Remodelling promotes and is underpinned by the development of constructive communication and working practices between schools, their stakeholders and partner organisations.
Schools are learners as well as leaders in education. While their change priorities, strategies and solutions vary, they are finding great value in collaborating and sharing experiences, ideas and solutions with their staff and with agencies and other schools and organisations – local and nationally.
Collaboration can take many forms – as with all aspects of remodelling, 'no one size fits all'. Active collaboration between schools can range from relatively informal arrangements where resources, knowledge and experiences are shared, to semi-formal networks of schools or full federations.
Whatever form it takes, it is important that some degree of collaborative approach is considered during each stage of every significant change project. This should, when appropriate and useful, include working with agencies and other organisations from outside the education sector.
Collaborating schools should also ensure a defined, proactive and effective process for ensuring that their stakeholders remain involved and updated on progress of the change agenda.
With the advent of the extended school agenda, more and more schools are seizing on the opportunity to collaborate not only with other schools, but also with other organisations, individuals and agencies – tapping into the richness of resources that exist in local communities.
For example, many schools already work collaboratively with social and health services, the police, voluntary organisations and parents. Numerous schools also work with a 'critical friend' (an external mentor with experience of remodelling).
Whatever its form, active and constructive collaboration is helping schools and agencies meet numerous and varied challenges and embed a culture of openness to positive change – including meeting the requirements of the national agreement and the demands of the extended schools agenda.
