Milburn school: innovation and partnership working

Case study

Summary

Led by a headteacher with a unique style, this school has become a laboratory for developing new approaches to teaching and learning, with external partners gladly adding value to their efforts.

Key learning/outcomes

The school successfully balances the competing pressures of maintenance and development. Through parallel management structures and processes they retain capacity for innovation and ensure that day-to-day work gets done efficiently.
The role of the headteacher in promoting the school’s well-articulated values and creating space for experimentation appears to be of considerable importance.
Examination results are said to be low by the standards of the local authority. However, the impact of what has happened in the school can be described in terms of the extent of the innovations that have taken place.
Independence and autonomy amongst the student group has been encouraged by an accessible and informal staff-student relationship.
Information technology is a key innovation here. Unlike partner schools, Milburn uses emails to reach students as well as staff.
The school has pioneered the idea of sixth form students following Open University degree modules. Members of staff – including technicians – also enrol. This has had a positive impact on the attitudes to learning amongst students, particularly in science.

Background

This 13-18 school serves a population of approximately 900 young people, the majority of whom come from local public housing estates. It competes (and collaborates) with two other high schools in the town that are relatively advantaged. The school is under-subscribed and, as a result, takes students excluded from other local schools. The local community is described as having, in general, low aspirations.

The current headteacher joined the school 14 years ago, and does not recall any particular difficulties at that time. He is keen to explore ways of working that will challenge the status quo within the English education service. The school brochure makes very little reference to improvements in test and examination results, rather it emphasises the school’s inclusiveness and the involvement of its many external partners, including the Open University, Microsoft, the FA football academy and various partnerships with other schools in the local district.

Key challenges and issues

Much of the building looks tired and dated. The ‘pyramid’, a high-tech central work area, is one of the few improvements to accommodation.
Milburn are under pressure to address new requirements whilst continuing to respond effectively to current issues.
The unconventional leadership is not embraced by all staff and leaves a few frustrated at what they see as lack of action. The head tends not to ‘attack’ problems directly. There are also some staff who question whether the informal staff-student working practice has gone too far.

Solution or approach

The headteacher often works from communal student areas, and is seen to take a very active role, particularly in relation to pastoral matters.
He is mainly preoccupied with taking the school forward, looking to outside partners to add to his available resources. The deputy head focuses on establishing firm and consistent arrangements to ensure that the school goes about its day-to-day business efficiently. The organisation arrangements seem to mirror this division.
Maintenance is carried out through a series of formal structures, the most important of which is the school leadership team (SLT). This involves the head, deputy head, four assistant heads and two temporary assistant heads. There is then a senior management team (SMT), two heads of department groups, a learning and teaching group, and an information and advice group. All these groups report to the SLT and are linked by a complex web of overlapping membership.
There are many temporary structures that work on development agendas; small groups, open to anyone that takes an interest, are set up to address particular issues.
The trust board - alongside the usual governing body - seems to formalise the parallel arrangements for maintenance and development. The governors are concerned with the usual aspects of school policy and the trust looks at areas of creativity and innovation. It could be argued that the school had established a form of trust well before government policy created this as a formal arrangement.
The approach to accountability at Milburn relies on a collective commitment to a set of values rather than relentless record keeping. Outstanding teachers are used as models of good practice.

Next steps

Negotiations are ongoing with a research-intensive university that is prepared to recognise the value of the Open University degree modules undertake by sixth form students. The school is also supporting other schools and colleges nationally following a similar pathway.