Setting up school partnerships: some insights from Birmingham's Collegiate Academies

This article explores the key issues or dilemmas secondary schools face when considering collaborating to form a school partnership, in particular a Collegiate Academy. The methodology is an evaluation based on interviews with 15 headteachers and other key staff from three Collegiate Academies in Birmingham during the autumn of 2005. Seven key issues are identified – size, coordination, focus, needs, success, funding and dissemination – that schools need to work through and resolve if their partnership is to be successful. An analysis of the interconnections among the seven issues shows three underlying themes: the first relates to the organisation of the Collegiate Academies; the second concerns the work of the collegiate-based Advanced Skills Teachers; and the third encompasses sustainability and securing the long-term future of the Collegiate Academies. School partnerships are increasingly seen by government as the key to school improvement and so the findings from this preliminary study have potential benefits, particularly in the initial phase of setting up such partnerships.