Description: The New Relationship with Schools (NRwS) consists of a number of school reform strands that were first introduced in England in September 2004. These were brought in alongside 'light touch' (Section 5) school inspections, which commenced in September 2005. In a broad context of school improvement and raising standards, the aim of the NRwS was to develop a new relationship between the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), local authorities and schools, with a closer alignment of national and local priorities and a reduction in bureaucracy. This presentation sets out the main findings from a formative evaluation of the first year of the NRwS, carried out by a team at the NFER with funding from the DfES. The findings provide some useful insights for both practitioners and policy makers, especially as this year (2006-07) is the academic year when the key elements of the New Relationship, notably the use of School Improvement Partners (SIPs), are being rolled out to all primary schools and most secondary schools. Comparisons are also made with models of school improvement / consultancy used in other European countries. Methodology: The trial year of NRwS involved nine local authorities and 93 primary and secondary schools in England. The findings from the evaluation were both quantitative, based on a questionnaire survey of headteachers in all the NRwS schools, and qualitative, from two waves of in-depth interviews carried out in 18 schools and in the nine local authorities. Interviews were carried out with local authority staff, headteachers, other senior managers and classroom teachers. Conclusions: The key findings from the study, relating to each of the main strands of the NRwS, can be briefly summarised as follows: Self-evaluation - Although the great majority of schools involved in the NRwS already had effective approaches to self-evaluation prior to the trials, there can be little doubt that the NRwS provided a new impetus for this work. The main development was the introduction of the new Self-Evaluation Form (SEF). The School Improvement Partner - The SIP is a 'critical friend', offering professional support and challenge to each school. Respondents took an overwhelmingly positive view of their SIPs, with the majority recording favourable ratings on a range of statements concerning perceptions of the SIP's work. The Single Conversation - The single conversation is a process that involves the use of the SIP for direct, focused considerations of school improvement issues. A majority of interviewees harboured doubts about the concept of a Single Conversation. Others questioned whether one person, in the SIP role, could deal with all the necessary issues. The School Profile - The vast majority of school interviewees had found the process of compiling the profile relatively easy and much less burdensome than the previous process of putting together the annual governors' report. The more succinct format, as well as the use of pre-populated data, was seen to aid the compilation process. The presentation also gives consideration to the issue of reducing bureaucracy - at this stage of the NRwS, the respondents had mixed opinions on this issue and it was clear that 'the jury was still out'. The conclusions include attempts to locate the NRwS in the rapidly-changing landscape of school reform, both in the UK, and in relation to other European experiences of school quality / school improvement.