Westoning Lower School have published statutory proposals about joining the Trust. Their consulation period is open from 11 January 2010 to 8 February 2010.A copy of these proposals can be obtained from The Chair of Governors, Westoning Lower School, High Street, Westoning MK45 5JH.
The Harlington Area Schools Trust (HAST) was formed on 1 September 2008 and marked an important milestone in the history of collaborative education in mid-Bedfordshire. The initial Trust membership is made up of Harlington Upper School. Arnold Middle School, Parkfields Middle School, Sundon Lower School and Toddington St George VC Lower School, with two other lower schools actively working towards joining.
The vision
We share a vision of providing a seamless education, offering the 4 -19 experience that allows pupils to reach their potential when they are ready. No one school can do this in isolation; we all serve the same rural community and work with the same students and their families. We therefore believe it is important to secure a trust-wide strategic intent and to ensure that our plans are sustainable, regardless of what the future may bring to individual schools.
Partners
Our Trust partners include our local FE College, Business Partnership, a local university and a multi-school trust in the independent sector. The partners bring expertise, guidance and support to all areas of the work of HAST.
Recent success
We have already seen significant benefits which include:
Outstanding transition between phases (lower to middle and then middle to upper)
Shared teaching appointments between schools, allowing pupils in different schools to benefit from the skills and experience of the very best teachers
More effective use of premises to support smaller schools with drama and music events
Mixed age, cross-phase environmental projects linked with the local community
An accelerated two-year key stage 3 for almost all pupils
Increased flexibility for 13-19 year-olds, with more personalised curriculum and assessment routes
The future
Opportunities now exist in every area for us to achieve excellence through collaboration. However, to give us an initial focus we have chosen three iconic projects that indicate the potential and ambition of the Harlington Area Schools Trust.
1. Shared services – Leadership, staff and resources can be shared across schools and deployed throughout the Trust. Economics of scale will also be realised through collaboration.
2. Trust families – The aim of this project is to provide the infrastructure in all Trust schools to support a one-stop coherent student support service (SEN, family working, multi-agency working, behaviour support, counselling services, monitoring and intervention for underachieving students) across all Trust schools and the local community.
3. Trust learning – The aim is to explore and implement a coherent cross-phase approach to pedagogy. The use of Student Voice, Advanced Skills Teachers and Lead Teachers throughout the Trust is an important element of this project. Staff in all phases will work together with students to identify what works well in our schools and then secure consistency of practice.
Autumn 2009 newsletter
RESPECT project - Extended Schools