PROJECT: THE THREE SCHOOLS

Project Leader: Greatfield Park Primary School
Schools in Cluster: Greatfield Park, Shurdington, Castle Hill, Brockworth

Following the allocation of the grant from the Small Schools’ Fund we have been able to set up a new three school project with specific emphasis on developing the use of ICT within the curriculum, establishing closer links with the three school SENCos and providing the three Head Teachers with a means of informal support.

Development of ICT within the Curriculum
· The three curriculum leaders from the school established a timetable of meetings, during which resources, subject skills and expertise were discussed.
· Initially it had been intended that with regards to resources there would be a cluster consensus, but the individual needs of the three schools have been very different.
· However, discussions about different resources and in particular hardware have proved very useful, as all three schools have had to address the issue of ‘Best Value’ before purchasing any equipment.
· All three schools have now purchased equipment that is especially relevant to their school and at the time of writing we are looking into funding the LEA curriculum computer support package.
· The cluster had intended that an element of the grant should be used for technical support, but the logistics of organising this within the budget was a deterrent.
· We hope to continue with the liaison we have established as a result of the regular meeting of the co-ordinators when the project ends.

SENCo Liaison
· This has worked well, with the SENCos from the three schools meeting at various times for discussions about relevant topics of concern.
· The purchase of specific SEN resources has been a major element of this part of the cluster project, and full discussions have taken place between the SENCos as to which resources have proved successful and relevant in particular circumstances.
· We would hope that we can continue regular meetings after the project.

Head Teachers – Informal Meetings
· These meetings have provided a means by which the three Head Teachers can discuss informally issues that arise within their school, while allowing us to exchange expertise, information and working practices.
· Any example of the sharing of expertise followed a discussion about Foundation Stage subject assessment. The Head discussed new materials being used in one school, and copies of the materials were made available to the other Head Teachers.
· The informal nature of Heads’ meetings have provided a welcome interlude in already very busy timetables, and given us a chance to get out of our own school and take the opportunity to take a wider view.

Management of the Project
· Obviously the management of the project has been complex and the need for considerably more amounts of administration time has become increasingly evident.
· However we have established a system for handling the administration of invoices, supply claims and all the necessary paperwork within school. This work has meant that the Greatfield Park School Administrator has had to balance her own workload with that of the cluster’s.

CONCLUSION
The establishment of a new cluster has proved useful for the reasons stated above.

We all hope that we can continue to develop this cluster by:
· Continuing liaison between subject leaders.
· Develop shared expertise, especially with LSWs.
· Continue to provide opportunities for the children in the three schools to meet, work and play together.