This week I travelled to Sheffield for the Association of Education Partnerships annual conference, which drew delegates from not only London, but from across the whole country.  Estelle Morris and Christine Gilbert opened the day with an insight into where we were as an organisation and as a sector, connecting education partnerships locally, regionally and nationally. Estelle posed the question, ‘Who owns the ring for education?’, and also reminded us that we as school leaders, do what we do for the good of the children in our schools and have a collective responsibility.  Christine Gilbert focused us on what the key components are for a successful education partnerships and outlined some of the key challenges going forward, which included those distractions from the core purpose, getting beyond the land of the ‘nice’ and securing and maximising resources.

There were many terrific speakers and workshops during the day; however, I really did enjoy listening to the wise words of Professor Toby Greany who focused his input on the implications for the new middle tier within a school led system. The complexity is compounded by the crowded nature of the middle tier, which includes LAs, Ofsted, MATs, Teaching Schools, Dioceses, DfE, government, partnerships, schools and the like, all with claims of legitimacy in providing solidarity and fulfilling a range of statutory functions.

I hope you have saved the date for Camden’s Curriculum Conference on Friday 4th October from 9am- 12:30pm at 5PS (11th Floor), when Stephen Rollet ASCL will be joining us for the morning.   Stephen will be considering the curriculum in light of the new Ofsted framework, how leaders lead on the curriculum, understanding of what progression through the curriculum means and deliberating over the challenges that exist.  Please do bring along either your deputy or curriculum lead if possible, so that as many colleagues as possible can benefit from the input and discussion.  There will be some time before lunch when Christine Gilbert will lead a discussion on where we are with curriculum in our schools, capturing the common curriculum principles and values for a distinctive Camden curriculum and identifying what else we should be doing locally.

The new Ofsted Framework came into effect on the 1st September, with it the expected nervousness of a new framework, where myths, gossip and learning begin to emerge, as we collectively grapple with the detail and interpretation.  Please find attached the slides used for the Primary Head teachers’ session during the week, where we have pulled together slides/ guidance from the framework and notes/ extracts from colleagues who have undertaken the training.  No doubt, these will be refined as we capture the learning from inspections in schools.

Next week school Standards Meetings commence, as you know we don’t produce an agenda, as the richness is in the single conversation and not restricted to a schedule.   However, I have produced some guidance attached, which outlines the themes that could be explored and discussed, as well as the opportunity to reflect on the data packs primary schools have received this week, that outline the local context for each planning area.  I look forward to seeing many of you at your standards meetings over the next few weeks.

Jon Abbey

Managing Director, Camden Learning

 

Click here to download
Back

Recent Posts

  • 28/03/2024
    The forthcoming break gives an opportunity to catch up on some reading and I have…
  • 22/03/2024
    It sometimes strikes me as odd that there is even a question over whether there…
  • 15/03/2024
    Last week the FFT Education datalab extended their July 2022 data report showing the fall…

Archives