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How can we root Camden schools at the heart of their communities?                                                                    

Root our schools in the hearts of their communities


<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1606214388/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/956feb1f-cea5-431f-9fcc-c3a5da43c074.jpg" />This is the first ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better?
 <li>How can we reshape services around schools to give integrated support to children and families?
 </li> <li>How can we develop an extended and lifelong education offer for the 21st Century?
 </li> <li>How can we engage parents more in schools and in their children&#39;s learning?</li>

How can we collaborate to tackle inequalities, build capacity and innovate?

Collaborate to tackle inequalities, build capacity and innovate

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,w_1024/v1606142954/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/5455eeae-ba79-4b08-8b54-676ac0de1e9d.jpg" /> This is the second ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better?<li>How do we ensure that the strategy addresses inequalities in practice and articulates the future we want for all?</li><li>How can we use collaboration as a basis to foster innovation and improve practice within and across schools and to support opportunities for lifelong learning?</li><li>How can we build greater collective responsibility for all Camden&#39;s children?</li>

How can we prepare children better for life and learning?

Prepare children better for life and learning

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,w_1024/v1606144304/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/f493c8ed-2286-4947-bd80-243b0e4537ed.jpg" />This is the fourth ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better 
 <li>How do we agree a vision for education in Camden that prepares young people better for life and learning?
 </li> <li>How do we reimagine a more inclusive, creative and relevant curriculum?
 </li> <li>How do we build an inclusive education community that tackles inequalities, breaks down barriers and accelerates learning for the most disadvantaged and the most vulnerable?
 </li> <li>How do we ensure that the system supports our highest-attaining students and encourages them to strive for excellence?</li>Additional resources<li> <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/QawgC91Z0urRllPFoDDSn?domain=thetimes.co.uk">School closures are unpalatable for a bigger reason than paltry meals</a> - article by Paul Johnson, Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, in The Times newspaper (paywall). </li>

How can we attract, grow and retain great professionals and leaders? 

Attract, grow and retain great professionals and leaders                        

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,w_1024/v1606143603/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/ac901859-0e6b-4859-8e67-f667301c2104.jpg" />This is the fifth ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better
 <li>How can we create the culture and conditions to attract and retain the best teachers and leaders, who reflect the diversity of our community?
 </li> <li>How can we develop an evidence-informed, professional learning framework, that enables all teachers and leaders to thrive and continue to improve throughout their careers?
 </li> <li>How can we develop an approach to leadership and peer-learning that motivates all teachers and encourages them to take on responsibility for system development?</li>

How can we harness the power of technology for connecting and learning?

Harness the power of technology for connecting and learning 

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1607350894/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/f486e599-b4e9-4ba0-9ad2-2a6def5c9a11.jpg" />This is the third ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better?
 <li>How can we exploit the post-pandemic opportunities for learning, enrichment and innovation - for learners at all ages and from all backgrounds - that digital technologies offer?
 </li> <li>How can we support a generation of children and young people to use technology creatively, productively and wisely?
 </li> <li>How doe we maximise the potential of digital technologies to support collaboration between schools, with families and with other partner organisations?
 </li> <li>How do we ensure our most disadvantaged children have better digital access, including community locations and space for learning?</li>

Additional materials

How do we develop an excellent, equitable and just education system?

Develop an excellent, equitable and just education system

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1611137327/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/951a180a-57bc-4af5-96ac-78a29ab4a295.jpg" />This is the sixth ambition identified to help shape the development of Coming Back Stronger - Camden&#39;s Education Strategy. What we need to understand better
 <li>How do we develop models of school organisation, leadership and funding that meet our vision for both excellence and equity but are also are resilient and flexible in a context of reducing pupil numbers and financial challenge?
 </li> <li>How do we ensure that Camden’s approach to children with SEND is inclusive and well-integrated within our overall approach? 
 </li> <li>How do we improve the quality, breadth and take-up of post-16 provision in Camden so it becomes more collegial, focused on serving all young people in our communities well?
 </li> <li>How do we create the balance and mix of provision for all our children to learn well, including the hardest to teach, and ensure this is responsive as needs change?</li>

Our approach to building a vision for 2030 that works for everyone.

