National Writing Day took place on the 26th June and what better way to celebrate the occasion than with our own event at Camden Learning to recognise the exceptional writers we have here in Camden. Over the last few months, Camden Learning have piloted an innovative initiative with First Story, to bring Year 12 students from across Camden together, to give a voice to their creativity, strengthen the students’ confidence and hone their writing skills. A number of dedicated Year 12 students from Parliament Hill School, La Santa Union and Acland Burghley School met every Thursday for eight weeks to stretch their creative muscles and engage with new approaches to playing with their words. Their writing captured themes from their own lives and issues of the day, such as the impact of knife crime, their talent was clear to see, and their writing definitely showed a willingness to take risks. Their writing is of such remarkable quality that it has been published in an anthology, so the group of students are now officially published writers! The cross-school initiative was supported by sessions led by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and a committed writer-in-residence, Adam Kammerling who inspired and patiently nurtured the stunning work.

Another highlight of the week was the Camden Learning Hubs event, which brought together a blend of school leaders and teachers, where there was a market place to outline the range of hubs on offer for the next academic year. Furthermore, those lead schools that had been delivering hubs this academic year, had the opportunity to share the highlights and learning through a storytelling format known as Pecha Kucha, where each hub showed twenty slides each with twenty seconds of commentary. It was a fun and engaging session and each of the ten hubs who presented, each brought their own style and approach to their 6 minute allocation-well done to everyone who participated.

Please find attached the Camden Learning Hubs prospectus for 2019/20, where each of the 8 hubs provide a summary of the programme, expected outcomes and dates for the sessions. For clarity, both the SEND hub and the Coding hub are on offer to our secondary schools too, which is not explicit in the hub summaries. Please submit your hub choices to CustomerSupport@Camdenlearning.org.uk preferably by the end of the summer term, but strictly no later than 13 September 2019.

Camden Learning are currently advertising for the post of Director of Learning, who will have responsibility for ensuring the Camden Learning’s School Improvement Strategy is well designed and targeted to effect the greatest change, which will also support the growth of the partnership. The Director of Learning will be responsible for the effective implementation of the strategy, including its review and development. The closing date for applications is Sunday 14th July 2019-further details can be found here Director of Learning advert.

Jon Abbey

Managing Director, Camden Learning