Headteachers becoming “community connectors” to address multiple challenges of disadvantage in local areas, study shows
Headteachers are increasingly acting as “community connectors” – offering extra support services from their schools to address disadvantage in their localities, a new study shows.
Food banks, parenting support and health and social care referrals are among the services being co-ordinated by primary and secondary schools across the country and this is helping to bring together communities and schools to improve children’s prospects, researchers have found.
As well as responding to an immediate need, work to convene existing community leaders is helping to drive long-term community transformation.
“Cradle-to-career models” aim to support children from birth to early adulthood and can be a powerful means of addressing the complexities of disadvantage at a community level. They offer a means of tapping into existing services in an area and nurturing community capacity without the need for costly new interventions.
In many cases, schools co-ordinate and signpost families to a range of locally available programmes and services such as antenatal classes, parent-toddler groups, parenting courses, cooking and crafting sessions, and housing and debt advice. The aim is to build stronger relationships between the school and parents and help parents to develop peer support networks and opportunities to find out about wider support that’s available. This can help to dismantle some of the barriers outside the school gates and create better life chances for children, in particular those from under-resourced backgrounds.
In the longer term, the aim is that this work creates a tipping point for change within a local community, such that the community or neighbourhood becomes a force for good across children’s lives.
Researchers examined four case studies of schools delivering extensive community outreach – Holyrood Academy in Chard, Somerset, King’s Oak Academy in Kingswood, Bristol, Thrive Co-operative Learning Trust in the HU3 area of Hull and Cranbrook Education Campus in Cranbrook, Devon. The report “Heart of the Community” highlights 15 common practices that could be adopted by all schools and trusts to deliver similar community work.
The study, by Anne-Marie Sim and Lee Elliot Major, from the University of Exeter and the South-West Social Mobility Commission, is supported by The Reach Foundation and partners schools and trusts in the C2C Partnership, a two-year training programme and network for schools and groups of schools looking to set up their own cradle-to-career models. The work was funded by the Rank Foundation.
The South-West Social Mobility Commission was set up as a ‘do-tank’ to bring about transformational change in outcomes for children and young people from under-resourced backgrounds across the region and further afield. Chaired by Sir Michael Barber, it brings together a dedicated group of civic leaders from across the South West to drive cross-sectoral work to break down the barriers facing young people in the region and to act as a test-bed for innovative approaches to boost social mobility.
Head teachers were found to play a critical role in school community work, acting as community connectors – able to command both detailed frontline knowledge of an area and ‘big picture’ strategic oversight for the work.
Schools prioritised long-term, deeper relationships to address the complex, chronic issues associated with poverty and deprivation.
Professor Elliot Major said: “In a time of growing hardship beyond the school gates, “cradle-to-career” models represent a highly promising approach to tackling the deep-seated barriers that hold back so many children’s futures. By acting as community anchors, these schools aim not just to improve education—but to reshape the prospects of entire neighbourhoods. This inspiring network of schools deserves national recognition and further research to assess the potential long-term benefits for children, and the wider lessons for all schools.”
The report suggests a number of key steps to developing a successful cradle-to-career model:
- The school having stability and a strong record on teaching and learning.
- Having a supportive academy trust or local authority that potentially puts in place support, structures and funding.
- The head teacher or C2C lead developing and inculcating in staff the belief that they can and should help change their community context.
- The head teacher or C2C lead believing in the benefit of taking time out from the everyday to reflect on wider objectives beyond narrow school attainment measures.
- Being clear on the ‘why’ behind every action to ensure the C2C model fits the school and community context.
- Gaining staff buy-in; having the right people leading activities; and having consistency of staffing.
- Finding different ways to demonstrate impact given the work’s long-term and holistic nature.
The report highlights 15 common practices being adopted by partners that could reasonably be tried by all schools and trusts even without developing a full C2C model to aid school improvement or extra support. These include doing more to listen to pupils, parents and the community, having neutral spaces for parent meetings, home visits, dedicated staff to support with transitions such as primary to secondary and offering food banks and coffee meetings to develop relationships with parents.
Dr Sim said: “This is an exciting approach to scaling community-driven change. What we are seeing is a network of like-minded schools and trusts pioneering novel approaches for working in a joined-up way with their local communities. This is not one model but many: each cradle-to-career model involves a deep engagement with its unique community context, founded on schools listening to parents, children and community partners, and forging stronger relationships and connections between all of them.”
Ed Vainker, Managing Director of The Reach Foundation said: “This report shows the leading role that schools can play in creating the local conditions to ensure that all babies, children and young people thrive. Through our work with cradle-to-career partners across the country we are seeing headteachers taking the initiative to build greater curriculum-based and relational coherence across all educational phases, including in the early years. They are also demonstrating civic leadership by playing a key part in strengthening local cross-sector partnerships. It’s clear that there is huge appetite for this work and we’re delighted to have been able to support the schools highlighted in this report, and many others.”
John Hind, Director of Education and Leadership at Rank Foundation, which funded the work, said: “This timely report offers fascinating insights into how schools can help to catalyse change within and alongside their communities. As a foundation that supports community and place-based change, we are excited by the potential that The Reach Foundation’s C2C Partnership offers to create scalable, bottom-up change across communities across the country.”
This report presents the collected findings of research conducted over the course of two years with schools and trusts in the C2C Partnership, including interviews with partner leaders.