Building a vision for 2030 that works for everyone

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1633336454/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/ce71ce23-d390-432b-b760-cb55e7ea6d33.jpg" />The purposes of education In developing the draft strategy, we have reflected on the purposes of education, and developed a model reflecting our values in Camden. Education has the power to transform lives. It nurtures and develops individuals, allowing them to thrive. We believe it also has an essential role in helping individuals grow as good citizens, ambitious for change, and able to contribute positively to their communities and society. Education can shape the values of future generations to create a fairer, more inclusive and sustainable society.We want all young people to leave Camden schools as:<li>ambitious, knowledgeable, intellectually curious and ready to continue learning throughout their lives so they can live, work and manage the challenges of an uncertain world with confidence and skill
 </li> <li>good communicators and collaborators able to put across their thoughts, feelings and ideas, working well with other people
 </li> <li>healthy individuals able to manage their own physical and mental well-being and lead fulfilling lives 
 </li> <li>creative and enterprising , ready to participate positively in life and succeed in work
 </li> <li>socially and morally responsible changemakers , who not only understand their rights and respect the rights of others but are also able to contribute actively to their community and to the planet.</li>To achieve this, we will provide an excellent education for every child in our schools. We also recognise the importance of home learning and early childhood development and we want to ensure that all young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, move into adulthood as confident learners. Our ambitions are for:<li>A Fair Start 
 </li> <li>An Excellent School Experience 
 </li> <li>Flourishing Lives</li>These ambitions rest on the two pillars of equity and excellence . Our schools do not have to choose between achieving academic excellence or supporting children who start from a position of disadvantage. A system which is better for disadvantaged children is better for everyone.Achieving this vision demands a curriculum that is inclusive, inspiring, creative and horizon-broadening. We are committed to providing enrichment experiences for every child. We see this enrichment as a right for every child, not just for those whose families can afford it.Camden entitlement pledgeThis pledge promises every pupil in a Camden school the opportunity to:<li>See themselves in the curriculum and feel a strong sense of belonging to the school community
 </li> <li>Perform music, drama and dance and experience performances not only in Camden but also in London’s theatres and music venues
 </li> <li>Learn to express themselves visually and creatively, often inspired by visits to London’s museums and galleries
 </li> <li>Understand Camden’s and London’s histories and cultures through local visits 
 </li> <li>Meet inspiring role models from a wide range of jobs and professions
 </li> <li>Participate in sports and outdoor activities, including teams and competitions 
 </li> <li>Learn how to achieve and maintain good physical and mental health
 </li> <li>Know how to eat healthily, including how to cook and grow food 
 </li> <li>Take a position of responsibility and demonstrate leadership skills both in school and in the wider community
 </li> <li>Develop enterprise skills, for example through support for a charity or local enterprise
 </li> <li>Understand and feel part of a global and diverse world
 </li> <li>Care for the environment and our planet</li>
 Our four foundationsUnderpinning the pillars of equity and excellence are four foundations to enable us to achieve the change set out in this strategy.<li>A strong place-based system - a system that understands and reflects local demographics, histories and values.
 </li> <li>An ambitious, inclusive system - a system that breaks down the barriers to learning by calling out inequalities, acting to address them, making sure children and young people feel a strong sense of belonging to school and community so that no one is left behind.
 </li> <li>A collaborative and federating system - a system where we use collaboration to motivate, learn and achieve better, taking collective responsibility for all our children, working together in formal and informal partnerships, including federations, so they are well served.
 </li> <li>Think, test and learn - a system where we are constantly developing ideas and new practice and approaches, learning from research and staying at the leading edge of new and effective practice in education by trialling new ways of working.</li>

By 2030, we want every child to have a more equal start in life. 

A Fair Start

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1633339869/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/c99a9d98-4346-4637-9603-17888cd7589b.jpg" /> <a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:eco,w_1600/v1633339869/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/c99a9d98-4346-4637-9603-17888cd7589b.jpg"></a> A Fair StartBy 2030, we want every child to have a more equal start in life, so will ensure that they have the support and skills necessary to succeed in education, and that the outcome gap between children growing up in disadvantage and poverty in Camden and the national average will be narrowed.Camden has a proud history of supporting families in their children’s early years, understanding the importance of giving children the best start in life. Nevertheless, this support has not always had sufficient impact. At the end of 2019, the Council decided to invest a higher proportion of available funds in services to support a child’s first 1001 days (pregnancy and the first two years). This was an important shift in approach, and we believe it will enable more children to thrive and be ready to learn in school. Our vision is that all Camden children should have the best start in life, have access to high-quality early education and be ready to learn well in school by age 5. Our approach is intended to prevent later problems and lead to good speech and language development and stronger social and emotional development – the foundations for education success.We believe we can bring together a range of services from the council and its partners in health, the police and the voluntary/community sector in a team around schools, empowering and establishing the school as a gateway to support, help and guidance. This will enable us to offer earlier support and swifter resolution of issues and to reach families who may not attend other access points.The pandemic has also shone a new light on parents’ relationships with school and we saw many schools giving considerable help to parents in supporting home learning. Parents have told us they want structured opportunities to know more about how best to support their children’s learning and we will work with them and schools to develop a programme or programmes to do that. We have also developed a pledge for how schools, and the services supporting parents, will work with them.Our ambition of a Fair Start for all Camden rests on three development priorities :1. Thriving children who are ready to learn in school<li>Continue to shift resources to provide both universal and additional support for a child’s first 1001 days, through the network of children’s centres and the specialist services they connect with.
 </li> <li>Support the early years workforce across all settings to develop a common skillset to help children’s speech and language development, emotional development, healthy lifestyles and the early identification of need for additional support.
 </li> <li>Create a more consistent approach to the delivery of the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) across the network of providers to improve EYFS outcomes.
 </li> <li>Refresh our locality-based early years partnerships so that services and settings work together at a local level to tailor services to local needs and develop creative, collective solutions as well as supporting settings to improve their quality.
 </li> <li>Support the development of the early years’ speech and language strategy, a concerted and high-profile, multi-agency and population-based approach to intervening early to identify and support children’s speech and language development.
 </li> <li>Support early years settings to develop consistent approaches to supporting children and families’ health and wellbeing.
 </li>2. Schools rooted at the heart of their communities - coordinate a range of council, health and voluntary sector services in a locality team around schools, better establishing the school as a gateway to guidance for support, advice and help and linking with a remodelled and broadened Family Information Service. This will enable us to: <li>Offer earlier support and swifter resolution of issues, so that barriers to learning are reduced.
 </li> <li>Be more successful in bringing support to families who are harder to reach, building on the trusting relationships established by schools.
 </li> <li>Grow the skills and confidence of school staff to work with more vulnerable children.
 </li>3. Parents as prime partners in their children’s learning <li>Co-design a central programme with parents and schools, both primary and secondary, providing opportunities to help them support their children’s learning more effectively, including supporting their child’s physical and emotional wellbeing.
 </li> <li>Support parents to create a good home learning environment for their children from birth.
 </li> <li>Organise a series of opportunities for parents to increase their own basic digital skills, including offering a free course to develop their understanding of and competency in digital literacy skills, leading to a Digital skills Certificate Level 1.
 </li> <li>Continue our commitment to family learning, developing further joint delivery with schools.
 </li> <li>Launch a standard for ‘how we work with parents’ based on ‘The Good Help for Families Manifesto’, a design vision of what good help for families looks like post-pandemic, developed by a group of Camden parents (Camden Family Changemakers) with University of the Arts service design students. </li>

We hosted a national webinar on the theme of 'schools at the heart of their communities' and have shared case studies on this page. 

