Published: 08 October 2007
School Linking and Community Cohesion
A new project that helps schools link up, giving pupils the opportunity to meet and learn from other young people from different backgrounds, has been launched by Schools Minister, Jim Knight.
The Schools Linking Network (SLN) is a new agency that will support schools and local authorities develop linking partnerships between schools, one way they can fulfil this new law.
Paid for by £3million Government funding, the SLN will:
· promote and run a website for schools to find partners online. The website will include training & materials and other useful resources for teachers looking to set up linking projects
· work with local authorities, initially in three pilot areas, to set up and run school linking projects, and
· provide support, guidance & training for teachers and Local Authorities on school linking
Set up in Bradford in 2002 the Schools Linking Project developed a highly successful school linking model, which was extended to schools in Tower Hamlets in 2006.
From this September, the project is being rolled out to schools in three further local authorities and the £3m cash boost from Government will ensure the continued roll out of the programme to other parts of the country over the next three years.
Thanks to an additional £1m funding from the Pears Foundation, schools not initially covered by the pilot projects will be able to contact the SLN for advice about school linking.
All schools now have a duty to promote community cohesion.
The Education and Inspections Act 2006 placed a new duty on the governing body of schools in England to promote community cohesion. The duty came into effect from 1 September 2007.
Ofsted will report on the contribution made by the school to community cohesion from September 2008, to give schools time to embed the duty within their institution.
Schools Minister Jim Knight, said:
"Schools have always had leading role to play in their local areas -developing a sense of shared values and understanding across their curriculum, ethos and engagement with parents and wider community. The new duty to promote community cohesion recognises the importance we place on this.
All schools and teachers should be considering what more they should be doing to promote tolerance and harmony, so they become real dynamos of change within their communities inside and outside the school gates. School linking is one way of achieving that.
This new programme, back up by Government funding, offers schools a one stop shop where they can go to get advice and potential partners to set up linking partnerships of their own."
Sir Keith Ajegbo, whose report on 'Diversity and Citizenship' recommended linking partnerships for schools, said:
"School linking provides the potential for young people to gain a deeper understanding of what it is like to come from a different background and a different circumstance.
The new Schools Linking project will support schools in developing meaningful linking projects of their own, helping schools fulfil the new duty to promote community cohesion."
School linking can be done in different ways between different types of school, either within the same area, from other parts of the UK, or even from abroad.
It often means schools meeting face to face or using technology such as e-mail, the internet or videoconferencing to build relationships and work together on joint projects.
The best examples of school linking are built into existing schemes of work and grounded in the curriculum.
The new Government funding will also pay for the development and roll out of 'Who Do We Think We Are' week, a further recommendation from Sir Keith Ajegbo's Diversity and Citizenship report.
The first is planned for next summer, and will be a focus for schools to look at issues of diversity and identity with their local communities & beyond.
Further information
Schools Linking Network
Sir Keith Ajegbo's review of Diversity and Citizenship
The Pears Foundation is a charitable foundation that supports projects helping to promote a diverse yet inclusive British society
DCSF Global Gateway is run by the British Council and exists to promote links between UK schools with schools internationally
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