In the four years since Graham Corbyn (who at the time was the National Specialism Co-ordinator) wrote an article for the MSOR Connections newsletter outlining the progress of Mathematics and Computing Colleges (MCCs) specialist schools have continued to be an important part of the Government’s plans to raise standards in secondary education. The Specialist Schools Programme (SSP) helps schools in partnership with private sector sponsors and supported by additional Government funding to establish distinctive identities through their chosen specialisms and achieve their targets to raise standards.
Specialist schools also undertake to become active partners in developing a learning society comprising local schools community groups and other partners such as universities businesses and industry. These partnerships are continuing to mature and more schools have begun to take on an international dimension to their community plans. For example some schools have organised student exchanges and work placements in overseas schools. Others are supporting overseas schools by developing their websites and providing information and communication technology (ICT) equipment and training.