Webinar and Case Studies: Schools at the Heart of their Communities

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1625231939/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/80b2a2d3-e9d0-4719-95d2-3d58220aa278.jpg" />Learning from the pandemic: schools at the heart of their communities – what should we retain, restore, and reimagine?“Learning from the Pandemic” is a series of webinars and case studies by the sector, for the sector, led by members of the Department for Education Recovery Advisory Group’s COVID Positive Working Practices working group. Camden Learning is leading on the theme of schools at the hearts of communities. We are hosting a national webinar, and will be sharing case studies on this page. Join the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23schoolsattheheart&amp;src=typed_query">#schoolsattheheart</a> .To share a case study, email <a href="http://danielle.tobin@camden.gov.uk.">danielle.tobin@camden.gov.uk .</a> Webinar<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/z-CIfRJCmbM></iframe>Schools have played a critical role in the pandemic – and their role at the heart of communities has been key to this.Schools’ existing strong connections with the local community and local services, and their role as a trusted source of information, have been recognised as critical; but schools have also rapidly developed a range of new partnerships and initiatives to support children and families in far-reaching ways.As we emerge from the pandemic, what should this role look like in the longer term? How can we better understand the work school staff have done to centre schools in the community? What is it important for schools retain? How can schools build and embed processes to continue to act as valued anchors in the community without duplication or unnecessary burdens? To what extent is this sustainable for schools?SpeakersChair: Christine Gilbert CBE (Chair, Camden Learning) <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/camdeneducationstrategy/Schools%20at%20the%20heart%20of%20communities%20webinar%20-%20Debi%20Bailey%2C%20CEO%20NEAT%20Academy%20Trust%20-%20slides.pdf">Debi Bailey, CEO, NEAT Academy Trust</a> <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/camdeneducationstrategy/Schools%20at%20the%20heart%20of%20their%20communities%20webinar%20-%20Helen%20Bruckdorfer%2C%20Executive%20Headteacher%20Torriano%20and%20Brecknock%20Schools%20-%20slides.pdf">Helen Bruckdorfer, Executive Headteacher, Torriano Primary School and Brecknock Primary School</a> <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/camdeneducationstrategy/Schools%20at%20the%20heart%20of%20communities%20webinar%20-%20Ed%20Vainker%2C%20CEO%20Reach%20Foundation%20-%20slides.pdf">Ed Vainker, CEO, Reach Foundation</a> The slides for the three speakers&#39; presentations can be accessed by clicking on their names above.

By 2030, all young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will move into adulthood as confident lifelong learners.

Flourishing lives

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1633347422/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/80b44ff7-e9cc-403e-8555-85684487b315.jpg" />By 2030, all young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, will move into adulthood as confident lifelong learners, able to relate well to others, drive change for social good and making progress towards fulfilling lives in work, training or educationIn Camden over the last few years, our young people have spoken loudly to the wider community and those in power, highlighting urgent priorities for change, such as the climate emergency and Black Lives Matter. This spirit of youth activism is one of our great strengths which the draft strategy will build on. The pandemic has shown how quickly whole industries can change. Not only do our young people need the skills that employers want now, they also need the ability to be lifelong, agile learners. These skills and qualities are particularly developed in 16-plus education, where young people are preparing to go to university, training or work. The strategy highlights a need to improve the quality, breadth and take-up of post-16 education in Camden to meet the needs of every young person.In Camden, we have unparalleled work opportunities in the private and the public sectors and we know that many of our public services, local employers and higher education providers are keen to bring their assets and expertise to bear in support of our young people. However, too few Camden young people are accessing apprenticeships (currently 1% compared with 4% across England) and we know our participation numbers and outcomes in vocational and technical courses need to improve.A common concern raised by young people, parents and employers is the extent, quality and objectivity of the information, advice and guidance (IAG) offered in secondary schools and beyond. The strategy will focus on ways in which IAG can be improved across Camden, drawing particularly on the stronger skills and confidence in using digital technology developed during the pandemic. We also want to work with schools and young people to devise and pilot a Camden Life Futures Plan for every young person at 16+, who we think would benefit from a dialogue about their future plans which is recorded in a succinct and engaging way.There are five development priorities for this ambition:1. A generation of changemakers with impact in their communities<li>Work with schools, employers and community and voluntary organisations to stimulate ways of designing experiential opportunities for young people’s engagement in work, social action or volunteering, through STEAM and Think, Test and Learn. 
 </li> <li>Use research and local best practice to stimulate all schools to create opportunities for young people to work together on the concerns facing them and their communities.
 </li> <li>Collaborate with the Youth Council and local youth groups to run initiatives designed to make change happen by developing young people’s local leadership skills.
 </li> <li>Use Camden’s Climate Crisis Campaign as a focus for young people’s engagement and activism, including work on tackling air pollution and changing home to school travel.</li>2. A post-16 education system that benefits all students - Develop a post-16 action plan and strategy which:<li>Establishes a new post-16 partnership to develop a coherent and more inclusive sixth form system for Camden.
 </li> <li>Uses the partnership to rationalise provision and improve the non-A level offer.
 </li> <li>Gives greater priority to developing technical and vocational education, including T Levels.
 </li> <li>Develops links with Oxbridge and Russell Group universities, exploring a co-ordinated ‘Flying High’ boroughwide scheme.
 </li> <li>Liaises effectively and urgently with Capital City College Group so that local Further Education provision is more closely aligned with the ambition set out in this strategy and better meets the changing needs of young people in Camden.</li> 3. Greater access for young people to education, work and opportunity <li>Link with employers, particularly through the STEAM initiative, to give young people work experience opportunities especially in local growth areas such as health and the digital, scientific and creative industries.
 </li> <li>Increase the number of apprenticeships for young people, not only by stimulating greater interest from local business and public services but also by increasing awareness and understanding of the opportunities with staff in schools and with young people and their families.
 </li> <li>Research the potential for establishing more innovative choice of pathways at 14-19 that would provide not only a balanced education but also greater exposure to the workplace and develop employability skills.</li>4. Better information, advice and guidance to support learning and job choices which lead to economic opportunity<li>Share knowledge across the secondary sector of how some schools provide access to good information, advice and guidance at the right time.
 </li><li>Develop greater awareness in primary schools of the world of work and support initiatives through Think, Test and Learn.
 </li> <li>Give every student in a Camden school the opportunity to have a mentor or support from a role model.
 </li> <li>Work with schools, and draw on the expertise of Camden’s Connexions and Careers Service, STEAM and digital technology, to design a strategy that draws on recent experiences of digital technology to provide more extensive and high quality IAG for individuals.
 </li> <li>Support young people to understand and have access to the career opportunities available in Camden’s thriving tech sector, and to develop the digital skills that will support a range of future careers.</li>5. A ‘Life Futures Plan’ by for every young person at 16+ - work with schools, other providers and young people themselves to develop, pilot and roll out a format and process for developing a ‘Life Futures Plan’ for every young person by age 16.

