Five experts from independent education reflect on a significant year and analyse the events that hit the headlines, writes James Higgins

What achievement from the independent education sector has stood out to you this year?

Colin Bell (CB): Continued interest in school partnerships between state and independent sectors for the delivery of multi-school and/or community partnerships. There are many examples of successful models of collaboration across phases and sectors for the benefit of everyone involved to draw on.

Independent schools involved in formal independent/state school partnerships are featured on the formal partnerships page of the Schools Together website. Through social media, schools’ partnership work is celebrated and promoted using the hashtags: #schoolstogether and #powerofpartnerships

Rose Hardy (RH): It’s been really encouraging to see how hard the independent sector is working to find new opportunities to form partnerships with maintained schools. Looking at how we can continue to break down the barriers between state and private education is becoming ever more important. It’s about building bridges, not walls.

We hosted a Year 6 debating competition recently uniting a number of different local schools in the community together and that was great to be part of. All children are equally deserving of opportunities regardless of where they go to school. It’s really about independent schools offering more resources and support, where they can.

The politicisation of young people today has also been an amazing thing to witness. Young people are hugely passionate about climate change and making a real difference to those around them. It’s also great to see the different ways that schools are adapting to harness that passion. In a world often surrounded by negativity, particularly in light of the current economic uncertainty, we have still never lived in more privileged times and it is incredible to see the passion in young people today.

Read more: https://ie-today.co.uk/Article/2019-in-independent-education/

 

Research: Smaller classes don't equal better results

A study based on Timms data concludes that the evidence for the beneficial impact of reducing class size is mixed

Smaller class sizes do not reliably result in better student outcomes, a new study has found.

The effect of smaller class size can vary between countries, academic subjects, years, skills, and many factors are likely to play a role, the study, conducted at Michigan State University in the US, has revealed.

Read more: https://www.tes.com/news/research-smaller-classes-dont-equal-better-results