Alliances are simply group of schools who choose to work more closely together to support not only their own pupils and staff, but those in other alliance schools.  ​

We have examples in Northumberland where the very close working of groups of schools generates capacity and improvement in all schools. This shared endeavour builds networks across schools and reduces the pressure on individual staff.

Teachers and leaders in strong alliances can share evidence-based approaches and benefit from shared high quality professional development to improve outcomes for children. Strong alliances may also achieve economies of scale, sharing resources, and centralising functions in order to build resilience and save time and money to reinvest into education. As a result of these benefits, our alliances should achieve strong educational outcomes, particularly for disadvantaged children.