By 2030, we will ensure that all young people leave Camden schools as knowledgeable, intellectually curious and collaborative learners who drive change for social good.

An Excellent School Experience

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1633341769/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/087d2324-e84f-4256-9fb6-29118c91136c.jpg" />By 2030, we will ensure that all young people leave Camden schools as knowledgeable, intellectually curious and collaborative learners who drive change for social good, with skills and achievements in a broad range of areas, including outstanding academic performance; and, through a relentless focus on inclusion and equity, we will improve the learning and outcomes of children from disadvantaged and vulnerable groups so there is no gap between them and national averages.There is much to admire about schools in Camden. Ofsted has judged them all to be good or better and their results are above national averages. Nevertheless, as elsewhere in the country, children from poorer families continue to perform less well than those from homes with more obvious advantages. To narrow the gap, alongside a relentless focus on improving academic performance, we also need a stronger approach to the development of broader skills. Employers prize creativity, originality, team-working, problem-solving and the ability to learn – skills that no machine can replicate. There is growing evidence that it is too often our most disadvantaged young people who do not develop the broader skills that employers need. We have identified ten priorities for development to progress this ambition. These benefit all children but give disadvantaged children in particular, access to the skills, experiences and networks that they don’t necessarily get at home. 1. A good, local school place available for every Camden child <li>Raise awareness across the system of the benefits of collaboration for deepening learning and achievement and for economies of scale.
 </li> <li>Include a discussion on future planning for collaboration on the agenda of every school’s annual Standards Meeting. 
 </li> <li>Organise training and scenario-planning workshops for headteachers and governors to develop thinking and planning.
 </li> <li>Ensure schools with potential viability issues are supported to produce an action plan, in the context of Camden’s School Places Plan, that considers a range of collaborative arrangements, including federating.
 </li> <li>Establish a task group, involving school leaders and parents across both the primary and secondary sectors, to consider ways of increasing the percentage of children transferring to Camden secondary schools at 11</li>
 2. Every child a reader by 7<li>Revisit the evidence both from this country and internationally about effective approaches to the teaching of reading but individual school context is all important, so our detailed focus will be on support for and monitoring of implementation within schools.
 </li> <li>Organise a Camden campaign to encourage a love of reading and a community of readers.
 </li> <li>Build on success in reading with a major initiative to ensure Camden children can speak and write with clarity and confidence by 11.</li> 3. Knowledgeable and skilled leaders and teachers who love working and learning in Camden <li>Continue to embed a culture of school-led improvement.
 </li> <li>Develop a distinctive and structured Camden offer of high-quality professional learning opportunities bespoke to individual schools and across schools, supporting the delivery of this strategy.
 </li> <li>Ensure Camden leaders are well supported and developed.
 </li> <li>Support, and initiate, a range of collaborations across schools to develop the quality of teaching and increase its impact on learning.
 </li> <li>Make sure that Camden Learning’s work with schools is grounded in research and evidence-informed practice, through close monitoring of the work of the Education Endowment Foundation, partnerships with a research school and with local universities, and through creating opportunities to develop teachers’ confidence in using evidence and research.
 </li> <li>Test new approaches to assessment using teacher research to support the Rethinking Assessment movement.
 </li> <li>Develop a sustainable model that enables schools to support staff wellbeing.</li> 4. An inclusive, inspiring, creative and horizon-broadening curriculum in all our schools <li>Give active support to schools in developing an inclusive, inspiring, creative and horizon-broadening curriculum, in line with our definition of the purposes of education.
 </li> <li>Share the work underway in some Camden schools who use the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to inspire others about their potential for transformational change.
 </li> <li>Share schools’ practice in tackling climate change to encourage curriculum development and student agency.
 </li> <li>Establish an initiative for students to work more creatively beyond their school walls by creating experiential opportunities to learn about the world of work or social action, including volunteering.
 </li> <li>Provide opportunities for schools to share and develop their PSHE curriculum ensuring pupils develop the knowledge, skills and attributes they need to manage their lives, now and in the future.
 </li> <li>Explore the possibility of a research project on creativity in schools with an academic partner.</li>5. Harnessing technology to improve learning, schools and our local system
<li> Continue to develop skills, confidence and the possibilities of digital technology as an enabler of learning as well as a tool to reduce staff workload and effect cost savings, through drawing on support from nationally accredited expertise in our schools and the Camden Learning Centre(CLC), as well as the findings from national research.
 </li> <li>Reduce the digital divide by focusing resources on those most in need.
 </li> <li>Develop Camden’s potential for children learning together across schools, localities and even countries, stimulating interest through Think, Test and Learn initiatives.
