Although it might now seem like a long time ago, I hope you had a good half term break. It has been great to see so many of you in Brighton over the last two days. It has been packed agenda of speakers and experts with much to learn and discuss. This has included some challenging thinking on assessment, school accountability and the role that we can all play in reducing inequality. It was also a valuable chance to meet with Camden colleagues in a less pressured setting. We will be organising Breakfast briefings for Camden Schools in the coming term, with an invitation for expressions of interest below. We are keen for Camden school leaders to have the opportunity to visit schools in different as well as similar contexts so would welcome invitations to host from all phases and sectors. There is so much we can learn from each other.

The strengths of locally led schools’ partnerships were also emphasised at the AEPA (Area Based Education Partnerships Association) conference hosted by Camden Learning just before the half term break. Here our speakers included Estelle Morris, a former Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and Bridgette Phillipson the current shadow Secretary of State for Education. It was certainly heartening to hear them both recognising the important role that area led partnerships can play in ensuring a coherent and effective schools system. Camden Learning and the collaborative work of Camden schools is, and will continue to be, an influential partner in this thinking. I hope you agree that the offer for 2023-25 demonstrates a continued ambition. We ask that you sign up to the offer by 17 March, and if you have any questions about it, please do reach out to Tracey Caldwell or myself.

We are now halfway through the school year with one eye on the new academic year and the other on end of year assessments. At the end of the last half term, we had two positive (ungraded) Ofsted inspections. We are expecting more inspections in the next few months. I know you are coping with other concerns too, with a new round of teacher strikes looming and once again you are being asked to make the tricky decision over whether provision can stay open. This is a local decision and we will support your best judgement on this, however we ask that you again let us know of the planned status of your school on March 2 by completing this short form to help inform our understanding of the situation in Camden on the day.

Please also keep note of the Headteacher meetings on the 9 March for Special School Heads, 22 March for Secondary Heads, and the revised date of the 23 March for Primary Heads, where there will be further updates on the local and national context.

Finally, I should like to draw your attention to the coaching course described below. This is being run by Nick Zienau from Intelligent Action and it has a few places left. The course takes a very practical approach to practising and using a set of coaching tools and comes highly recommended. It is suitable for all those in leadership positions. Camden Learning wants to trial it with a maximum of 12 people before hopefully offering it more widely across Camden.

Thank you as always for everything you are doing.

Stephen

Stephen Hall

Chief Executive Officer, Camden Learning