Networking for whole-school improvement - case study

Network context

The Leading into Learning network was set up in 2003, initially involving nine of the borough’s secondary schools. Today there are 13 schools involved — a further four joined in autumn 2006. Of the four new additions, two are special schools, one is an Islamic girls’ school and one is a pupil referral unit. The number of students covered by the network is now 10,000. Approximately 25% of the students come from an ethnic minority background. Around 4% of the students are statemented.

The network schools serve a deprived urban area that has had a lot of problems in the past. When the local authority of Blackburn with Darwen was formed in 1998, 10 of its schools were either in special measures or had serious weaknesses. The new authority had to be proactive in turning this situation around. The department that is now Children’s Services actively supports the network’s aspirations and is a regular contributor to meetings. Its consultants often act as facilitators for the different groups that run network activities.

Challenges and successes

Communication

Although we are in a relatively small geographical area, there are so many people active in the network that it became difficult to keep everyone up to speed with developments. In 2004, Jenny England was taken on as Communications Officer.  Her role was to make contact with network members, spread good practice and collaborative working, and to raise the profile of the network within its membership and with external agencies. She led two big innovations:

• The website: to begin with it was designed to be a ‘static’ information base or signposting point.  Since then it has evolved into a constantly updated source of contacts, meeting times, venues, dates and resources, to be shared with everyone (often created by the groups themselves).  All groups have their own space and much of the basic information is added centrally, such as the network’s mission statement and the annual calendar of meetings and events — see: www.leadingintolearning.org.uk
• The newsletter: this comes out once each term and highlights the latest network developments and benefits.

As well as news and updates from the different groups, we have interviews with key people, comments from students and chances to see examples of students’ work. If you would like to subscribe to the newsletter, details are at the end of this article.

Key advice: using face-to-face meetings and workshops, the website and hard copy media offers ways of communicating the work to different staff at all levels, no matter what their preferred medium is. This helps everyone to understand and appreciate the benefits of being in the network.

Knowing who to talk to

Knowing who to discuss potential leadership with was a constant conundrum. The senior leaders who belonged to the steering group have been an invaluable source of support and advice. They act as network champions in their own schools and are key to finding new group leaders. The network needs a constant supply of enthusiasts who will take the network forward and the senior leaders offer longer term support to the people who take on leadership roles. Few of the network’s excellent group leaders volunteered for the job; almost all were proposed by others.
Key advice: every school has a named member of support staff who handles all the network’s communication (meetings included in weekly school bulletins and staff notes, distribution to pigeonholes and in-trays, staff lists, posters, and so on).

Levels of participation

Managing different levels of participation is much easier once you become familiar with what is going on in each school.

Even where individuals’ enthusiasm is constant, circumstances can get in the way of active participation. One network school went through a very traumatic inspection and was placed in special measures. Although they wanted to continue with the network, they had to give their own school and its students top priority for at least a year. They kept in touch with the network and they did what they could in the hope of being fully active again soon.

Working principles

• The NLC is an inclusive community, so all staff and pupils are given the opportunity to participate in collaborative activity.
• Professionals learn and work together on behalf of others. Staff are open and honest, are realistic and share difficulties. They give and take and do not judge each other.
• Leadership in the NLC is shared, non-hierarchical and distributed widely. Leaders use different skills and approaches and are seen as learners who are passionate about their work.
• Knowledge, resources and facilities are shared readily because this leads to benefits for all pupils. People should receive proper acknowledgement of what they give. Those receiving should seek to offer constructive feedback. There is an expectation that all members of the NLC will both give and receive over time.
• All groups and communities seek to actively communicate their work within schools and across the NLC. This includes both names of participants and the outcomes of their work. They also encourage and facilitate informal communication between members.
• The local authority seeks to support the work of NLC with encouragement, facilitation, guidance and feedback. Along with schools, it invests financially in the partnership.
• When setting working agendas, all groups and communities will take into account the requirements of the schools’ strategic leadership, the views of the group members, and the direction indicated by pupil voice and the more general staff voice.
• Each community and group should have clear terms of reference and protocols for the way they work.

Steering Group vision statement, summer 2006