The Bolton 19,000 model

The Bolton Learning Partnership is an ambitious collaboration which consists of twenty-eight secondary schools and colleges working together, alongside Bolton Council to support educational improvement, teaching, learning, personal development and inclusion to provide the best opportunities for young people in the borough. Commonly known as the “BLP19K” the partnership supports over 19,000 students and over 3,000 teachers in achieving excellence through working together, professional development and access to expert resources. The idea of the Bolton 19,000 comes from the belief that every Headteacher in Bolton commits to the idea that they are responsible for all the school children of the town.

The Curriculum Executive Board provides curriculum development resources in its mission to develop the five pillars of effective curriculum design: subject expertise, quality of instruction, making knowledge stick, adaptive teaching and assessment and feedback. There are regular hub meetings for the different areas of the curriculum and the MFL hub has recently celebrated its tenth year. “BLP Maths DNA” provides a blueprint for teaching Mathematics – it is available for everybody to use and will provide a catalyst for rich discussion, leading to Maths Intervention Days for pupils across Bolton. There is also a SEND hub which shares best practice and ensures consistency in the identification and support of students.

There is a Safety and Welfare Hub which plays a pivotal role in safeguarding students across Bolton and the Inclusion Executive Board works to ensure that every student has the support they need to thrive. A key area of growth recently has been the development of trauma informed approaches aimed at supporting students with emotional and psychological challenges. A DEI Leadership programme was introduced to raise awareness of inclusion practice at staff and pupil level, and was heavily subsidised by the BLP.

The Partnership also hosts a Student Leadership Conference, bringing together students from across the borough. The BLP Conference is always a superb event over the course of a couple of days in June and gives an opportunity for all of the partner schools and colleges within the partnership to come together. Understanding that every one of the 19,000 students in the partnership schools and colleges matters is always the focus of these conferences. Collaboration at the conference allows school leaders to drive improvement and share best practice and keynote speakers are chosen to provide a variety of insights, not only into adaptive teaching, inclusion and current pedagogical research, but also into leadership skills and performance management.

You can visit the Bolton Learning Partnership here.