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Chain reactions: a thinkpiece on the development of chains of schools in the English school system

Author: Robert Hill
Subject: School-to-school support
Audience: Headteachers, Middle leaders and aspiring headteachers, Governors
Date of publication: February 2010   |   File format and size: PDF, 560 Kb

An in-depth study by leading educational policy analyst, Robert Hill, examining the impact of chains of schools on the English school system and how they are developing a new and able generation of school leaders and significant improvements.

Robert Hill explains how the chains agenda in the secondary sector has grown out of:

  • school-to-school improvement initiatives, including the NLE programme, that have paired high-performing schools with those that are struggling or underperforming
  • the growth of groups of academies sharing the same sponsor

The research is then presented under the following broader headings:

  • what is a chain?
  • the benefits and potential of chains
  • issues and challenges for chains
  • what does the agenda mean for primary schools?
  • how performance federations help weak schools to improve

This publication will be of value to leaders of schools, academies and colleges as they reflect on the challenges facing schools and the growing role that chains of schools look set to play as the accreditation of school providers and groups develops.