Collaboration is a vital part of who we are as a school community. Building relationships rooted in trust and appreciation enables us to demonstrate that a world where meaningful links and partnerships can be built is possible.
Generally, we see our collaborations focusing on the following partners:
Our parents/carers and families:
Gesher is a family school, and parents actively contribute to our success. We know how much parents care and how much openness and partnership matter. Parents and the school work closely together through regular communication to support and reinforce learning at home. Employment opportunities, fundraising and in-school activities, such as tree planting and camps, are often led by parents. Parents also support each other through new parent mentorship schemes and social events.
Employers:
Gesher’s community partnerships ensure our young people are well-prepared for life and work. Meaningful links with employers enable young people to experience relevant work contexts through their studies. Real-world projects, internships and enterprises are designed and woven into the curriculum so that young people and employers benefit from each other’s contributions. This close relationship has reciprocal benefits: it engages our learners and builds empathy, insight and expertise about inclusion in the workplace.
The wider education system:
Gesher aspires to be of value to the wider education community, and we are humble in our desire to learn from and with others – locally, nationally, and internationally. We are also assertively aspirational in our desire to be of service to other schools locally, to influence practice far more widely and to develop a research base that will be of value to others. This desire for partnership includes, of course, optimising progression opportunities for our young people.
Members of the Jewish community:
Members of the wider Jewish community and Gesher work in partnership to provide a space for learning, sharing and enabling good practice that supports all Jewish young people. The community ensures that Gesher’s young people can forge healthy relationships within its youth network and contribute to the development of a strong Jewish ethos, culture and history to help shape identities and integrate into the community in a meaningful way. Gesher shares with the wider community its approach to teaching, learning and working with young people who exhibit a range of learning differences.
