The Cradle-to-Career Partnership
No school can do this alone. A neighbourhood can.
We support leaders of schools and settings in a neighbourhood to work together, and with families, services and employers, so that every child gets joined-up support from before birth to their first job.
If every institution sees only its own part of a childhood, the gaps between them are where children fall.
Great schools are necessary but not sufficient. A child moves from home to nursery, primary, secondary, college and work, and their family meets a different system at every turn.
The Partnership helps the people who lead those institutions in one neighbourhood see the whole journey, and decide together where they can make the biggest difference.
Coherent educational experiences
Learning that builds from one phase to the next, so children don’t start again at every transition.
Connected services
Schools, early years, health and family support that know each other and work around the child.
Consistent relationships
Trusted adults who stay with children and families over time, not just for a year or a key stage.
How it works
A journey that starts with one person and grows into a neighbourhood
Before Catalyst
Getting started
A head catches the idea and brings together leaders who serve the same children.
Year one
Catalyst
Your cluster maps the child’s journey in your neighbourhood and chooses where to act first.
Year two onwards
Partnership
Leaders keep learning together while colleagues take on focused modules.
For some clusters
Accelerator
A deeper partnership for neighbourhoods ready to go further, faster.
Who it’s for
Leaders who share the same children
A cluster is a group of leaders in one neighbourhood, usually across phases. It often starts with one head who wants more for the children in their place, and a few colleagues who feel the same.
- Nurseries and early years settings
- Primary schools
- Secondary schools
- Special schools
- Colleges
- Family hubs and services
Where it’s happening
See what it looks like in a neighbourhood like yours
Short films from neighbourhoods in the Accelerator, made with the leaders, families and young people involved.
Try it for your place
C2C in your place
See how children in your area are doing across four outcomes, from early years to young adulthood, and where the gaps open up.
Thinking about this for your neighbourhood?
Start with a conversation. We’ll talk about your place, who might be involved and whether the timing is right.
Leonie Ratty leads the Cradle-to-Career Partnership. A first call is a conversation about your neighbourhood, not a sales pitch.