Different Types of Schools

In addition to Primary Schools, which might be divided into Infant (Key Stage 1) and Junior (Key Stage 2) and Secondary Schools (Key Stages 3 and 4) there are:

Specialist Schools are Secondary schools which may be designated as a specialist school in one of ten specialisms. If your collection can support one of these specialist areas then it is well worth contacting the schools to see how you can work together. For instance a museum with a transport collection might support Engineering or Technology.

Academies are established in disadvantaged areas, either as new schools or to replace poorly performing schools. Partnership is at the heart of an academy's role in delivering excellent education and raising aspirations, so again there is another opportunity for museums to be involved.

City Technology Colleges (CTCs) offer a wide range of vocational qualifications alongside A-levels or equivalents. They teach the National Curriculum with a specific focus on Science, Mathematics and Technology.

For secondary schools the Leading Edge Partnership programme builds on the success and knowledge about collaborative practice gained from the Beacon Schools programme. It supports groups of secondary schools, including special schools, to work together to tackle some of the most intractable barriers to raising standards. Schools within these partnerships are committed to working collaboratively to design, develop, test and share innovative ideas to raise standards of teaching and learning where improvement is most urgently needed.

At the primary level, Primary Strategy Learning Networks (PSLNs) are being established to help schools work together to raise further the standards their pupils attain in literacy and mathematics and to increase schools’ capacity to deliver a broad and rich curriculum. Groups of primary schools establish themselves as a network with a particular learning focus to help to raise standards of attainment. They receive, via Local Authorities, funding from the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) to help plan and establish their networks. This initiative was announced in 2004 and the first networks are now agreeing plans and planning network activity. The long-term aim is that all primary schools should be part of an effective learning network; the vast majority should be in that position by 2008.

Special Schools cater for a range of special educational needs including learning and physical disabilities. Some schools are residential and some are day schools.

The South East Museums Hub and Museums, Libraries and Archives (MLA) South East have worked together to improve the sector's understanding of how schools currently use museums in the region. (With the closure of MLA South East the project continues in partnership with the MLA Council's Strategic Commissioning Project). We commissioned Sussex Arts Marketing to develop a database that stores details of all schools in the South East, both state and independent, detailing how they have used museum services over the last four years. Schools4Museums is available online to individual museums in the region and is intended to assist them in developing their services for schools. All museums in the South East have been sent a password to give them access to the database. The Schools4Museums Database is now hosted on this website School4Museums database.

Useful Websites

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DCSF site for more on Academies.

DCSF Standards site for details of the Leading Edge Partnership programme.

DCSF Standards site for details of Primary Strategy Learning Networks (PSLNs).

School Web Directory for details of schools with websites.

Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) for Local Authorities and details of local schools.

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Different Types of Schools

Useful Websites

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