School Partnership Strategy

Find out about the Essex strategic partnership behind improving school performance.

Partnership board members

The strategy is overseen by the School Partnership Board whose members include:

  • Clare Kershaw - Director of Education
  • Nicola Woolf - Assistant Director of Education, West Essex and School Partnership Board chair
  • Alex Abercrombie - SEND Strategy Lead
  • Stephen Chynoweth, Head of Education and Early Years, North East Essex
  • Carrie Prior - Church of England representative
  • Maria Shepherd - Catholic Church representative
  • Dida Burrell - Mid-quadrant meeting chair
  • Nicky Patrick - North East quadrant meeting co-chair
  • Kerry Malcolm - North East quadrant meeting co-chair
  • Katherine Parker - South quadrant meeting co-chair
  • Heidi Blakeley - South quadrant meeting co-chair
  • Colin Raraty - West quadrant meeting chair
  • Carole Herman - Association of Secondary Headteachers in Essex (ASHE)
  • Pam Langmead - Essex Primary Headteachers' Association (EPHA)
  • Emily Welton - Essex Special Schools Education Trust (ESSET)
  • Ruth Bird - Essex School Governance Association (ESGA) chair
  • Jo Coton - Academy Trust representative
  • Rod Lane - Primary governor
  • Janet Wood - Secondary school governor

Chairs and co-chairs

The quadrant chair and co-chairs lead meetings each term with partnership leads and Teaching School Hub representatives to:

  • support and encourage school engagement in partnership working
  • advise and support partnership development and maturity
  • facilitate sharing of best practices between quadrant partnerships
  • support partnership sustainability and impact within quadrants
  • ensure partnership take up and best use of support within quadrants
  • set and track quadrant progress against key priorities reflecting county-wide priorities

The chairs and co-chairs of these meetings are:

  • Dida Burrell - Chair of Mid quadrant meeting
  • Kerry Malcolm - Co-Chair of North-East quadrant meeting​
  • Nicky Patrick - Co-Chair of North-East quadrant meeting​
  • Heidi Blakeley - Co-Chair of South quadrant meeting​
  • Katherine Parker - Co-Chair of South quadrant meeting​
  • Colin Raraty - Chair of West quadrant meeting​