Co-op schools are spreading nationwide

Students of co-operative schools setting up co-operatives in Enterprise Week

June 27 2008

The network of ten co-operative schools sponsored by The Co-operative Group is set to expand. The Group and the Co-operative College are now developing co-operative trust schools and the Group is sponsoring a co-operative academy for the first time.This page is sponsored by The Co-operative Group

The Co-operative Academy of Manchester, which is based in Higher Blackley in the north of the city, will deliver its specialism of finance and business in collaboration with the other academies and schools in Manchester.

The Academy will use the co-operative structure to engage the local community and support the regeneration of the area. The Group, led by CFS, is the principal sponsor with Manchester City Council and Manchester College as co-sponsors.

Further endorsing its co-operative credentials, The Co-operative Academy of Manchester will work with the other academies, and their sponsors, in the city to ensure the benefits of its co-operative way of working are shared.

Another new development is the creation of the first co-operative trust school in England. Reddish Vale Technology College in Stockport was formally launched with its new status in April.

The Co-operative Group’s membership project manager, Mags Bradbury, commented: “This is an exciting development for the Co-operative College and the Group.

“We hope this will be the first of many co-operative trust schools which use the co-operative structure and co-operative values and principles to improve the educational attainment of the school, build community engagement through membership of the trust, and ensure that co-operative values are embraced by every pupil for their time at school and, hopefully, in their adult lives.”

Both the co-operative trusts and the Manchester Academy will allow pupils, parents, staff and the local community to have a greater say in how their schools are run.

Added Mags: “The co-operative sponsored business and enterprise schools continue to develop a strong co-operative curriculum and use our values and principles to drive improvements within their schools.

“The pioneering work of this network will be shared with the new co-operative trusts and academies, through a future network of all co-operative schools, colleges and academies.”

Category: Credit unions