This meeting was scheduled to receive updates about a range of services provided to children, young people and families in Camden. Topics included how the Council and Camden Learning were scheduled to support schools in meeting the needs of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, in improving school attendance, and how they had been supporting children in care. The meeting was also scheduled to receive an update about the performance of Camden schools, including test and examinations results for the 2023-24 academic year. The information below is taken from the report pack provided to attendees for the meeting and does not provide an account of what was actually discussed, or whether any decisions were actually made.

Camden’s SEND Strategy Year 2 Progress Report

The meeting was scheduled to receive Camden’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy Year 2 Progress Report. ¹

The report scheduled to be received describes a number of initiatives scheduled to be undertaken, or considered, by the Council and its partners in response to the increasing number of children and young people identified with SEND in Camden. These included:

• A number of areas of increased investment were scheduled to be discussed. These included £2.5 million in capital grants to adapt school buildings for pupils with SEND, £1.3 million on restructuring the SEND and Inclusion team, and £625k per annum in a redesigned neurodiversity diagnostic pathway. [^3]
• The report scheduled to be received describes a number of initiatives scheduled to be undertaken to strengthen inclusion in mainstream schools in Camden, and to improve the provision of services across the partnership. These included the introduction of service standards for the SEND and Inclusion team, a refreshed Local Offer website, and work with Camden schools to provide a more detailed School Report.
• The meeting was scheduled to receive information about a range of training and support scheduled to be offered to schools and settings, to enable them to better meet the needs of pupils with SEND. These included the Autism Education Trust (AET) training and the Partnerships in Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) pilot.
  
• The meeting was also scheduled to receive an update on the impact of the Rebuilding Bridges programme, which had been working to enable children and young people with social, emotional and mental health needs (SEMH) and/or Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) to have their needs met in mainstream education and universal services.
• The report scheduled to be received describes how the council was working to make it easier for families to access the services and support they needed to support children and young people with SEND into adulthood. This included a review of the annual review process, regular preparing for adulthood events, and support into employment and training.

Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families’ Response on the Investigation into the Effectiveness of Children SEND Provision in Camden

The meeting was also scheduled to receive the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families' response on the investigation into the effectiveness of children SEND provision in Camden. ²

The report scheduled to be received provided a response to the recommendations made by the SEND Provision Scrutiny Panel. It describes how:

• the Council had started to address the panel’s recommendation to “ensure funding follows inclusion” by making an interim change to the funding formula for Camden mainstream schools. The report scheduled to be received says that this would result in schools receiving more of their devolved funding upfront, rather than through the ‘top up’ approach of proportionality funding.
• the Council was responding to the recommendation to improve relationships between partners by using the newly created Centre for Relational Practice to strengthen opportunities for workforce development.
• the Council was making sure that School Reports gave a rounded and nuanced picture of each school’s SEND offer.
• the Council would be reviewing the provision of advisory and support services for children and young people, and their families in mainstream schools in 2025. This would include consideration of an all-service, multi-disciplinary outreach team.
• the Council would be reviewing post 16 education provision in 2026, to ensure that it was improving outcomes for Camden residents, and exploring the sufficiency and effectiveness of the provision for pupils post-18.
• the Council would be re-commissioning Additionally Resourced Provisions (ARPs) and Special School places, to ensure local provision matched local needs.
• The Council was also scheduled to report back on a number of other actions to be taken to meet the panel’s recommendations, including: strengthening inclusive mainstream practice by working with schools to coproduce a toolkit, making sure that the Local Offer provided clear and accessible information about ordinarily available provision in schools, and working with voluntary agencies to improve the provision of good quality after school and holiday clubs for children with SEND.

Update of the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families

The meeting was scheduled to receive an update from the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families. ³

The update scheduled to be received describes how:

• the Cabinet Member had been pleased to host the last Children Trust Partnership Board ⁴ meeting of 2024, which had focused on school attendance and inclusion.
• the Council had submitted its response to the government's national Curriculum and Assessment Review. ⁵ This had highlighted the barriers and opportunities presented by the current curriculum and assessment systems for pupils with SEND.
• the Cabinet Member had been proud to attend the launch of the London AI Campus in Somers Town. ⁶ This had been developed by Camden Learning in partnership with Google and is providing post-16 students with access to cutting-edge digital education and AI learning.
• the Council would be coordinating a cross-service response to understand demand for school places across the borough.

School Achievement & Standards Report 2023-24

The meeting was scheduled to receive the Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Summary Report 2023-24. ⁷

The report scheduled to be received sets out Camden Learning’s analysis of school performance data for the 2023-24 academic year. The report pack included two appendices, one setting out the analysis of school performance data, and the other reporting on the implementation of Camden's education strategy Building Back Stronger.

