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End of Project Review

The Hertfordshire Diversity Pathfinder Project has now finished. When the project started in April 2002 there were 17 specialist schools in Hertfordshire specialising in either Languages or Technology. Now there are 52 specialising in 8 different curriculum areas. More...

Good Practice Network Meetings

Cluster leaders across the county have been working to promote the aims of the Diversity Pathfinder at local level. They have completed a case study detailing the outcomes of their work. Take a look at the Case Studies...

On target for 50 plus specialist schools for 2004

The following 9 schools received notification in late January that they had been successfully designated for specialist status as from September 2004:

Congratulations to them all. This means that we will have in excess of 50 specialist schools from September 2004, at least 66% of the county’s secondary schools. This is well on the way to exceeding the governments target of 75% by 2006.

Specialist School Applications

Closed on Friday 17th October 2003
11 Hertfordshire schools were able to put in applications:

The schools will now wait to hear whether they have been short listed, and will finally hear if they have been designated in February next year.
We wish them all the best of luck.

Specialist Schools and their Primary Links new
A report mapping the links specialist secondary schools are building with their partner primaries. Find out more...

Congratulations to the 14 new specialist schools

Announced by the DfES at the beginning of July 2003:

March 2003 update

The March Update, which will be posted to schools later this week, is now available on the resources page. The main story is the rapid acceleration of the specialist school programme in the county: the successful designation of 6 schools who bid in the October round and the news that 16 schools have bid for specialist status in the March round.

Congratulations to Six new specialist schools

Announced by the DFES on February 10th:

This is a result of lot of hard work by the schools in consulting their communities, raising funds and writing the bid over the previous year. This will bring the number of specialist schools in Hertfordshire to at least 23 from September 2003. We expect at least another 10 to bid in the current March round. If the same level of success is achieved almost half the secondary schools in Hertfordshire will be specialist by this September. We wish them the best of luck.

Latest Updates - January 2003

January 2003 - Secondary Update The main story this issue is the increasing number of schools bidding for specialist status and the large number intending to bid in March. We also have a report on two National Conferences and some interesting developments with Special Schools. Mike Connolly has contributed a report on the recent highly successful Science Network Meeting. More...

Also first update for Primary Schools

October 2002 Bidding Round
Seven out of the eight schools that bid for specialist status in October have progressed to the next stage of the designation process. They are currently receiving visits from an assessor. They will be informed of the outcome of this in January 2003, and we wish them well.

Second Cluster Lead Meeting
The second meeting of cluster leaders was held at Wheathampstead on 5 December 2002. It was attended by Dominic Herrington, DFES Specialist Schools Policy Team Leader, who was able to update us on new funding arrangements. The main themes of the meeting were linking networks and community learning. Michael Bedford gave a presentation on Learning Partnerships and Marianne Stevenson gave a presentation on Adult and Community Learning. The next meeting is on Monday 10 February 2003.

Fundraiser
Hertfordshire has been successful in appointing a fundraiser, Philip Barthey, to work on a consultancy basis from mid-October 2002. Philip will be working to raise sponsorship funds to be placed in a charitable trust.

First Cluster Leaders Meeting
The first meeting for the seconded cluster leaders will be held at Wheathampstead Development Centre on Monday 14 October 2002. Margaret-Anne Barnett, DFES Diversity Pathfinder Team Leader, and Marc Thompson, MECCS, will be attending. The main purpose of the meeting will be to seek agreement and commitment as to how cluster leaders will lead on collaboration within their cluster of schools.

October Bidding Round
A total of 8 schools have bid in this round in the following specialisms: Maths & Computing, Performing Arts, Sports, Technology, Science, Visual Arts and Business & Enterprise. This is the largest number that have bid so far in the county. They are to be congratulated for all their hard work in raising the sponsorship and writing the bid. We wish them every success.