Over the last few weeks Camden Learning have undertaken the annual standards meetings with all of our schools. A personalised opportunity for each school to have a discussion, without the need for a formal and confining agenda, instead common areas for us to explore with the school leaders and Chair of Governors. I have managed to attend the great majority of the standards meetings, and have really appreciated and recognised how very different in essence the conversations are, celebrating the successes, capturing Camden practice and challenging where appropriate. Camden Learning know our schools well, a knowledge base captured over time, built on knowing the data, visibility in our schools and a respectful, mutual trust.

This year, for the first time, Camden Learning produced a confidential score card summary for each of our schools, which was sent to the Headteacher and Chair of Governors. This is a summary score card that the Schools Led Improvement Group (SLIG) requested and have been developing for a period of time, this was used as an aspect of the standards meetings and provided an opportunity to look at the key education areas, related not only to education standards but areas such as admissions, HR, health and well-being and finance. It was accepted, that the score card is a crude tool, that will be developed for the next iteration, but was hugely helpful in our conversations. We will be working on ensuring there is a clearer guide to the methodology and a rubric for risk ragging areas, so that there is even greater transparency and understanding going forward. Thank you all for your engagement and feedback.

On Thursday 5 December from 4:30pm there is the annual Teach Meet at Eleanor Palmer from 4:30pm. This is a well-established event that brings together keen teachers to share ideas and engage with colleagues across different schools and key stages, providing an opportunity to be engrossed and captivated in the classroom practice that is so generously shared. Can I encourage Heads to identify and nominate a teacher(s) to put forward any ideas/practice, that is tried and tested and easily shareable. Please nominate them! They have will have to share that idea in 5 minutes, and repeat it 6 times! Please get in touch with Kate Frood to confirm which teachers are interested.

As a member of the Children’s Trust, I was pleased to be part of a wide ranging discussion with partners about the proposal for a family led approach in Camden and continuing the resilient families’ journey. The six key areas of the Resilient Families Framework are integral to the work of our schools, the themes include the opportunity for children and young people to succeed and thrive at school, a focus on the additional support for pupils who need it and the promotion of good physical and mental health. I presented the summary headlines for achievement and outcomes from the summer tests and exams, also including the latest data for attendance and exclusions. The review of the Resilient Families Outcome Framework is an opportunity to refresh the overarching strategic framework for our work with children and families, including schools, and to put the basic tenets of a good family life at the heart of it.

Jon Abbey

Managing Director, Camden Learning

Back

Recent Posts

  • 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…
  • 08/03/2024
    I was reminded of the difference effective middle leadership can make during a visit to…

Archives