Camden Learning Achievement and Standards Summary Report 2023-24

This appendix provides Camden Learning’s analysis of school performance data for the 2023-24 academic year. It covers the following aspects of school performance:

Ofsted

The report scheduled to be received says that during the 2023-24 academic year, 25 schools in Camden had been inspected by Ofsted, and that all of these schools had been judged to be either Good or Outstanding. The schools inspected included:

• Seventeen primary schools - Eleanor Palmer, Holy Trinity NW3, Brookfield, St Eugene de Mazenod, Christ Church Hampstead, Kingsgate, Primrose Hill, Rhyl, St Josephs, Fitzjohn’s, Netley Primary School and Centre for Autism, St George the Martyr, Hawley, Kentish Town, Torriano, Emmanuel, and St Albans.
• Three secondary schools – Acland Burghley, The UCL Academy, and Parliament Hill.
• One special school – Children's Hospital School at Great Ormond Street and University College Hospital (UCH).
• Three Pupil Referral Units ⁸ – Camden Primary Pupil Referral Unit, The ArtsXchange, and Heath School.
• One Nursery school – Thomas Coram Centre.

Early Years Foundation Stage

The report scheduled to be received says that in 2024, 70% of pupils in Camden achieved a good level of development (GLD) in the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP). ⁹ This is the statutory assessment for pupils in reception, measuring whether children are meeting expected levels of development in a range of areas including literacy, mathematics, and personal, social and emotional development.

The report scheduled to be received also says that the proportion of pupils achieving GLD in Camden was higher than the national average, but lower than the average for London. It highlights that writing remained the weakest outcome area across Camden.

Phonics

The report scheduled to be received says that provisional data showed that 84% of Year 1 pupils in Camden had met the expected standard in the phonics screening check. This is the statutory assessment which measures whether pupils can decode words using phonics. ¹⁰

The report scheduled to be received says that results in Camden were higher than the national average. It also says that Camden ranked 11th out of 150 local authorities for the performance of pupils in the Year 1 check and that the gap between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils had narrowed.

Key Stage 2

The report scheduled to be received says that 72% of pupils in Camden had achieved the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics at Key Stage 2, the end of primary school. The report scheduled to be received says that this is above both the national and London averages, and that the proportion of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in Camden was significantly higher than the national average. The report scheduled to be received says that Camden ranked 8th in the country for Key Stage 2 outcomes.

Key Stage 4

The report scheduled to be received says that Camden ranked 43rd nationally and 25th in London for Attainment 8 scores. ¹¹

The report scheduled to be received highlights that while Camden’s Attainment 8 score was slightly higher than the national average, it was lower than the average for London. It also says that there were gaps between boys and girls and between disadvantaged and non-disadvantaged pupils. It also says that Progress 8 scores, which measure how much progress pupils made from the end of primary school to the end of secondary school, had fallen in Camden. ¹²

Key Stage 5

The report scheduled to be received says that A-level results in Camden had improved in 2024 and that Camden schools had performed in line with national and London averages. It also says that there were still gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers.

Absence

The report scheduled to be received says that absence rates at Camden’s primary schools had increased to 5.7% in the autumn and spring terms of 2024-25, and that persistent absence had fallen to 17.7%. ¹³

Suspensions & Exclusions

The report scheduled to be received says that, in Camden secondary schools, 6.0% of pupils had received one or more suspensions in the 2023-24 academic year. It also says that there had been 26 permanent exclusions from Camden secondary schools in 2023-24.

Building Back Stronger Annual Report 2024

This appendix provides a review of the implementation of Camden’s Education Strategy Building Back Stronger, which was published in 2022. ¹⁴

The report scheduled to be received provided a summary of progress that had been made on a range of actions included in the strategy, including:

A Fair Start

This part of the strategy focuses on giving all Camden children the best possible start, enabling them to thrive and be ready to learn in school. It describes how the Council was working to achieve this, including by:

• Providing eight health visitor contacts for all Camden families during their child’s first 1001 days, through the Best Start for Baby service.
• Expanding the Camden Kids Talk project to primary school nursery classes. This project aims to improve communication, speech and language for all Camden children from pregnancy to age 5.
• Developing the coordination of early years services through locality teams centred around schools, to better establish schools as key gateways for support, help and guidance.
• Supporting vulnerable and disadvantaged families, with the aim of improving life chances and raising children’s attainment while narrowing the disadvantage gap. The Council is working to achieve this through a range of initiatives such as family learning courses and the Winch Community project.

