Wood View Learning Community: co-location making a difference

Case study

Combining three schools and a host of other community services on one campus has allowed the Wood View Learning Community to create a unique learning experience. The new buildings have shared spaces where staff and students of all ages can interact and help the many different areas of the community to work towards a single vision.

Key facts

Type of school: primary, secondary, special and pupil referral unit (PRU)
Number on roll: 1,200 combined
Age range: 0–19
Cost of development: £37 million
Date completed: December 2008

Background

Situated in a neighbourhood that has many significant social challenges, Wood View Learning Community brings together a secondary, a special and a primary school on the same campus along with a number of other services for the local community. Although each school has its own headteacher, there is a single governing body and a director of campus, John Butcher, who ensures an effective partnership between the individual schools, and chairs a joint management committee. The new build allowed a unifying vision to be developed across the whole campus, and with the enthusiastic support of the local authority, there is a genuine sense of integrated services for the whole community, focused on life-long learning and increasing opportunities.

Vision

The schools have all subscribed to the establishment of an inclusive environment that provides opportunities for life-long learning and participation. There is a belief that the building is for the whole community, and not just the 0–19 age range. It is a real community hub, with a wide range of services being provided on the campus – a children’s centre, nursery education, youth facilities, a PRU for young parents, a residential short-break service and a forest school, with further services planned. As with all innovative partnerships, it is acknowledged that the vision needs to be flexible enough to allow constant refinement of practice.

Stakeholders

The local authority was a key stakeholder from the outset, as explained in the video by a senior officer. Staff from all the schools have been involved in negotiations about the nature and operation of the campus, and this is helping to reduce transition problems. Under a growing localities agenda, there are many partners around the school including health professions, the police, third-sector organisations and social care services. Adult education, integrated youth support services (IYSS) and a local university all play their part as stakeholders at the school. Members of the wider community are also engaged through neighbourhood forums.

Consultation

Such significant change as this can only happen when the local authority takes a strong position, and much of the early consultation happened within the chief executive’s department in the city council. Early work was difficult because the natural position was for each partner to focus on its own area rather than considering how shared resources and spaces could bring greater opportunities. Original discussions with the three separate governing bodies also presented a significant challenge, but with the support of the wider group of stakeholders, a positive and beneficial partnership has now been established.

Transformational change

The economies of scale from having an overview of the whole campus have allowed investment in improved multi-agency working, and this allows young people to have individual learning pathways that better meet their needs as well as contributing to them achieving more. There is better family engagement because the schools all share a single vision, and the appointment of joint posts – both education and multi-agency based – has improved campus co-ordination as well as improving efficiency. There are shared spaces in the new buildings, most notably in the dining halls where young people from each school come together at lunchtime. New models of leadership, especially the director of campus role, have provided many advantages, and these are highlighted by senior figures from the schools in the video. This new leadership structure allows creative capacity for organic change and the opportunity to create a residential short-break service is an excellent example of this.

Lessons learned

The involvement of the local authority is vital if major structural change is to take place across more than a single institution, and getting the governance and leadership model worked out as soon as possible is essential. Reinforcing the message ‘give for the common good’ has to be repeated often, and never forget that major change takes a very long time. Prepare to be patient when new models such as this don’t fit the standard system – the campus had four separate Ofsted inspections in a five-week period, but none looked at the organisation as a whole.

Impact

Students are much more motivated, have a greater awareness of life-long learning and respect for diversity. Standards of attainment are rising and behaviour has improved, whilst vandalism on the site has almost been eliminated. Recruiting to the school is much easier as it is a campus where people like to work. Collective planning has enabled leadership skills to be shared widely, and all staff are more aware of the challenges of a 0–19 learning process.

Next steps

Develop a post-16 facility on the site.
Review how other providers work on the site and how they can be linked to the wider campus leadership team.
Develop more cross-phase work.
Review the governance of the campus.
Continue to work with the local authority on the development of a locality service base.