His Grace The Duke of Westminster DL met pupils and headteachers from the Chester School Together partnership, which is a unique Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) between King’s, Bishops’ Blue Coat School and Blacon High School, Catholic High School Chester and Upton High School.

Originally established in 2018 with two partnership schools, the partnership identifies areas of mutual need or challenge across all five schools and creates a programme of events, projects and initiatives to improve outcomes and broaden the cultural and education horizons of pupils and staff.

The partnership receives generous funding from The Westminster Foundation and The Duke was delighted to speak to pupils who had directly benefitted from recent Chester School Together events.

Members are passionate about removing barriers to an enriched educational experience through an ambitious 5-year-development plan, which will eventually see all state secondary schools in Chester joining Chester Schools Together.

The partnership was delighted to be awarded the title of Highly Commended at The Independent School of the Year Awards for Outstanding Educational Partnerships in recognition of our innovative programme.