The Rationale and Experience of a ‘Schools Association’: The Ivel Schools’ Association

The Ivel is a small river running through south-east Bedfordshire, and a suitably neutral name to be adopted by a group of schools which have location as their common factor.

The Ivel Schools’ Association (ISA) was founded in the Spring of 1994 by nineteen schools. The common ground was a desire that the schools should remain LEA-maintained (including voluntary-aided and controlled schools), that they should work more closely together in opposition to the prevailing mood of competition, and that they should make more formal and effective the curriculum liaison which already existed.