Families invited to help shape the future of education in Hackney

Hackney Council is looking for parents’ opinions on the future of education in the borough, as part of the work on a new strategy highlighting the borough’s top priorities for the next three years. 

Parents and carers from all of Hackney’s diverse communities are invited to express their interest and take part in one of the early engagement activities due to begin this term by filling out a short form by 30 March. 

The aim of the new strategy is to find ways to develop an education offer that is strong, fair, child-focused, anti-racist and inclusive. It will focus on working together with families, schools, settings and other partners to build long term plans, making the most of the available resources. Listening to residents is at the heart of the work to build the strategy, so that the Council can adapt quickly and respond to their changing needs and challenges.

Hackney has incredible schools, and we want to do more to help them all shine and show the great work they do. We have seen vast improvement in the quality of education in Hackney - but there is still much to do. Our challenge now is to ensure that we maintain the quality education that our children deserve, while offering the necessary support to meet all our children’s needs.

At the heart of our new strategy is the ambition to find the best possible ways to use our resources to help our families and children thrive, and offer our talented staff the support and tools they need to serve their communities. Once finalised, the strategy will outline the ways in which we plan to prioritise our limited resources so that we can offer the best possible start in life for our children.

We encourage parents and carers to join us to find out more about our plans, and have their say in shaping our strategy for the future of Hackney’s education.”

Cllr Anntoinette Bramble, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Education, Young People and Children's Social Care

The strategy will be built around a series of priorities, including:

• Providing the right help at the right time for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Attention will be put in particular on early help and inclusion, offering increasing levels of support for children that do not receive suitable education in mainstream schools due to exclusion, illness or other reasons.
• Building a strong, sustainable and financially viable education offer. Schools, early years settings and other providers will be encouraged to work together and share lessons learned and resources where possible, in area-based partnerships adjusted to local needs.
• Helping all children achieve their dreams and passions. This includes listening to and working with families to help reduce the gaps for children from disadvantaged communities.

The work on the education strategy is in response to the increasingly complex challenges that Hackney is facing, including:

• A drastic fall in the number of children, with some communities particularly affected
• A significant increase increase in the number of pupils with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) 
• High number of exclusions in local secondary schools
• Financial challenges 
• Difficulty in finding qualified staff due to the rising cost of living

Parents and carers interested to find out more and have their say are invited to fill in the form by 30 March. 

The Council is preparing a series of events to engage with all interested audiences, including schools and settings, partner organisations, families and children and young people. The feedback gathered will be taken into account when shaping the final draft version of the strategy.

The Council will publish the draft strategy later this year.