Stanley St Andrew's Church of England  Primary belongs to the Skylark Cluster of Small Schools. This was begun in 2017 as a collaboration between 10 local small schools. As we are all of similar size, and all within the local area, we have a range of similar development needs and interests. The collaboration will enable pupils to mix in greater numbers, and staff to work together to continue to move our schools forwards. Since then we have developed into a smaller group to enable effective and manageable working. 

The schools are:

• Breadsall Church of England (VC) Primary
• Denby Free Church of England (VA) Primary
• Horsley Church of England (VC)Primary
• Kilburn Infant and Nursery
• Morley Primary
• Mapperley Church of England (VC)Primary
• Stanley St Andrews Church of England (VC)Primary

Our Skylark name came from the fact that many of our school incorporate a bird in our school logo; skylarks reflect our rural village landscapes; our school all believe in children flying high and aiming for the very best that they can be.

Networking and mutual support

Our staff meet at least termly to work together on a central focus. We have looked at writing moderation, maths resources for mixed age classes, enrichment activities for science, progression in foundation subjects, the Derbyshire PSHCE curriculum and ArtsMark.

We also meet at least twice a year for moderation in core subject areas.

Our Office staff meet each term to support each other with administration issues, finance and GDPR.

Our Heads meet each half term to plan strategic activities for our schools, plan the year's work, and plan the annual cluster INSET day, which we hold each February.

Collaboration

The main collaboration activity for 2019-21 is the development of the ArtsMark programme (see link below to see this work). Each school has selected an ArtsMark lead, and 4 Arts Ambassadors from Y5 and Y6, who are leading the work in school. The Ambassadors plan and deliver activities within their own school, and meet together each term to discuss and promote the arts curriculum.

Collaboration activities for 2021-2023 is developing new ways of working within Covid and recovering from the impact of the pandemic. 
Collaboration activities for 2023-2024 is linked to the importance of school staff in the lives of children and the role we play. The moderation of writing within the cluster. Supporting schools with the Ofsted and Church school inspections. 
 

6th May 2019  Sharing the moderation process. Thank you to all the staff who shared their writing it was wonderful to see the range and quality from each school.