There is a fine balance in every organisation between safekeeping and innovation. This is true of schools, too. In our era of rapid technological and pedagogical advance, standing still is the fastest way of moving backwards. Our schools receive support and scaffolding from the Foundation in order to achieve something that no one school could achieve on its own – to innovate continually for the benefit of the pupil’s schooling and their lives, as well as having the space to cast our minds forward to glimpse what the possibilities and opportunities in education might be in years to come.

How does the Warwick Schools Foundation make this happen? The Foundation provides a ready forum for our senior leaders to share best practices and to confront important issues together. In stand-alone schools the strategic requirement is often derailed by the operational imperative. The Foundation provides space and resource for forward-thinking amongst peers and the simple power of joint focus. The collective will of the Foundation ensures time for thought, and time is often our most important advantage. Collaboration made possible by being part of the Foundation makes logistical feats achievable.

Whilst there are already well-developed joint activities across King’s High and Warwick Schools, we are committed to extending the benefits of working together to all our pupils and staff. Furthermore, there is a sharing of resource; this includes a growing use of facilities across the schools and a commitment to enhancing our campuses for all, but perhaps even more telling is the collaborative human resource across the academic spectrum as well as HR, IT, Marketing, Admissions, Finance, Hospitality, Estates and Operations. This cohesion achieves both efficiency and appropriate integration.

All of this results in a positive influence on the broader Warwickshire community thanks to our local histories and our pupils, family and staff presence. Lastly, the Foundation creates for pupils and for their families a journey; an exciting journey through the schools, with the welcome security of offering a trusted flightpath from 3 to 18. Our Foundation brings consistency and continuity without homogeneity; each school will and must retain its own character and identity, and yet the whole can be greater than the sum of its parts, which is, after all, what the Foundation is about. The role of the Foundation is to enable the best education in the country for girls and boys 3-18. Progress in all our six strategic intents is central to ensuring that we remain at the vanguard of schooling in the country.

Richard Nicholson Foundation Principal