Effective School Management

Case Study: Barrow Community Learning Partnership
The Director of the BCLP project, who is an ex-headteacher, and his deputy,
a former drama advisory teacher and head of arts faculty, have applied
their creative thinking to ‘promoting education which challenges, intrigues
and empowers’. Two senior educational psychologists left their LEA posts
to work within the partnership.
The team’s first days together were spent developing a shared vision,
using leadership development analysis to identify their strengths and
individual problem-solving approaches. This early vision was sub-
sequently developed and adapted as the team trialled various initiatives
and projects within and with partnership schools. This was accompanied
by continuous and enthusiastic investigation of the latest research into
effective educational change (with the support and advice of Lancaster
University Centre for the Study of Education and Training colleagues,
Murray Saunders and Paul Davies) and developments in learning and
teaching methodology. Throughout the life of the partnership the team has
continued to adapt and reflect upon the process of change and how
experiences can be used to determine progression and effectiveness – and

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EFFECTIVE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT
subsequently raise self-esteem, expectations and achievement. Many of
the processes that they used match those described in Part III of this book.
 BCLP is a ‘whole change project’ aimed at effecting gradual, but
sustainable, cultural change in the Barrow community, driven by a
‘values’-led vision. Initiatives have been sustained which demonstrated
those values and criteria identified as likely to encourage this cultural
development rather than a quick-fix, results-driven, short-term approach.
The team eventually worked towards developing a methodology,
which would encompass all these initiatives – ‘BarroWise’ - which is about
building wise learning communities, developing a wise set of principles
permeating all aspects of school life – and the wider community –
balancing the practical, creative and cognitive with the social and
emotional needs of individuals and the community.
These principles are turned into action within a range of school and
community groups through
• thinking and reflection (cognitive domain);
• feeling good about ourselves (emotional domain);
• working, living and playing together (social domain);
• making wise choices (balancing these domains).
New teaching methodologies have been widely introduced, such as brain-
based learning, critical skills, the behaviour curriculum, philosophy for
children (P4C: www.sapere.net) and communities and inter-generational
work. The work of leading researchers such as Howard Gardner, Robert
Sternberg, Guy Claxton and Michael Fullan is being used within a context
of local research. A new dynamic relationship between teachers (facilitators)
and learners is instrumental in changing classrooms and schools.
BCLP has now developed its sphere of influence beyond the initial EAZ
5–16 education brief, through the establishment of two Network Learning
Communities and substantial strategic leadership in a range of local and
nationally funded projects – such as Furness Strategic Partnership,
Furness Education Consortium, Furness Education Business Partnership,
Children’s Fund, Cumbria 14–19 Pathfinder, etc.
This approach is beginning to bear fruit. An Ofsted inspection in 2003
gave a series of ‘outstanding’ grades for lessons conducted by a teacher
using Critical Skills and P4C techniques, who has subsequently become
one of only three qualified Critical Skills trainers in the UK. Lancaster
University’s Centre for the Study of Education and Training is gathering
extensive independent evidence of the success of the projects in terms of