Both schools will benefit from the collaboration in different ways and we hope that as we continue in the future more and more advantages will become apparent.
The advantages to both schools will be as follows:
· To allow opportunities for all the children to develop their social skills by finding ways of working together across age groups/whole school/both schools;
· To enable cross site collaboration of facilities so that the wonderful facilities of both schools can be used to the advantage of all the children;
· To allow the strengths of both sets of staff to the used for the benefit of all the children, and the staff;
· To provide opportunities to share costs e.g. trips, activities, resources etc.
Specifically relating to Edale, we see many advantages to this collaboration, in addition to the fact that it allows us to finally look with positivity and confidence to the future. Both schools will benefit from the expertise of Miss Sam Fisher, Hope’s experienced and dynamic current head, as Executive Headteacher. She will provide support and guidance for Mrs Sally Winfield, currently a senior teacher at Hope, who will become Edale’s Head of School and the first port of call for any parent or staff concerns at Edale. Mrs Winfield has recently completed additional training in order to be able to take on the leadership of a school. She will be a visible presence here every day and is looking forward to building a strong relationship with staff, children and parents. This means Edale will benefit from having its own dedicated Head of School in Mrs Winfield, with support and oversight from Miss Fisher who will primarily be based in Hope. We have been impressed by the enthusiasm and energy both Miss Fisher and Mrs Winfield have put into developing this collaboration so far. We are excited about how this enthusiasm will filter down to all levels at the school.
From September, Hope School will be offering daily breakfast clubs from 07:45 and afterschool clubs until 5pm. These will be open to Edale children and we hope to develop the clubs using Edale’s strengths, such as Edale Island, in the future. Due to the collaboration we have no plans to open a pre-school In Edale at present.