On Thursday, Camden Learning hosted and welcomed our very first cohort of Early Career Teachers at Maria Fidelis. There were in excess of 70 new teachers and mentors who attended the welcome event, it was fantastic to see the ECTs mingling, chatting and simply laughing together, something that has been missing over the last 18 months. Kate Frood and Joe Edwards were able to extend the welcome and outline the programme and expectations for this year, their first year, of two. I enjoyed my conversations with the new teachers to Camden, and I was able to thank them for choosing Camden and explain the huge benefits of beginning their career in Camden, the exemplary practice they will witness in our schools and the collaboration, which was evident at the event. Thank you to Maria Fidelis and a special thank you to Mia for being such wonderful hosts and allowing our ECTs to stay longer than planned to simply network.

It is fascinating attending the many standards meetings that are currently taking place, each and every conversation is quite different, but what does come through is the value in having this dedicated time to hear from heads and governors about their school. Thank you too, for the preparation and diligence undertaken in providing a raft of information for the conversations, which means that Camden Professional Partners and I are able to really get into the DNA of each school. A common and recurring theme is that of Ofsted, in particular with the additional elements added to the current framework, which includes the role of governors. What is clear and key, is that governors need to know more about the curriculum as a progression model and that it is not all about how many data drops the school provide. An ongoing exercise is to test out and ensure that the governing body are clear about strengths in the curriculum whilst also having a coherent understanding of the subjects still needing to be refined/developed. Essentially governors need to know the curriculum and not just talk about the ‘nice parts that are not actually part of the progression model’. All schools and governors should have received a comprehensive Ofsted Check List which Rhian Swain has compiled from the framework and recent learning from the first tranche of inspections from across the wider system. Please do take the time to check and use the tool, which outlines tasks to complete before an inspection, 90-minute conversation and checklist for governors work through as part of their strategic calendar. Just as a reminder, we are delighted to welcome Mike Sheridan, Ofsted London Regional Director who is joining us virtually in Camden on Friday 15th October from 8-9am, to outline the changes, but importantly to share the learning from recent inspections from across the London region. Link to join the session below.

Ofsted briefing with Mike Sheridan, 15/10/21, 8am-9am

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88490335783?pwd=ZW1lemNWRnVSL1Z3VmJGekRDbGgzZz09

Meeting ID: 884 9033 5783
Passcode: 476235

Also looking forward to seeing many of you at the next Camden Conversation on Wednesday 13th October where Stuart Taylor will be leading the session based on his recent work with a school in another borough, talking about Freedom is: Cultivating care, Courage, Inclusion and Trust, believe me it will be a stimulating session for all. Stuart is committed to positively disrupting the way the world does business. He champions working collaboratively, within a participatory and systemic framework with clients, colleagues, partners and stakeholders. His aim: to align and ground people strategy with organisational strategy and to inspire individuals to orient themselves around their passions. Always minded of equity, diversity, inclusion, belonging and sustainability impacts. You should have already received an invite from Hana to join the session, if not please email customersupport@camdenlearning.org.uk to receive the joining details.

Jon Abbey

Managing Director of Camden Learning