The weeks continue to fly by! I am sure you are all finding the same in your schools as the term races away! This week saw the first week of SATs and I heard informally that maths was quite a challenge! All the best for the children who took the tests this week and for those that have tests next week.

We also had the Queens speech this week and yesterday the Schools Bill was published. As we all know one of the fundamental changes in the white paper was that establishment of MATs could be carried out by local authorities. Interestingly, this article points out that “The DfE said this would “support” councils to establish new MATs. There is little in the bill about the white paper pledge, because it is currently DfE policy not to allow council trusts, rather than the law.”

We will be looking at this in more detail in the coming weeks and will keep you up to date on the next steps in Camden.

I hope I will see you all (virtually) next Wednesday for the Camden Conversation when Matt Hood (OBE) who is a founder and the Principal at Oak National Academy. In the recent white paper the government announced that it was establishing Oak National Academy as an arms-length curriculum body offering free resources for teachers. I am sure it will be an interesting and useful session.

I will be starting to get out to schools for visits next week and can’t wait to see you and Camden Schools in action.

Tracey Caldwell

Interim Managing Director, Camden Learning