 </li> <li>Use Camden’s connections with tech industries through the STEAM programme to support learning, develop career opportunities and stimulate innovation.
 </li><li>Use technology to help break down the barriers to learning, through stimulating thinking and action about more imaginative models of inclusion.</li> 6. Successful transition between phases and settings for every child <li>Ensure Camden Learning’s Recovery and Renewal Plan is responsive and well-targeted to help schools support their pupils’ transition out of the pandemic. 
 </li> <li>Improve transition into schools, between phases and settings, beginning with a focused and well-researched initiative on primary to secondary.
 </li> <li>Improve support for pupils admitted in-year or in-phase using the Think, Test, Learn initiative.
 </li><li>Integrate the Transition to Adulthood initiative into the 16+ curriculum to support students’ health and wellbeing as they transition to further or higher education, training or work.</li>7. Children’s health and well-being are supported through the ethos, curriculum and practices of school life<li>Build managing health and wellbeing, especially mental health, into education recovery from Covid through joint working across health and education, building on our trauma-informed work.
 </li> <li>Continue to provide and further develop mental and healthy lifestyle improvement programmes including targeted interventions, for pupils in most need.
 </li> <li>Support teachers with pedagogical strategies to manage pupils’ learning behaviour within the classroom which recognise impact on wellbeing and mental health. 
 </li> <li>Develop approaches to food in school which link up with boroughwide work on food poverty and health.
 </li> <li>Strengthen pupils’ involvement in the development and provision of health and wellbeing approaches and activities in schools and locally.
 </li> <li>Develop a wide range of opportunities within and outside of the curriculum that inspire children and young people to be physically active, including promoting active classrooms.
 </li> <li>Engage more schools in trauma-informed practice and embed a trauma-informed approach to supporting children and young people’s wellbeing.
 </li> <li>Engage more schools in completing a review of their whole school approach to mental health and prioritising identified actions.
 </li> <li>Use the pandemic as an opportunity to review the system-wide approach to improving school attendance, linking with the work underway on children’s health, wellbeing and safety. </li>8. Ambitious, inclusive schools
<li>Recruit and develop headteachers as leaders of social justice using the definition developed in Camden.
 </li> <li>Increase the diversity of governors to better reflect the school population through targeted recruitment, training and development.
 </li> <li>Extend the work of the Anti-racism Learning Hub to all schools so they can be stimulated to review their curriculum to foster equality, participation and respect.
 </li> <li>Establish an initiative to accelerate Black, Asian and minority ethnic teachers’ leadership progression in schools and keep under tight review.
 </li> <li>Support schools through Camden Learning to review their PSHE curriculum, particularly as it relates to healthy relationships and sex education, learning from the national response to disclosure on the ‘Everyone’s Invited’ website and addressing issues such as gender-based violence and transitioning.
 </li> <li>Produce a research report capturing the work of schools in Camden accredited with the UNICEF Rights-Respecting Schools Award, in particular the impact of this initiative on:
 </li><li>Attainment and attendance</li> <li>Behaviour and well-being</li> <li>Reduction in prejudice and discriminatory attitudes</li> <li>Improved teacher recruitment and retention
 </li><li>Develop a new SEND strategy for 2022-2027 which focuses on:
 </li><li>Making our local provision the right provision in a coherent, connected, consistent system, including increased Additionally Resourced Provision in the secondary phase.</li> <li>Building knowledge, expertise and capacity right across the system to meet increasing need (e.g. autism).</li> <li>Identifying early and acting early to support children and their parents.</li> <li>Developing a revised funding mechanism, putting financial resources where they are most needed in a fair and transparent way and increasing resources in mainstream schools.
 </li><li>Support all children with SEND who have an allocated social worker through the Virtual School to support post-pandemic catch-up.</li> 9. Opportunity Centres to facilitate learning beyond the school day - Establish, in collaboration with schools and using Test and Learn, a network of Opportunity Centres operating at evenings, weekends and holidays to provide: <li>Access for secondary-age students to learning, targeted at those who most need it but with wide access.
 </li> <li>Access to technology, digital and AI learning.
 </li> <li>Small group tutoring, especially for those who need it most.
 </li> <li>Access to good information, advice and guidance.
 </li> <li>Enrichment activities to incentivise attendance and develop personal passions.</li>10. A Camden accountability framework which captures the real story of the school - trial a ‘Camden Record of Achievement’ as a new-style accountability system for schools which:<li>Recognises the value of the breadth of the education children experience.
 </li> <li>Incentivises rather than disincentivises inclusion, recognising schools’ achievements with pupils who do not show up well on exam league tables or who arrive in school late or with a more challenging journey ahead of them.
 </li> <li>Recognises success in improving children and young people’s health and wellbeing.
 </li> <li>Takes into account the views of young people, parents and teachers.
 </li> <li>Understands the importance of young people’s contribution to the community and opportunities to demonstrate leadership.</li>

Find out about Camden Conversation sessions and view recordings of past sessions.

