are full
partners in the entire process we are able to deliver consistently low numbers
of permanent exclusions and a steady improvement in secondary school
attendance"
Related links
Guidance for school partnerships to
improve behaviour and persistent absence
Education improvement partnerships
Education improvement partnerships — the partnership
dividend
Last updated: 22 September 2008
