Being partnership ready

At this stage of pre-establishment there is value in identifying and nurturing individuals or groups who share a similar vision and are enthusiastic advocates for the concept of Schools as Community Platforms. By diversifying this support base, the partnership gains resilience and the ability to navigate challenges through a variety of influential voices and perspectives.

Testing the concept with potential stakeholders and thought partners is crucial when defining the proposed outcomes and high-level strategies.  By gathering feedback and insights from a wider audience, the partnership can identify potential challenges and opportunities and build stronger foundations for future engagement.

Being partnership ready suggest that all partners are clear on the shared goals, the broad strategy they have committed to and their own and others’ responsibilities in the work ahead. 

At this point those leading the planning take the opportunity to test the awareness of the need for change and collaboration amongst those most likely be affected and their appetite to try different ways of working.   They would consider existing cross sector understanding and assumption and how the local context might affect the design of local governance structures for implementation.  

Broadening the partnership circle involves actively seeking and incorporating perspectives from stakeholders that will be critical to implementation if it proceeds. Reaching out to additional individuals or organizations that share the common vision and have a potential to question and contribute widens the network of support, creates a more robust foundation for the partnership and increasing the potential for collaborative success.

Working with core stakeholder to build a clear picture of existing resources and potential obstacles allows the partnership to strategically plan for leveraging strengths and mitigating challenges, fostering a more resilient and adaptive collective effort.

Our Experience/Learnings

During the preliminary phase, when the idea was still in it's experimental stage, the consortium was limited in size. While this approach minimised the potential for widespread disappointment or disengagement in case the concept didn't advance, it also posed the risk of key stakeholders perceiving the plan as imposed upon them. Maintaining a delicate equilibrium between fostering inclusivity and effectively managing expectations has been paramount.

Not all stakeholders or champions become partners in the project, nor do they need to be. The planning and pre-establishment phase was supported by relationships, thought partnering and advice from individuals and organisations with key expertise and experience across all aspects of the design. A few became partners some are allies or supporters that contribute when relevant and others are champions that have an interest in the progress of implementation but no ongoing involvement. 

It is strongly felt that a key enabler for a collaboration like this was the willingness of senior departmental staff to be prepared to invest their time and intellect to help the project germinate and to champion the initiative in a way that motivates others to see this as a worthwhile use of their time. Otherwise, it can just sit there as just another fringe dweller of the many, many, many projects that people are trying to get up in a service system like education.