About

The Kirkby Collaborative of Schools is located in Kirkby, Merseyside.

The Kirkby Collaborative of Schools has been in existence in various forms for over twenty years and school improvement has always been at its heart. The Collaborative was in an excellent position to fully grasp the opportunities for its further development that were made available through the 2010 White Paper and the school led self improving schools system. Also at this time Knowsley repositioned itself as a commissioning authority, and reduced its role as a direct provider of school improvement services.

The result is that the Collaborative has been the key provider of school improvement opportunities in Kirkby for thirteen  years. The Kirkby Collaborative of Schools offers a complex and continually developing model for school improvement, including an extensive range of commissioned services and training, coordinated and managed centrally, with decision making by all stakeholder schools.

The Collaborative structures this support within a core and universal subscription offer.

The two secondary schools work closely together and have a comprehensive transition programme with the twelve primary schools.

All Kirkby schools are fully engaged in the Collaborative at primary and secondary level with full attendance at all ten monthly Headteacher Collaborative meetings and the annual Headteacher conference.  This enables a holistic approach to meeting the needs of all children in Kirkby.

• Collaborative Aims
  • To work together as a family of schools for the community of Kirkby.
  • To further develop our 21st century learning community by working together to secure high quality teaching, effective use of resources and the highest standards of learning and achievement for all children in Kirkby.
  • To improve opportunities for our learners and their right to have a world class curriculum.
  • To contribute to the outcome of the most up to date Knowsley Education Improvement Strategy.
  • To develop effective programmes and partnerships that will enhance the learning opportunities within the Collaborative.
  • To conduct evaluation and challenge based on trust and reciprocity.
  • To contribute to the professional development of all staff and disseminate good practice across the Kirkby family of schools.
  • To develop effective communication and consultation between member schools.
  • To develop effective working relationships with all stakeholders within and beyond the Collaborative.
  • To work collaboratively in addressing local and national priorities.
  • To support the well being of all staff, pupils, parents and Governors in the Collaborative.
• Leadership and management
  • Headteacher briefings  (School Improvement Liverpool)
  • Primary Subject Leadership Programme and additional CPD Events – English, Maths, Science, Whole school curriculum leads, Art, DT, History, Geography, PSHE, Computing, MFL, SEND, EYFS – also includes attendance by secondary subject leads to support transition and curriculum development (School Improvement Liverpool)
  • Maths subject Leader meetings with Knowsley Central Collaborative  colleagues (Northwest Maths Hub 3)
  • Deputy Headteacher Network
  • Business Managers  network
  • Monthly Headteacher  Network meeting
  • Leadership Residential Conference for Headteachers
  • Leadership accountability (via Pathways to Success Advisers; Challenge Partners; Archdiocese  SIP programme; School Improvement Liverpool and other external partners)
  • Pathways to Success – Knowsley LA – Sharing learning and successful approaches to school improvement
  • All schools participate in the Knowsley school self evaluation framework
• Quality of teaching, learning and assessment
  • Development of a Kirkby Collaborative Charter for Learning ( following work with Rob Carpenter – Inspire Partnership)
  • Development of a  Kirkby Curriculum ( following work with Rob Carpenter- Inspire Partnership, and consultancy work with School Improvement Liverpool and ECM Education)
  • Four Collaborative cluster groups – our Collaborative tripods – with focus areas including moderation and curriculum development and innovation
  • Year 5 to 8 Maths Continuity Programme ( Northwest Maths Hub 3)
  • Kirkby Power of Reading project – building on the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education training programme that has taken place with three cohorts of over 150 teachers from across the Collaborative and also  3 Knowsley schools and 3 Rowan Trust schools
  • Phonics support programme – with Literacy Counts and Central Area Collaborative
• Personal development, behaviour and welfare
  •  The Kirkby Child concept is implemented across the whole family of schools
  • Kirkby Schools Council – focus area for 2023-24 is attendance
  • Young Edge Hill Scholars programme – involving all 14 schools (Edge Hill University )
  • Annual Celebration of Achievement event
  • Annual Attendance conference for Learning mentors – with support from Knowsley LA
  • Kirkby Attendance Strategy  – including Collaborative targets, shared data, weekly focus
  • Learning Mentor and Attendance Officer network
  • Team Teach training programme (Randstad)
• Safeguarding
  • Annual safeguarding conference – annual briefing for Heads and Governors; safeguarding lead refresher training (School Improvement Liverpool)
  • Annual programme of first aid, food safety and administration of medicines training ( Eduk8 Partnership)
  • Safeguarding procedures for Business Managers (with School Improvement Liverpool)
  • Bespoke Health and Safety Training
• Outcomes for pupils
  • Development of mastery and greater depth across the curriculum
  • Art In Education and art in the community annual  programme – partnership with Kirkby Gallery
  • Speech and language development – A Chance to Talk in Kirkby programme (Fulltime Speech and Language therapist from Chatty Therapy Ltd, ICan Talk Boost intervention, whole school approaches to developing communication rich communities )
  • Voice21 project (supported by Knowsley LA )
• Teaching Assistants
  • Teaching assistant training – Quality First Teaching of Phonics – Literacy Counts
  • Schools are participating in the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) programme (supported by KnowsleyFirst Teaching school )
• Bespoke support for individual schools
  • If the need arises we will broker school to school support or a bespoke programme for key elements for improvement.
• Other areas
  • All 14 schools are Friends of the Kirkby Gallery
  • Collaborative hub for ITT students and other programmes from Edge Hill University
  • Community programmes with Knowsley Foodbank, Kirkby Town Centre and Kirkby Festival
  • Common date for INSET day in October providing opportunity for shared professional development and training
• Collaborative communication
  • Website  (ParentApps) and Twitter, with access to school improvement training, calendar  and resources