THE best schools have a "moral obligation" to support all children, not just their own pupils.

This is the progressive opinion of a head teacher whose school has helped to transform the fortunes of one of its neighbours, through the sort of partnership that is bringing results across Croydon.

The council asked Mark Ducker and his school, Gonville, to work with David Livingstone Primary, after the latter was told by Ofsted to improve its standards.

Two years later the number of pupils meeting the benchmark in English and maths has doubled, and the Thornton Heath schools have become one academy trust.

Mr Ducker believes such teamwork could provide the blueprint for educational success elsewhere in Croydon.

He said: "It's going to be increasingly difficult for schools not to be in partnership.

"With the climate as it is, there will have to be more collaboration because local authorities will find it tough to support the schools that find themselves in difficulty.

"It's not something that is built into the system. For many years schools have been set up to work in isolation.

"But there has to be a change of attitude, a realisation that schools are part of something bigger.

"We now have a responsibility to all children, not just our own pupils.

"It is incumbent on us and we are morally obliged to help if we have the capacity."

David Livingstone is now part of the Striving Together for Excellence Partnership (Step) Academy Trust, founded by Gonville to provide similar help to other schools.

This union is one example of what can happen as a result of partnerships first seen in Croydon in 2009, when Coloma Convent Girls' School, in Shirley, rated "outstanding" by Ofsted, was asked to work with Good Shepherd RC Primary, in New Addington.

A year later the school was out of special measures, the inspectorate's lowest category, and its rapid improvement was recognised with Croydon Council's Primary School of the Year award.

Last year's Key Stage 2 results, published in December, saw Good Shepherd among Croydon's most improved schools.

In three years the number of pupils achieving Level 4 or more in English and maths, the standard expected by the Government, had increased from 52 to 76 per cent.

At present there are 17 partnerships in Croydon, some aimed at improving standards across the board, others linking schools with complementary strengths and weaknesses so they can tackle issues in specific subjects, such as Beulah Junior, which works with Elmwood Junior to improve the quality of writing.

While much of this collaboration began in September, the early signs are that success stories such as Good Shepherd and David Livingstone can be replicated elsewhere in the borough.

Ofsted has removed three primaries (Rowdown, Beckmead and Norbury Manor) from its lowest categories. All Saints Federated Infants and Junior Schools had a positive monitoring visit and inspectors have recognised that Spring Park, in Shirley, has significant capacity to improve.

No two partnerships are the same, but the policy principally involves schools sharing resources, expertise and teachers.

Often small numbers of staff from the best schools are asked to move schools as troubleshooters, tasked with rapidly improving the quality of lessons.

David Livingstone's head of school, Claire Slade, believes this was one of the reasons why collaboration with Gonville has benefited both schools.

"Working in a one-form entry school can be insular," she explained.

"A major success of our partnership has been the capacity for both schools' staff to develop and share new ideas and more effective ways of working.

"One of our strengths is the fantastic performance arts we offer, whereas Gonville has an outstanding ICT curriculum.

"We have been able to share this expertise to create a creative culture of arts and technology running through both academies."

The notion that collaboration improves both the struggling and the striving school is shared by Mr Ducker.

"The danger is that if you become too focused on your own school, you plateau," he explained.

"What is clear is that Gonville is in a far stronger position than we were before the partnership."