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A message from Matt Dunkley CBE:

21 June 2018 weekly update

21 June 2018

This week, Matt provides an update on two new permanent Director appointments in the CYPE Directorate, plus an overview on forthcoming changes to the Primary School Improvement Team.

Dear Colleagues

Appointments Update

Following a competitive external selection process, I am very pleased to tell you that a Member Panel has made the following permanent appointments;

  • Director of Integrated Services (Children’s Social Work Lead) - Sarah Hammond
  • Director of Integrated Services (Early Help and Preventatives Services Lead) - Stuart Collins

I know that you will all want to join me in congratulating them on their achievement and I am very pleased that they are both now permanent members of my management team. To finalise my cohort of permanent officers, I am also looking forward to the arrival shortly of James Roberts - the new Chief Executive of The Education People.

As you may be aware, these are new positions reporting to me as Corporate Director, which will replace the current positions of Director - Specialist Children’s Services, and Director - Early Help and Preventative Services which Sarah and Stuart have been filling on an interim basis.

Appointment to these posts represents a key early milestone in our programme of change as we move forward with further integration within the Children, Young People and Education Directorate.

As a part of this programme, we will be evaluating and learning from the recent work of the four Area Pilots, which have been running very successfully since January and are now coming towards their end. We will also look to build on the upcoming changes to the Front Door as we begin to more widely consider and embed best practice models for early help and children’s social care services.

As we move forward with this programme of change, I will continue to communicate regularly with you all, including through this term’s Headteacher meetings.

I look forward to seeing you at my Headteacher meetings where we can discuss further.

Primary School Improvement Team

A communication will shortly be shared with you confirming the changes to the Primary School Improvement Team from September 2018 which includes details about an interim leadership structure. I am reassured that the team’s focus will continue to be on school improvement and the Local Authority’s work with the Kent Association of Headteachers. I would like to add my thanks to the team for their continued hard work and commitment to support Primary school improvement across Kent.

Matt Dunkley CBE
Corporate Director
Children, Young People and Education