Chiltern Learning Trust - Excellence and Aspiration Collaboration

Chiltern Learning Trust is a member of the Challenge Partners network with the ‘Denbigh Hub’ being one of only a small number of hubs across the country. These networks provide a structured and sustained approach to school improvement through training and developing teachers, peer review, school-to-school support, joint practice, and leadership development. Denbigh is the highest performing secondary school in Luton.

Berkhamsted works with Chiltern Trust schools to provide fully funded bursaries to Berkhamsted Sixth. in 2023 we have 18 students from disadvantaged backgrounds from 5 different schools across the Trust at Berkhamsted. The scheme has seen hundreds of students raising their aspirations and applying for these bursary places.

Recently the partnership has also expanded to include knowledge sharing between the two schools; a number of Berkhamsted staff went to Denbigh to have learning conversations with their Denbigh counterparts.

Aims

This partnership occurred because Denbigh High School contacted Berkhamsted in 2016 to explore whether there could be any opportunities for the two schools to collaborate in ways that might help to raise the aspirations and ambitions of Denbigh High School pupils. 

The core aim of the bursary funding is to provide access to Berkhamsted School's education and facilities via life-changing bursary support to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Background

Five years ago Berkhamsted started a bursary programme partnership (as part of our Anniversary Fund) with Denbigh High School in Luton. More recently that partnership has extended across the Chiltern Learning Trust group of schools.

Resources

Both schools have committed significant resources to our partnership, particularly in terms of providing staff, premises and students to ensure that the opportunities are fully taken advantage of.  There has been some shared funding of these projects.

Impact

Over forty students have already benefited from the Anniversary Fund scheme with plans to increase the number of bursary places available, as well as continuing to work with partner schools to help raise the aspirations of their students.

In January, successful bursary applicants met with current Berkhamsted students to discuss the opportunities available at Berkhamsted as well as to get a feel for what studying A-Levels at Berkhamsted will be like. We hope this partnership can develop in the coming years so that pupils and staff from the schools involved can learn more from one another.

Since 2017 Denbigh High School staff have attended twilight INSET courses provided by Berkhamsted and similarly Berkhamsted staff have attended twilight INSET courses provided by Denbigh. The feedback from those involved at both schools has been positive and suggests that everyone’s experience has been enhanced by the presence of teachers from a different context. 

The Religion and Philosophy departments at the two schools have linked with a view to sharing resources and organising occasions for some pupils from each school to discuss the content of their GCSE courses.  Some mutual lesson observations and sharing of resources has already taken place.

Berkhamsted Outdoor Education Department hosted Denbigh High School’s ‘Raise Group’ for their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh expedition. One colleague from Denbigh also qualified as a Duke of Edinburgh Expedition Assessor at a course hosted by Berkhamsted at the Pre-Prep site. 

The Careers Departments at the two schools have linked and shared resources. Denbigh High School staff and Year 10 pupils attend the Berkhamsted Careers and Higher Education Fair. In addition to sharing expertise and collaboration in careers, the two schools have shared insight on issues relating to pastoral support, behaviour sanctions, and the House system.

The Denbigh High School cricket teams have visited Berkhamsted to contest some exciting cricket matches. The two schools’ Physical Education Departments have worked well together, including the running of a “cricket masterclass”, where nearly 40 Denbigh High School pupils came to Berkhamsted for a day of cricket, using the cricket nets and bowling machine in the morning and then playing fixtures after lunch.

There has been ongoing collaboration between the two schools’ Drama departments with the sharing of good practice, and moderation on GCSE work, including Denbigh High School pupils attending a production at Berkhamsted.

Pupil Involvement

Pupils from Years 7 to 13 from both schools are involved in our shared projects.

Frequency

This is an ongoing partnership with the intention of all the activities either happening annually or being superseded by new projects between the schools as deemed most beneficial by the two staff responsible for the link. In addition, it is Berkhamsted’s intention to continue to encourage bursary applications from Chiltern Learning Trust’s ambitious and able pupils.