The
collaboration within NBF ‘is
an example of senior leadership collaboration between the leadership figures of
different schools’, in this case it would be deemed a success. By sharing
ideas and expertise the federation are saving money yet still maintaining
standards. I can’t really make a statement like that without providing real
evidence.
North Bedfordshire Schools Trust is developing
an approach that will lead to greater efficiency, maintenance of high quality,
and potentially cost savings for all 19 schools in the trust (The Schools Network,
n.d.). The update identifies a number of initiatives that have
come about as the result of collaboration within the schools. The sharing of
ICT expertise has meant that the smaller schools have benefited, although
they cannot afford dedicated IT staff one school is managing another schools
network remotely. This clearly has
wider implications and could prove to be a means of income generation. Another
aspect that makes sense is the pooling of TAs, again sharing resources across the
federation.
Finally it
is acknowledged that there is a change of mindset going on here, with schools now looking at the services as their ‘own’,
interesting times ahead with the focus on ICT and bursary services. No doubt
the bigger schools offering the services for the smaller schools to save money,
but are the smaller schools missing an opportunity? Why is it not the other way
around?
But what is
true collaboration? I don’t think I can find a better example than this light
hearted incident that occurs in a men’s
toilet. I hope you don’t mind but this really sums it up. Not Going Out & The Sketch Show -
Lee Mack Urinal Sketch with Tim Vine & Jim Tavaré (Feb 5, 2011)
References
The Schools Network
(n.d.) How a 19-school trust seeks to
gain the full benefits of teamwork [Online] https://www.ssatrust.org.uk/innovation/trustschools/Pages/NorthBedfordshireSchoolsTrust.aspx
(Accessed 29 March 2012).
Not Going Out & The Sketch Show - Lee Mack Urinal Sketch
with Tim Vine & Jim Tavaré (Feb 5, 2011) YouTube video, added by WampitWeb
[online], http://youtu.be/qJmgLqQ-uog
(Accessed 29 March 2012).
