St Helen's School case studies (7)

Impact of partnership work done in 2023 (ISC annual Census 2024)

• 7 state schools involved
• 201-500 state school pupils involved
• 75 staff hours given

Impact Statement

Taken from our annual submission to the Charity Commission:

The School continues to develop partnership links with Northwood School. In 2017/18 the following partnership activities were undertaken:
• One of the Deputy Heads of St Helen’s has been a Governor at Northwood School since February 2016. Northwood School has recently (October 2018) been graded an Outstanding school by Ofsted, and the Headteacher and Chair of Governors are highly appreciative of the Deputy Head’s work as governor. In November 2018 he was appointed as a Member of the QED Trust, the multi-academy trust within which Northwood School operates
• Liaison between the respective Heads of English to share good practice and ideas
• Director of Music met music teacher at Northwood School to advise on GCSE composition and performing

Further possible partnerships with Northwood School include:

• Learning and teaching: Mutual lesson observations and consultation with a view to helping Northwood School achieve greater numbers of Grade 9-7 passes
• Further developing links at department level to share good practice and ideas
• Sharing facilities
• Enabling sixth form girls at Northwood School to shadow St Helen’s students and attend lessons and lectures
• Contributing our expertise and experience to the development of the 6th Form at Northwood School, which was re-launched in September 2018, especially by enabling students at Northwood School to access parts of our Futures Programme

The School is sharing Sports facilities with local schools: pupils from Frithwood Primary School used the swimming pool every Monday morning in 2017/18.

A significant number of school staff are involved in the governance of local schools and Multi Academy Trusts:

• One of the Deputy Heads is a governor at Northwood School and has recently been appointed a Member of the QED Academy Trust (see above)
• The Head of Religious Studies is a governor of Independent Jewish Day School in Hendon and a Trustee of the proposed Jewish Community Academy Trust, which will comprise four maintained primary schools
• The Development Director is a governor at Greenfields Primary School in South Oxhey
• A Prep School teacher is Vice Chair of Governors at two maintained schools: Frithwood Primary School and Bishop Ramsay CofE School
• A Prep School teacher is a governor at Roxbourne Primary School
• A Prep School teacher is a governor at Bhaktivedanta Manor School in Watford
• A Computer Science teacher is a governor at Khalsa College London in Pinner

The School’s facilities are also opened up to the community with an increasingly large number of gym and swimming clubs based at the sports centre, sports clubs which use the all-weather pitch and Airdome, and the use of the School’s grounds for community-focused summer camps, and through attendance of the community at school events such as Calendar Sale and Fun Day. The School also supports the Military Covenant and UK and NATO staff based at the Permanent Joint Headquarters in Northwood are able to use the swimming pool every weekday morning throughout the year.

There are links with a local special needs school, local residential homes and the local community is invited to attend School events. For example, Prep School girls visit a local care home several times each year to play board games with the residents or sing Christmas carols. Produce donated at Harvest Festivals is donated to a local food bank.

In addition to this annual charitable fundraising, the School has a particular and long-standing – over 40 years - involvement with the Phab charity, which aims to promote and encourage people of all abilities to come together on equal terms, to achieve complete inclusion within the wider community. The Phab Team, a joint enterprise with Merchant Taylors’ School, provides a week’s residential care for approximately 20 young guests each year, offering a residential activity week for young people with physical and mental disabilities, and providing a week of respite for their families. The girls raised approximately £18,800 last year to fund Phab Week activities. In addition, we held a ‘Phab Ball’ to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Phab UK charity which raised over £6300. In 2014 the St Helen’s/MTS Phab Team was awarded the prestigious ‘Lord Morris of Manchester Award’ for making an ‘outstanding contribution to the development and promotion of Phab’s aims of inclusion through schools, colleges and universities’, and in 2018 a member of the School’s staff was similarly recognised for her work for Phab, both at the School and in an outreach capacity, supporting other schools to start Phab activities.