Camden Conversations

As part of our intention to involve schools, governors and anyone else who&#39;s interested in the development of Coming Back Stronger, Camden’s new education strategy, we are arranging a series of Camden Conversations, which are designed to help us think more broadly and creatively. These sessions take place online, normally from 4pm to 5pm, fortnightly on Wednesdays. We are inviting a number of interesting speakers, practitioners and thinkers to lead these sessions. You can read more about the sessions, as well as view past recordings, below.Session 11 - Nick Brook, Deputy General Secretary of National Association of Head Teachers - 
Wednesday 7 July 2021 between 4pm-5pm<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/R0Yi2n4H9H8></iframe>Our eleventh Camden Conversation was led by Nick Brook, Deputy General Secretary of National Association of Head Teachers and will be on the topic of School Improvement. Nick has been Deputy General Secretary of NAHT since September 2016. Prior to this, he ran his own successful education consultancy. Having started his career as a primary teacher Nick has over twenty-five years’ experience of public sector delivery in central government, local government and schools. For ten years, as a Senior Civil Servant, he shaped policy and transformed delivery in some of the most high-profile, high-priority areas in Government, including the Home Office – where he led the Anti-Social Behaviour and Crime Prevention Unit; the Training and Development Agency for Schools – as Director of School Workforce Remodelling and at Ofsted, leading thematic and subject inspection and external communications. As Deputy General Secretary at NAHT, Nick leads the policy and research, press and media and organising and campaigns teams. Nick is also a member of Camden’s Education Strategy Board, which is developing Camden’s new education strategy, Building Back Stronger.Session 10 - Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design at UCL Knowledge Lab - 
Wednesday 23 June 2021 between 4pm-5pm<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/FKhu8rky56s></iframe>Our tenth Camden Conversation was led by Rose Luckin, Professor of Learner Centred Design at UCL Knowledge Lab. Her research involves blending theories from the learning sciences with techniques from Artificial Intelligence. This session for Camden will be on the topic &quot;Reaping the most benefit from AI for teaching and learning: how schools and educators can become ready?”Professor Luckin is author of Machine Learning and Human Intelligence: the future of education in the 21st century (2018); director of EDUCATE Ventures Research Limited, a London accelerator for educational technology start-ups; president of the International Society for AI in Education; co-founder of the Institute for Ethical AI in Education; member of the UK Office for Students Horizon Scanning panel; adviser to the Topol review into the NHS workforce; and one of the 20 most influential people in Education (Seldon List 2017). Session 9 - Dr Karen Edge, Reader in Educational Leadership at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) - Wednesday 9 June 2021 between 4pm-5pm<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1622018019/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/f75b916b-7f8e-4a9d-b459-eb2ba6dca369.jpg" />Our ninth Camden Conversation was led by Dr Karen Edge, Reader in Educational Leadership at UCL Institute of Education (IOE) and UCL’s Pro-Vice Provost (International) from 2016-19. Karen has conducted research in over 30 countries and is currently leading a 7-country study of teacher motivation. Karen recently completed the Global City Leaders Project which worked with Generation X (under 45-year-old) school leaders in London, New York City and Toronto. Karen is also preparing two books on Generation X leaders (Routledge) and City-based education policy contexts and the influence on school leaders (Bloomsbury). She sits on ESRC (UK) and Danish Research Review Panels and the Advisory Panel for International School Leadership Principals in Ontario. She is Past Editor-in-Chief of Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability (EAEA) and a current Editorial Board Member for EAEA, School Leadership and Management and Leadership and Policy in Schools. Prior to joining the IOE, Karen briefly served as Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister of Education in Ontario, Canada. Karen also worked as consultant/researcher at the World Bank in Washington, DC and Principal of Edge Strategy Group, a small social research-consulting firm. She completed her PhD in knowledge management and educational reform at the Ontario Institute of Education/University of Toronto. Karen is a highly sought after keynote speaker. She is known for being able to blend theory and practice with insight and humour. Session 8 - Professor Becky Francis, Chief Executive, Education Endowment Foundation - 
Wednesday 19 May 2021, 4pm-5pm<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/JvaGwEq-kgk></iframe>Our eighth Camden Conversation was called Evidence for Recovery. Professor Becky Francis (FAcSS, PhD) is Chief Executive Officer of the Education Endowment Foundation. She was previously Director of the UCL Institute of Education (IOE), which is ranked #1 in the world for education in the international QS rankings. Her prior roles include Professor of Education and Social Justice at King’s College London, Director of Education at the RSA and Standing Advisor to the Parliamentary Education Select Committee.Throughout her career, Becky has sought to maximise the impact of academic research by working closely with teachers and policy-makers. She has spearheaded high-profile research programmes assessing the impact of major reforms in the English school system on educational inequalities, and is sought out internationally as an advisor to Governments on education policy.Becky was the inaugural Charles Yidan Global Fellow at Harvard University. Her academic expertise and extensive publications centre on social identities and inequalities in educational contexts. She is best known for her body of research on social identities and educational attainment, including gender, race and social class.Session 7 - Olly Newton, Executive Director, Edge Foundation - Wednesday 5 May 2021, 4pm-5pm<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/ob3Vsro0jM8></iframe>Olly oversees Edge’s work on research, policy and Edge Future Learning. He is passionate about connecting researchers, policy makers and practitioners to learn from each other.Before Edge, he spent ten years with the Department for Education, most recently as Head of Apprenticeship Strategy. Olly is based in Sheffield where he is a governor and Enterprise Adviser for Firth Park Academy and volunteers with the Scout Association. The Edge Foundation works to inspire the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work. It believes in a broad and balanced curriculum, interactive and engaging real-world learning, high-quality technical and professional training and rich relationships between education and employers.Session 6 - Dr Lee Elliot Major, Professor of Social Mobility at the University of Exeter -
Wednesday 21 April 2021, 4pm -5pm<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/WrQOzbZ5mpk></iframe>Lee Elliot Major is Britain’s first Professor of Social Mobility, based at the University of Exeter, and formerly Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust. His session was called &#39;Apocalypse or new dawn? Social mobility and education in the post-Covid era&#39;.He has written several award-winning books including Social Mobility and Its Enemies and What Do We Know and What Should We Do About Social Mobility? , cited by the FT as one of the books of 2020.Lee is one of the most prominent public voices in national debates over fairness, education inequality and social mobility. He is the first in his family to attend higher education and lived on his own from age 15. He has served as a school governor in Camden for 20 years, currently at William Ellis School, and is a Camden parent.He was formerly a trustee of the Education Endowment Foundation, and was previously a journalist for the Guardian and THES. His current research is looking at education inequalities induced by the Covid crisis. Lee was awarded an OBE in 2019. In July 2020 he was one of 20 people named in ‘People Management&#39;s Diversity and Inclusion Power List’.He was recently made a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is an Associate Member of Nuffield College, University of Oxford, an Associate of LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance, a Visiting Fellow at the LSE’s International Inequalities Institute. He is also an Honorary Professor at the UCL Institute of Education. He is a trustee of the Ted Wragg Trust.Session 5: Wednesday 24 March 2021, 4pm-5pm
 
