Trust-wide collaboration: overview

Chris Kirk, director of CJK Associates, gives us a rundown on collaboration models and how to make them work for your trust.

Last reviewed on 24 February 2022
School types: AllSchool phases: AllRef: 44194
Contents
  1. Reasons to collaborate
  2. Models of school-to-school support
  3. Subject and other peer networks
  4. Research visits and reviews
  5. Syllabus, curriculum or assessment alignment
  6. Aligned timetabling
  7. Use of technology
  8. How to make collaboration work in your trust

We wrote this article with help from Chris Kirk, a consultant who works with trusts. 

Reasons to collaborate

The reasons below won't all be new to you, but it's worth pointing them out. Use them to get buy-in from your staff to set up collaborations across your trust.  

Make use of the best expertise across your trust. With a wider pool of staff you can take advantage of the most experienced and skilled. For example: Inspiration Trust told us that a school or individual often volunteers to run a session in an area of strong practice which the trust then shares widely across other schools   Manage and reduce workload by sourcing strategies and resources collectively. For example: Compass Partnerships Trust told us that during the COVID-19 lockdown, all year 1 teachers collaborated to create online resources that the trust disseminated to all year 1 pupils Increase your capacity to make research and evidence-based changes. Create working