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The 11 secondary schools who were founder members of the consortium in 1999 remain the same in 2007. There have been no additions or withdrawals (despite changes of head teacher over the period in eight of the eleven schools). Seven of the eleven consortium schools are located in the High Peak: two schools in Glossop in the north, two in Buxton in the south, Hope Valley College in the east of the High Peak, and New Mills School and Sixth Form Centre and Chapel en le Frith High School roughly in the centre. The four schools in the Derbyshire Dales lie in an arc down the Dales district with Lady Manners School in Bakewell the most northerly, then Highfields School, Matlock, Anthony Gell in Wirksworth, and finally, Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar School in Ashbourne the most southerly. Although Ashbourne lies on a line parallel with Belper, and Heanor in the Amber Valley, it is still north of Derby itself and the distance from the most northerly consortium schools in Glossop to the most southerly in Ashbourne is over 40 miles. In brief, the consortium began from a joint initiative by Heads of the 11 schools in 1999 to develop the vocational curriculum at Key Stage 4 for pupils whose needs were not being met by the National Curriculum. Geography was identified as the key barrier to success in this area and the 11 schools believed that their combined economies of scale would help to overcome this obstacle. The consortium has now developed to the point where in 2005/6 there are over 1500 young people aged 14 -16 from 10 of the 11 schools involved in work related provision, both in school based provision and with a range of post 16 providers. In 2003 the consortium became a formal federation with an agreed constitution. The 11 Chairs of Governors and Headteachers meet twice a year as Peak 11’s Strategic Group; the Headteachers meet half-termly as an Executive Group, chaired by one of the Headteachers. The schools each contribute about £1000 annually to cover the Federation’s operational costs, part of which is the employment of an educational consultant (who prepares reports on behalf of the Federation, helps shape our agendas and drives developmental issues forward between meetings) and a minuting secretary/general organiser. In addition the Federation runs several Working Groups, on an as needs basis, which focus on specific issues. The Working Groups are chaired by a Headteacher from the Federation and currently comprise: A Pastoral Panel – overseeing the managed transfers of students between schools in an attempt to achieve a nirvana of zero exclusion. This includes advising the authority on Hard to Place students and students with special needs statements. An 11-19 Group – mostly curriculum deputies working together to tackle issues of vocational provision, work experience, the new Diplomas, KS3 reforms, progression routes and post 16 provision etc. A Data Group – compiling a data set for the Federation and analysing internal data from each school to disseminate good practice A Bursars’ Group – comparing and sharing the financial operations of all schools and working towards FMIS. A Workforce Reform Group – working on Single Status and the ongoing fallout from the Remodelling of the Workforce initiative. An ICT Group – seeking to establish a VLE for the Federation and the oversight of this website. A Gifted and Talented Group A Middle Managers’ Initiative Group – which commissioned a bespoke CPD programme for middle leaders in the federation to energise both new and long-standing Heads of Department; this group has now wound up its operations with the arrival of the NCSL ‘Leading from the Middle’ accredited programme. Peak 11 also encourages the networking, at subject level, of curriculum groups across the Federation, meeting in rotation at one another’s schools and led by a designated Head of Department from one of the Peak 11 schools. |