The highlight of my week was attending the long awaited official opening of the Rhyl Kitchen Classroom, that has been constructed over the last few years, in what used to be the car park. The kitchen is an amazing state-of-the-art facility, not only for the wonderful pupils at Rhyl, but also for the community. It was lovely to be with visitors, governors and children and having the opportunity to not only visit the kitchen, but also having my own personal guided tour from a Year 5 pupil, who taught me a thing or two about their herb garden, introducing me to the herb slurry and lemon melon, which tasted great (could also be added to a gin and tonic I reckon!!). I also visited Netley, and saw first hand, eight Afghani pupils who had recently been welcomed to the school, they were fine tuning the art of swing-ball, all eight of them at the same time with a bat in hand, I cannot describe the joy I had at seeing them not only being in school, but also observing how well settled they were too. My visits reinforced the findings from a report, by UCL’s Institute of Education; Covid crisis reveals how schools are ‘propping up a failing welfare state’ that shows schools stepping in where welfare systems just cannot reach; the research has found that schools have been providing families with food and clothing during the pandemic due to “weaknesses” in the welfare system that need repair. The report says schools serving populations with high levels of poverty shouldered a higher burden of dealing with food insecurity and inadequate housing.

On Wednesday, the draft Camden Education Strategy was approved for final consultation by Cabinet; a number of headteacher colleagues spoke directly and passionately about what it means to be a school and system leader in Camden, and frankly and honestly about the challenges schools are facing. The Council Leader, Georgia, and the Cabinet Member, Angela Mason, spoke with pride about the work going on in schools, and the whole Cabinet recognised the enormous efforts made by schools in Camden, especially through the pandemic. I would urge you all to encourage staff and parents to contribute to the consultation, so we have a clear plan to face the challenges and opportunities we have as an education system.

As you know, on the 3rd November, Camden are holding a Camden Schools Climate Summit – Together towards a low carbon borough Tickets, Wed 3 Nov 2021 at 14:00 | Eventbrite. The summit will look to produce a local framework to empower schools to play their part in making Camden a zero-carbon borough by 2030. It will provide a platform for schools to network and find new ways of collaborating and supporting each other and will enable you to find out more and connect with others already taking action.

Jon Abbey

Managing Director of Camden Learning

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