The Committee will have the opportunity to learn about initiatives to promote educational aspiration in primary school.

The Committee received a presentation from Rebecca Abrahams (Headteacher - St Luke’s CE Primary School) and Sara Haynes (Headteacher - Arnhem Wharf Primary School) on the work being undertaken to promote educational aspiration in primary school.

The main points of the discussion may be summarised below:

The Committee noted that:

·         The promotion of educational aspiration in primary schools is about what is needed to help the young people to move along that path and that both St Luke’s and Arnhem Wharf have high expectations for all the students and believe in the children and their families;

·         The partnership with families is the key and developing the essential skills on the importance of issues such as regular attendance and information for parents on learning themselves whether it be language skills; personal budgeting or helping parents apply for jobs;

·         There is also the skill and care in keeping the curriculum very rich and recognition that every child has a talent. Therefore, there is lot of investment in not just the core subjects but also an understanding the role that sport and the arts play in a child’s development;

·         When working with children whose parents have provided them with rich experiences they are more likely to engage in lifelong learning through a broad and balanced curriculum; 

·         There are a number of pupils needing work to overcome adversity as some children need support e.g. emotional wellbeing and resilience to thrive and not just survive;

·         It is important to develop oral and well as the written skills so that they can present their views to their peers and adults which will enable them to develop the knowledge that their views matter;

·         The partnerships that have been developed over a number of years such as the mentoring schemes have improved children’s self-esteem.  There partnerships are important such as the Dragons Den project with HSBC Bank plc where children in teams had to develop a business plan and present to a group of senior HSBC executives.  Through such partnerships the children are able to learn from the very best and to raise their aspirations as to what they can achieve;

·         A big challenge is how to address what has happened in the children’s first 3-4 years of life and that the families need to access services that can help them to give their children the best start in life;

·         St Luke’s and Arnhem Wharf both have a high degree of turnover that presents a challenge.  This has arisen because there are surplus places in other parts of Tower Hamlets and families move around the borough but he schools are working to minimise that happening;

·         It is the Heads duty to reach out for assistance and when they have the help received is of a high quality and in Tower Hamlets there is considerable a sharing of best practice and working together to share for the benefit of the children;

·         The Tower Hamlets Education Partnership (THEP) provides a highly successful collaboration that has characterised and underpinned education in Tower Hamlets over the last two decades. Tower Hamlets schools operate as a family to support, challenge and encourage each other in their determination to do the very best for every child. Member schools have access to a rich membership and a strong model of school improvement. THEP whilst independent of the Local Authority works closely with it and is supported by it. It also works closely with a range of other local organisations who give local children and young people the best possible start in life.

·         There are now fewer resources than before to facilitate early intervention, information sharing and planning across services for babies /children under the age of 5 years regarding their learning/development and or physical/medical needs;

·         Most schools do provide pastoral support for pupils and also have external business teaching mentors to help with self-development;

·         Help is available for those families seeking an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan or EHCP) for a child. Although the EHCP process is time consuming and this is compounded by pupil mobility and in year transfers with pupils arriving mid-year without an EHCP; and

·         As some parents have self-selected schools outside of the established community of schools this has had an impact on schools when children move to non-LA Schools.  As such schools are not always part of the THEP and it is important to work collaboratively within the family of local schools.