Our Impact

Chester Schools Together

Chester Schools Together is an award-winning Independent State School Partnership (ISSP) between The King’s School, The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School, Blacon High School, Catholic High School Chester. Upton-by-Chester High School and Queen’s Park High School.

What is an Independent State School Partnership?

Independent State School Partnerships are mutually beneficial partnerships between state schools and independent schools, based on sharing of expertise, best practice and facilities to the benefit of children in all the schools involved.

Our Story

Chester Schools Together was founded in 2018 and originally involved King’s, The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School and Blacon High School.

The project heralded a move away from outreach work to a collaborative partnership model, based on a shared ambition; to develop an annual programme of innovative projects and events for secondary-age students across the city of Chester.

Catholic High School Chester joined the partnership in September 2022 and Upton High School is joining in June 2023.

Our People

The Headteachers of each partnership school sit on the Strategy Group for Chester Schools Together, in addition to the Director of Marketing, Communications and Partnerships from The King’s School.

Each partnership school has a dedicated Chester Schools Together Representative and the project has a Central Coordinator

Strategy Group: Mrs R Hudson (Headteacher, Blacon High School), Mrs C McKeagney (Headteacher, Catholic High School Chester), Mr G Hartley (Headmaster, The King’s School) and Miss H Cairns (Headteacher, The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School), Mr T Kearns (Headteacher Queen’s Park High School) and Mrs S O’Donnell (Director of Marketing, Communications and Partnerships, The King’s School)

School Representatives: Mrs G McHale (Blacon High School), Mrs S Redwood (Catholic High School Chester), Mr A Hardman (The Bishops’ Blue Coat Church of England High School), Mr C Wilson (Upton-by-Chester High School) and Mr Matt Yeoman (Queen’s Park High School).

Central Coordinator: Marissa Herbert

How we are funded

In December 2021, we secured £444,216 of funding over five years from The Westminster Foundation.

This funding has allowed the project to grow in scale and ambition and has now been extended until the end of 2027.

The King’s School does not claim any of the external funding.

Learn more about our Funding Pledges here.

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