Power of Partnerships

With public exams cancelled this year, our mission to open doors, hearts and minds has become more critical than ever.

This term we invited a number of partner schools to join our new programmes and events taking place via guided home learning, to ensure as many pupils as possible could continue to expand their horizons and move seamlessly onto the next stage of their education.

We welcomed over a dozen Year 11 students from Michaela Community School, who joined our pupils on A Level introductory courses – a mutually enriching experience for both pupils and staff.  Upper Sixth students at a number of partner school academies enrolled on our GDST Limitless Learning programme, enabling them to access a range of different electives and prepare for university studies. Students from Three Rivers Academy, Monkseaton High School and nearby UCL Academy joined the courses. Partner schools were also invited to this term’s Speaker Series event, on racism and unconscious bias, with seven schools signing up to take part in the talk and Q&A.

Dr Osborne, Director of Partnerships & Employability, commented: “One silver lining of the pandemic has been our ability to unlock new educational experiences for pupils and teachers. Online learning has even enabled us to extend our reach beyond schools in the local community… the increased collaboration has been hugely beneficial and rewarding.”