Louise Stoll, Professor of Professional Learning at UCL and Bill Lucas, Professor of Learning at University of Winchester and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning (CRL)<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/S3Cvs-W4G4M></iframe>Louise Stoll PhD FAcSS FRSA is Professor of Professional Learning at University College London’s Institute of Education and an international consultant. Her research and development activity focuses on how schools, local and national systems create capacity for learning in a changing world, with particular emphasis on professional learning communities and learning networks, creative leadership and leadership development. Among recent projects, she led a study of successful teaching schools for England’s Teaching School Councils and a national knowledge exchange project, working with middle (teacher) leaders. She has also evaluated progress towards an evidence-based teaching system for England’s Department for Education, and has synthesised the findings of teaching school alliances’ R&amp;D national theme projects for the National College for Teaching and Leadership.Louise was named as one of The Sunday Times’ 500 2016 most influential people in Britain. She is a former President of the International Congress for School Effectiveness and Improvement (ICSEI), Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences, and expert to the OECD, contributing to its Innovative Learning Environments, Transforming Schools into Learning Organisations, Improving School Leadership, and Evaluation and Assessment initiatives.Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning (CRL). He founded CRL in 2008, together with Prof. Guy Claxton.In 2017, Bill was appointed by the OECD as co-chair of the strategic advisory group for the 2021 PISA test of Creative Thinking, which will draw on the work of the CRL. In 2018, he was invited to join the Durham Commission on Creativity in Education as an academic adviser and was subsequently co-author of its first report in 2019. He is currently curating a new online platform, Creativity Exchange, for Arts Council England. Bill is an international adviser to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority in Australia, to Vinnvard in Sweden and to the OECD/CERI research into critical and creative thinking in France. Bill is Director of Learning for the Fellowship Programme of THIS, the new Healthcare Studies Institute at the University of Cambridge.With Guy Claxton he is the creator of one of the biggest teacher researcher groups in the world, the Expansive Education Network. Bill is co-founder of Rethinking Assessment, a movement arguing for a major overhaul of the assessment system in England.Session 4: Peter Hyman, Co-Director of Big Education and Co-Founder and First Head Teacher of School 21 - Wednesday 10 March 2021<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/w4PEV4KRoYQ></iframe>Peter is the co-founder and the first head teacher of School 21, a pioneering 4-18 school that opened in Stratford, East London in 2012. The school has a growing reputation for developing oracy (speaking) skills having set up Voice 21, a charity working with more than 400 schools across the country. It has also developed sophisticated programmes for real-world learning and well-being.Peter Hyman and the other co-founders of School 21 held a shared belief that education must be done differently if we are to prepare young people properly for the world they are going into. Their conviction was that we needed schools to rebalance head (academic success), heart (character and well-being) and hand (generating ideas, problem solving, making a difference).School 21 has developed a series of pedagogies and approaches that give students the chance to find their voice, develop deep knowledge and understanding, and create beautiful work that has real value beyond the classroom.For nine years to 2003, Peter worked as a strategist and speechwriter to the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. He left to become a teaching assistant in a challenging Islington school, before training as a history teacher and working his way up to become a head teacher. He is author of 1 out of 10, from Downing Street Vision to Classroom Reality. Peter recently wrote an article for the Observer newspaper, which was published on Sunday 7 March 2021, called <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/07/enough-of-the-lost-generation-instead-lets-reimagine-school-for-our-children">&quot;Enough of the ‘lost generation’. Instead, let’s reimagine school for our children&quot;</a> 
 Session 3: Children&#39;s Rights in Schools: Getting it right and avoiding the pitfalls - 24 February 2021

