Harrow Council’s children’s services are officially in the top 25% of all councils in the country. Ofsted praised Harrow Council’s “sharp focus on improving outcomes for children” and said Harrow Council are rated as ‘Good; which is the second highest rating.
Every Council’s number one priority is the safety, welfare and well-being of its children. We have promised the residents of Harrow that this Council will deliver better outcomes, with less money – and that is exactly what we are doing.
The result upgrades Harrow’s rating – considered “adequate” in 2012 – despite cuts to councils’ central funding, and new, tougher, criteria at Ofsted that have seen little more than a quarter of councils assessed receive a “Good” rating or better. The rating has proved that we are making absolutely the right decisions about where to put our effort and spend our shrinking resources.
Harrow’s social workers were complimented for their tenacity, knowledge and effectiveness; adoption and fostering services and services for care leavers were among those particularly singled out as “Good”; and councillors and managers were praised for “strong and effective” leadership. The front line staff deserve the credit most of all, and I want to thank them. The services we offer to the children in the borough are diverse, from children’s centres and youth services to fostering, adoption and safeguarding.
One of our key area of focus has been the school expansion programme, which is on track to deliver sufficient school places for children in Harrow. One of the latest schools to be expanded is Priestmead School. The school opened their new building in spectacular style, with an explosion of colour in the playground marking Holi Festivities on the same day. Gone are the red bricks and 1930s style building and today stands a modern and energy-efficient building. The 13 month joint project between Harrow Council, the Education Funding Agency, KIER and contractors finished earlier this year. The school, which opened on 13 March, now enjoys improved play space, larger classrooms and a community hall, better catering facilities and eco credentials. With 210 new school places created, the school aims to take almost 900 pupils by 2020.
Our ambition now is to strive towards achieving “outstanding”, even though our constantly decreasing funding and the national funding formula will be an impediment. 95% of Harrow’s maintained schools are judged to be good or outstanding by Ofsted. But the proposed school funding formula is expected to severely affect Harrow schools, with some losing up to £500 per pupil. Harrow is known for its excellent schools and funding cuts would jeopardise the high education standards.
With reduced funding our schools would struggle to give children a good education due to larger classrooms and overworked teachers. I am sure that our excellent local schools and their staff will continue to do their best to maintain a high standard of education, but these efforts are at risk of being compromised by these funding cuts.
On the other side, In March we took the major decision to temporarily close the site of Pinner Wood School. This decision was not taken lightly and we are doing everything we can to make sure the children continue to get a great education as we make their site safe.
I know that for many parents and carers, this has been a major disruption to their lives. I'm sorry for any inconvenience caused. I would like to thank all parents and residents for coming to the numerous meetings we have set up, for getting in touch and for showing so much understanding in such a difficult time.
We are working hard to find a solution, I am committed to the current site and want to see all pupils return there.
I would also like to thank all the wonderful offers by parents to volunteer.