An Excellent School Experience

This part of the strategy focuses on ensuring that all children in Camden have an excellent experience of education. It describes how the Council was working to achieve this, including by:

• Supporting schools to consider a range of strategic collaborative arrangements, including federating, to maintain their quality and viability in response to the challenge of falling pupil rolls.
• Working with schools to develop a major initiative to help ensure that all Camden children are readers by the age of 7, through the Every Child Reading by 7 (ECR7) project.
• Using school-led and peer expertise to nurture, develop and retain Camden teachers. The report scheduled to be received says that this had included opportunities to share practice through the Camden Primary Maths Hub and SEND Hub, and by providing professional learning opportunities through the Primary and Secondary Subject Networks.
• Encouraging Camden’s primary and secondary schools to develop an inclusive, inspiring, creative, and horizon-broadening curriculum. The report scheduled to be received highlights that this had been particularly evident through music and arts education.
• Addressing the digital divide, which became apparent during the pandemic, through the three-year Digital Learning Plan.
• Helping to ensure that all children receive the support they need during critical transition periods, from nursery into reception and from primary to secondary school.
  
• Supporting the wellbeing of children and young people through the ethos, curriculum and practices of school life. The report scheduled to be received says that this had included work to embed the Trauma Informed Practice (TIPiC) approach across Camden’s schools.
• Strengthening the system-wide approach to improving school attendance in Camden. This included investing in additional resources to support schools, ensuring consistency in data collection and working with schools to develop effective communication strategies.
• Developing an ambitious, inclusive system by supporting Camden schools in becoming accredited with the Rights Respecting Schools Award.
• Working to ensure that Camden’s local SEND provision is the right provision. This included redesigning the SEND and Inclusion service to make it more relational and responsive.
• Developing a school-led network of high technology learning venues – Opportunity Centres – to provide secondary school age students with access to learning resources, technology and enrichment activities.
• Developing a new model of accountability – the Camden School Report – which aims to provide a more rounded and fuller picture of each school than Ofsted reports.

Flourishing Lives

This part of the strategy focuses on helping all young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to move into adulthood as confident lifelong learners, able to relate well to others, drive change for social good and making progress towards fulfilling lives. It describes how the Council was working to achieve this, including by:

• Encouraging schools to adopt the Rights Respecting Schools framework.
• Providing opportunities for young people and teachers to engage with sustainability and green skills, including through the Climate Connectors project.
• Developing authentic approaches to youth voice and participation.

• Improving post-16 education in Camden. This included the launch of the first Camden T Level Curriculum, with three schools offering T Levels ¹⁵ in 2024.

• Supporting Camden students in applying to elite universities. This included working with local schools to share their existing practice, and by enabling 100 Camden students to take part in the Future Leaders programme.

• Providing opportunities for young people to experience the world of work, especially through the Camden STEAM initiative.

• Developing a stronger, more coherent approach to careers education. This included the launch of the Camden Post-16 Prospectus and providing opportunities for students to be mentored by professionals.

• Supporting schools in developing their work in tackling climate change. This included providing guidance for schools to develop climate action plans and enabling them to connect with local businesses through the Climate Connectors project.

Update of the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People & Culture

The meeting was scheduled to receive an update from the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture. ¹⁶

This update scheduled to be received describes how the Council had been working with young people during 2024. It highlights the following:

• Youth Celebration Week ran from Monday 2 to Friday 6 December. This included a series of events and activities designed to empower young people and to promote their voices. The events included the launch of a Youth Safety Multimedia Competition, a Youth Mission event at Somers Town Youth Hub, a Youth Assembly focused on young women and safety, and the Camden Youth Awards.
• The Youth Safety Steering Group met in December to discuss ways of improving youth safety in Camden. The meeting was attended by a young ambassador from the Young Camden Foundation. ¹⁷
• A range of successes in young people’s participation and engagement were scheduled to be discussed, including: the recruitment of Peer Advocates for the Youth Justice Service and the Youth Early Help service, the success of the Honest Grind Coffee Project, the Camden Summer University and the Duke of Edinburgh Award programme.

Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee’s Work Programme and Action Tracker 2024/25

Finally, the meeting was scheduled to receive an update on the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee’s work programme and action tracker 2024/25. ¹⁸

The report scheduled to be received listed a number of actions that had been requested by the committee from officers during previous meetings. It also provided information about the topics scheduled to be covered in the committee’s remaining meetings during the year, and listed some of the topics provisionally scheduled to be discussed in the following year.