By Lee Jerome, Associate Professor of Education at Middlesex UniversityDuring the session, Lee shared international research evidence about the impact of children&#39;s rights education (CRE) and highlighted the benefits for children and teachers. He offered a series of benchmarks for good practice to illustrate the implications of CRE for whole-school policy, curriculum planning, teaching and community relations. As well as highlighting these successes, he also covered some of the common pitfalls experienced by others which teachers might fruitfully plan to avoid.<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/Oy1N4aRCrXY></iframe>Session 2 : Andy Sprakes, Executive Principal of XP School in Doncaster - Wednesday 10 February 2021 XP is part of a broader campus with a primary school and another secondary school. The leadership of all 3 schools work closely together. Rather than being taught separate subjects in different classes, XP students complete term-long learning expeditions. Within these, students create products, services or presentations that are exhibited at the end of the expedition to their parents and the audience the project relates to. Expeditions are created by teachers to address a real issue that students can relate to and invest in personally. They all have academic rigour and are designed to cover many standards of the National Curriculum in depth. Expeditions are designed around real-world issues and problems, and their students work to effect positive change in their communities. Students are engaged and motivated by understanding that their learning has relevance, meaning and purpose.<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/wHRE_54OHsk></iframe>If you&#39;re interested in finding out more about XP School, the links below will take you to YouTube videos which provide more information on their approaches to:<li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t9EaMRncdg">Video on XP School - Expeditions</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j_EJfWeP8A">Video on XP School - Crew</a> </li>Session 1: Coming Back Stronger: Camden Conversations - Ed Vainker, CEO, Reach Foundation - Wednesday 27 January 2020The Reach Academy Feltham is a mixed, non-selective, non-denominational all-through academy for 2- to 18-year-olds. It’s a small school which puts personal relationships, flexibility and the children at the heart of everything it does. It invests heavily in training in attachment theory and describes itself as an ‘attachment-aware school’. It also employs staff and external services specifically to support pupil, parent and staff mental health and physical well-being, in the knowledge that healthy lifestyles and clear expectations around food, exercise and routines such as sleep, will ensure excellent learning for the children. The Reach Children’s Hub seeks to bring about change from ‘cradle to career’ by ‘catalysing collective action and delivering transformational programmes’. It begins to work with parents at the antenatal stage and the Hub&#39;s support will extend to young adults through their post-school destinations. The Hub also aims to have a wider impact in Feltham by increasing local provision accessible to all, integrating and co-locating services, supporting local organisations and strengthening the community.<iframe src=https://www.youtube.com/embed/0GIrM5L_RV4></iframe>

We want to invite everyone with an interest in education in Camden to contribute their ideas, energy and inspiration as part of the consultation.

Consultation Questions

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1634631844/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/b769384a-da41-486b-9916-d8183c01d3d3.jpg" />Camden’s draft education strategy, Building Back Stronger, has been developed jointly by the Council and Camden Learning. As we come out of the pandemic, this represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to refresh our ambitions for our education system in Camden. Now is the time to reflect on how we can build on the strengths that have sustained education during the pandemic and address the many challenges it has revealed. We are holding a six-week, public consultation on the strategy, which runs from Friday 22 October until Monday 6 December 2021. We want to invite everyone with an interest in education in Camden to contribute their ideas, energy and inspiration as part of the consultation.Camden’s schools have been on the front line, working tirelessly in very difficult circumstances to respond to the pandemic and mitigate its effects. At the same time, they have also faced a range of further challenges, including falling pupil numbers, rising numbers of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and a difficult financial climate.The draft strategy’s name, Building Back Stronger, reflects a shared determination to deliver a radical and genuinely local response to these challenges, built on our common values. It affirms the transformative power of education and its potential to combat inequalities, ensuring that no child is left behind. It also reflects our collective conviction that a truly local education system, with schools rooted in their local communities and collaborating for the benefit of all Camden pupils, offers the best chance for our young people to thrive. We have reflected on the fundamental purposes of education. What sort of education will foster young people’s abilities to stretch themselves to achieve the highest standards, to be confident in themselves, to lead happy and fulfilling lives, to find rewarding work and contribute positively to society? Furthermore, the draft strategy promotes the importance of a system rooted in both excellence and equity. These are not competing ideals. A system which is better for disadvantaged children is better for everyone. We welcome all responses to the draft strategy, either to parts of it or the whole thing. However, at the bottom of this page, we have produced eleven consultation questions, some general but most very specific, which you might prefer to respond to below. Please note that if you answer the questions below, your comments will be publicly available on this site. Please do not include any personal information in your answers . If you prefer, you can also email us your comments to <a href="http://comingbackstronger@camden.gov.uk.">comingbackstronger@camden.gov.uk.</a> Before answering these questions, we would encourage you to read either the <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/camdeneducationstrategy/Building%20Back%20Stronger_Summary%20Final.pdf">summary version</a> or <a href="https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/commonplace-customer-assets/camdeneducationstrategy/Final%20Building%20Back%20Stronger%2014%20October.pdf">full version</a> of the strategy. *Please note, we will also be renewing our Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) strategy in 2022. If you have further ideas and suggestions relating to Camden’s SEND provision or would like to be added to the mailing list for more information on the SEND strategy development, please email <a href="http://sendstrategy@camden.gov.uk">sendstrategy@camden.gov.uk</a> .

Find out about upcoming consultation events.

Consultation events

<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1635512162/projects/camdeneducationstrategy/5814c3b8-965a-4c9d-b87e-039b796588e4.jpg" />Please see below for the details of upcoming public consultation events.In-person events<li>Pop-up event at Swiss Cottage Library - Monday 8 November 2021 between 10am-12pm</li> <li>Pop-up event at St Pancras and Somers Town Living Centre - Wednesday 24 November 2021 between 5pm-6pm</li>Everyone is welcome to pop into either of these events at any point during the sessions, to find out more about Camden&#39;s new draft Education Strategy, Building Back Stronger, and share your views on the strategy.Online eventsThere will be three online events, held via Zoom, as part of the consultation on the new education strategy. These sessions will offer you the chance to hear more about the strategy, as well as to ask questions and feed back your thoughts and suggestions. The sessions will all cover the same information, so please just choose the date that best suits your schedule. The sessions will be held on:<li>Online Event 1 - Monday 15 November 2021 between 6:30pm and 7:30pm</li> <li>Online Event 2 - Thursday 18 November 2021 between 10am and 11am</li> <li>Online Event 3 - Thursday 25 November 2021 between 4pm-5pm</li>To book your place, please email <a href="http://comingbackstronger@camden.gov.uk,">comingbackstronger@camden.gov.uk,</a> quoting the date of the session you would like to attend and what your connection is to education in Camden, e.g. teacher, governor, parent or carer.

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Camden Conversations

[Archived] Consultation Questions

[Archived] Consultation events