School Partnership with St George's CE Primary
Newton Prep is committed to building real and lasting partnerships with other local schools, not resting on tokenistic gestures and occasional contact.
In March 2015, we co-hosted a national conference with our then-new partners and close neighbours from around the corner on the Patmore Estate: St George's Church of England Primary School.
Hearing debate and insights from both independent and state teachers all day, I was delighted by the very real partnership it represents between us and St George’s C of E Primary; we are beginning to develop some exciting initiatives with the wonderful Jan Hilary and Sarah Collymore there.
- Alison Fleming, March 2015
Aims
Newton Prep is committed to building real and lasting partnerships with other local schools, not resting on tokenistic gestures and occasional contact. This was, and remains, our aim with St George's: that the partnership is two-way. As one result of our partnership, two children have come to Newton from St George's, supported by the Newton Scholarship Fund.
Background
The project came about as a result of Alison Fleming, Head of Newton Prep, and Jan Hilary, then Head of St George's, working together on the Empowerment of Women in Education Leadership Conference in March 2015.
Since then, we have developed a series of exciting two-way initiatives with St George's, including
a Year 7/8 backgammon tournament
sharing our Dalai Lama day, Jane Ellison MP visit and Frances Hardinge visit with selected children from St George's - and, vice versa, sharing in their visit by author SF Said
running Autumn, Spring and now Summer Enrichment Programmes with year groups from across St George's: focusing on using the facilities we have for Art, Science, PE and Drama
running a joint St George's vs Newton Prep Debating Club, including a visit to the Houses of Parliament, led by Jane Ellison MP
TBC:
RVS choir visit to local Care Home
Eco team volunteering and charity project at Thrive in Battersea Park
We also nurture close teaching links with our even closer neighbours, St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary. Our teachers are in constant touch with theirs - we owe our fuller understanding of the Numicon learning resource to them - and some of our parent community now volunteer as part of their reading and numeracy support programmes. We also now play regular football fixtures with them.
Resources
Both schools are used, including Newton Prep's sporting, art, drama and science facilities, using teaching and non-teaching staff.
Pupil Involvement
Interactions occur between pupils of both genders across the (Newton Prep) Upper School range: i.e. from Year 3 up to Year 8, though St George's finishes in Year 6.
Frequency
The partnership is ongoing, with several initiatives per term.