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Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee - Monday, 24th February, 2025 6.30 pm

February 24, 2025 View on council website
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Summary

This meeting is scheduled to include a range of updates and reports on performance across Camden schools and children’s services and the implementation of Camden’s Education Strategy 1 and Local Area SEND Strategy. 2

School Achievement & Standards

A report pack has been provided for discussion that includes a detailed analysis of Camden school performance in 2023-24, with comparisons to previous years and to national and London averages where available. 3

The report pack contains summaries of published school outcomes from 2023-24 for:

  • The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)
  • Year 1 Phonics screening check
  • Key Stage 2
  • Key Stage 4
  • Key Stage 5

The report pack also includes information on:

  • Ofsted inspection outcomes
  • School attendance
  • Suspensions

The report pack notes that:

Camden schools continue to face multiple challenges. During the last year, these have included supporting increasing numbers of pupils presenting high needs at a time when falling pupil rolls have impacted school budgets, and an ongoing recruitment challenge particularly in certain specialist subjects. The legacy of the 2020 pandemic can still be seen, particularly in school attendance, also pupil mental health and well-being.

Key Stage 4 Attainment 8 scores 4 are reported as being slightly higher than the national average but lower than the London average.

The report pack says:

Whilst outcomes at Secondary continue to be above national averages, stronger performance at Key Stage 4 is needed to benchmark Camden better against our London statistical neighbours.

Camden's Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Strategy

A report pack has been provided for discussion about the implementation of the Local Area SEND Strategy, published in 2022, which outlines work undertaken in 2024 to deliver the Strategy’s commitments. 5

The report pack says:

During the last year, we have made significant progress in the delivery of the ambitions of the strategy, including increased investment in a number of areas. This is the second year of delivery of our five-year strategy and the scale of the ambition of the reform we are undertaking means that there is still considerable work to do.

The report pack notes an increase in the number of children and young people in Camden with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) 6

The report says:

Between January 2024 and January 2025, the number of children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) has increased from 1,532 to 1,609 and the number receiving Exceptional Needs Grants (ENG) has increased from 200 to 288.

The report pack details the SEND partnership’s key priorities for the rest of the strategy period, up to 2027, which are:

  • Strengthening inclusion in settings
  • Developing excellent provision and services
  • Empowering families through collaborative support
  • Achieving excellence in SEND

Cabinet Member Updates

Best Start for Children and Families

Councillor Marcus Boyland, Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families is scheduled to provide a short update to the Committee on some of the key pieces of work in his portfolio. This report pack includes information on:

  • The Children's Trust Partnership Board meeting in November 2024 which focussed on school attendance. The report pack notes that:

    Rounding off the meeting, partners discussed practical actions across the system, including health, social care, schools and VCS, to raise awareness of school attendance and work to improve it.

  • Camden’s response to a call for evidence for the national Curriculum and Assessment Review. The report pack says:

    Our submission argued that the current curriculum is not flexible enough to ensure that children with SEND attending mainstream schools receive a broad, balanced, and appropriate education that meets their needs.

  • The launch in November 2024 of the London AI Campus 7 in Somers Town. The report pack says:

  • An update on the School Estates report.

    Key to this is an understanding of our education estate at the widest level. We have established a Schools Capital Board that brings together services within the council with relevance to school buildings this includes, Education, Planning and Development, Asset management, facilities and maintenance and Capital programmes.

Jobs, Young People & Culture

Councillor Sabrina Francis, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture is also scheduled to provide a short update on work across her portfolio, specifically focussing on youth participation and engagement. This report pack includes information about:

  • Youth Celebration Week (December 2-6 2024).
  • Feedback from a young ambassador from the Young Camden Foundation on their attendance at the Youth Safety Steering Group meeting.
  • Successes in young people’s participation and engagement in 2024, including: Peer Advocates; the Honest Grind Coffee Project; Camden Summer University; and the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Cabinet Member Response on SEND Provision

The Committee is scheduled to discuss Councillor Boyland’s response to the recommendations made in the October 2024 report which investigated the effectiveness of SEND provision in Camden. 8

The report pack says:

The findings of this investigation revealed that there were areas where provision was not meeting families’ needs and expectations. They found that many of the issues faced locally are national and driven by insufficient resource and increases in demand and need.

Councillor Boyland is scheduled to report back to the committee on the actions that will be taken to meet the recommendations made in the report.

  1. Building Back Stronger, Camden's Education Strategy to 2030, was published in 2022 and can be found here: https://democracy.camden.gov.uk/documents/s110242/Appendix+2+-+Building+Back+Stronger+Camden+Education+Strategy.pdf ↩

  2. Camden’s Local Area SEND Strategy 2022 – 2027, can be found here: https://democracy.camden.gov.uk/documents/s110243/Appendix+3+-+Camden+Local+Area+SEND+Strategy+2022+-+2027.pdf ↩

  3. The full report pack, which was provided to the committee for the meeting on the 24th of February 2025, can be found here: Public reports pack 24th-Feb-2025 18.30 Children Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee ↩

  4. Attainment 8 is a measure used in England to track pupil progress between the end of primary school and the end of secondary school. It is based on pupils' achievements across eight qualifications, including English and maths which are double-weighted, and a range of other subjects including sciences, computer science, history, geography and languages. ↩

  5. Camden’s Local Area SEND Strategy 2022 – 2027, can be found here: https://democracy.camden.gov.uk/documents/s110243/Appendix+3+-+Camden+Local+Area+SEND+Strategy+2022+-+2027.pdf ↩

  6. An EHCP is a legal document that sets out the special educational needs of a child or young person and the support that they need to achieve their educational goals. It is drawn up by the local authority, in consultation with the child's parents, the school or other educational setting, and other professionals involved in the child's care and support. ↩

  7. The London AI Campus, in partnership with Google, is located in Somers Town. This pilot project offers students access to cutting-edge digital education and AI learning. ↩

    Camden Learning has developed this Campus, in partnership with Google and we were honoured to have the support of the Prime Minister and our local MP, Keir Starmer 9 at this ground-breaking space offering young people access to cutting-edge digital education and AI learning.

  8. The Scrutiny Panel was made up of elected members and co-opted members of the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee. The report, which investigated the effectiveness of provision for meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND in Camden, can be found here: Printed minutes 14012025 1830 Children Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee ↩

  9. Sir Keir Starmer is the Leader of the Labour Party and MP for Holborn and St Pancras. ↩

Attendees

Documents