A new sixth form college is being set up in Middlesbrough by Eton College. Sean Costello, head of educational opportunity at Eton College, and Michael Laidler, head of Acklam Grange School, have written about the 'extraordinary' experience they are having forming the school.

It would be easy to assume that our schools, Eton College in Berkshire and Acklam Grange in Teesside, are very different, but we would beg to differ. Since our paths first crossed, both our teachers and students have found extraordinary levels of shared endeavour.  

So much so that we have formed an already extraordinary educational partnership.  

Of course, many readers will already be aware of Eton’s plans to open a new sixth form college in Middlesbrough town centre with Star Academies (a wonderful state school trust based in the North West), but you might be surprised to read that Eton is already working with lots of schools in the area – and we are delighted that Acklam Grange is in the very vanguard of this work.  

This relationship has foundations in a shared commitment to the highest standards (Acklam Grange having achieved the highest student progress score across Teesside this year), a shared commitment to our communities and a shared belief that high-quality education can be transformative, wherever it is found.    

As we have forged our partnership we have discovered other examples of common cause. For example, senior management from both Eton and Acklam Grange have come together to share best practice in the classroom and in pastoral pursuits.

There are incredible exchanges of experience taking place, including when a group of staff from Eton recently came to Acklam Grange on a fact-finding mission. This is a visit that is likely to be reciprocated early in the new year when senior staff from Teesside plan to travel down to Eton itself.  

We are also sharing professional development expertise among staff more widely. Eton hosts a world class Centre for Innovation and Research and Learning which has been delighted to open its doors (both real and virtual) to colleagues in Middlesbrough and share its insight into cutting edge research thinking.

Eton staff are as eager as their colleagues to learn from this relationship – they know there is extraordinary best practice going on up here in Teesside too.

But this partnership isn’t just about the teachers – it’s about the young people we teach too. Many at Acklam Grange are now beginning to access the fantastic EtonX online learning platform – but others are going further and are going to embark upon something even more extraordinary called the “Orwell Pathway”.    

Undertaken by year 7s and 8, this initiative, which is named after Old Etonian socialist writer George Orwell, sees participants get the chance to enhance and enrich their academic studies through further EtonX courses and ultimately go onto attend the very best universities.    

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Other students are engaging with Eton in other remarkable ways. Together, teachers in Eton and Middlesbrough are in the process of strong links between the institutions with visits being planned for 2024 for students from Acklam Grange to Eton College and for staff connections to be fostered between each school.

There is also a deep desire from Eton College to work alongside Acklam Grange’s outstanding Teaching and Learning team to share best practice and drive innovation forward back in Berkshire. 

What has become clear as we have worked together is that, almost like the most successful marriages, both our schools are gaining strength from the relationship – and that by working together we will grow in confidence and become even stronger as institutions.