Case Study

Introduction

Whitefield is a Full Service Extended School with a strong commitment to inclusion. It looks for opportunities to work with local community ethnic groups in maximising achievement for its pupils, 76% of whom come from minority ethnic backgrounds (with Afghanis forming the second largest group), 20% from refugee backgrounds, and 59% who have EAL needs. Whitefield responded positively to an approach from Paiwand Supplementary School in 2005 to work in partnership and extend their education offer to Dari (Farsi) and Pashto speaking students. Whitefield’s commitment to the Every Child Matters agenda and achieving success in its School Improvement targets on attendance, punctuality and student voice were central to its decision to collaborate with Paiwand.

Collaboration

Following discussion between Paiwand and Whitefield the arrangements for the partnership were set out clearly in a written agreement signed by both partners. This agreement (actually a Service Level Agreement) states what each organisation is responsible for: Paiwand provides Whitefield with an EAL language assistant who speaks Dari and Pashto for two days a week, in exchange for free use of classrooms, sports hall and drama studio on a Saturday. While this agreement limits the relationship on paper to a business arrangement, in fact the partnership goes way beyond that and Whitefield regard Paiwand as a key partner to the school. A senior representative from Paiwand now sits on the Extended Services Management Committee of Whitefield, ensuring that a continuous dialogue regarding the success of the partnership and the needs of the Whitefield students is maintained. Decisions about what to offer students and their families under the partnership are made jointly.

Under the partnership, Whitefield students from Afghan backgrounds are currently offered the following by Paiwand: mother tongue classes in Dari and Pashto; maths booster classes (to fill a recognised gap in achievement and delivered by maths graduates and undergraduates from the London Metropolitan university); music, cricket and taekwondo classes; and separate meetings for parents and students to hear their views.

Staff from Paiwand play a significant role in the development of cultural understanding at Whitefield and help to ensure that communication flows freely between the partners and from the students and families involved. They provide translation and interpreting services with homes and families when required. They present themselves as strong and positive role models from within the community.

As the partnership develops, more work is being done to introduce better monitoring and evaluation procedures to demonstrate the impact of the Supplementary School offer on the learning and well-being of Whitefield students. A common evaluation form will be introduced in the near future.

Impact

Both partners agree that the collaborative work has been a success in expanding the education offer to Whitefield students from an Afghan background. Involving Paiwand demonstrates that Whitefield is taking their community seriously and this itself has had a positive effect on the students in terms of improved behaviour and attendance.
Collaboration has led to:

• Improved GCSE results across all subjects for targeted students, most notably in maths.
• Improved standards in behaviour and better support systems in place to tackle behaviour problems.
• Improved communication between Whitefield School and parents and carers
• Higher and more positive profile of this ethnic group in Whitefield
• Stronger student and parent voice
• Increasing numbers of students taking up this offer

Strengths

The major strengths are seen as a strong and well-organised network with dedicated managers communicating regularly and effectively; full support of the mainstream school’s leadership team; and the Supplementary school sharing the vision of the mainstream school and being treated as an equal partner.

Challenges

The main challenges are seen as continuation funding, collecting evidence and keeping on top of records and establishing and maintaining appropriate monitoring and evaluation systems to demonstrate impact.

Developing the project

• Teachers from each school to visit lessons given by each other.
• Whitefield staff to offer training to Paiwand staff on teaching EAL students and recent arrivals and to share research on first and second language development.
• Improving monitoring and evaluation processes.

About the School