Date July 17, 2007
Release: Immediate

EDUCATION ACTION ZONE’S ‘EXCEPTIONAL’ SUCCESS IN LAMBETH

The educational support provided by the CfBT Education Action Zone (EAZ) and Lambeth City Learning Centre (CLC) to schools, pupils and parents in Lambeth has been highly commended in a new independent inspection report.

The report, written by ex-HMI inspector Clive Rowe, highlights the significant impact the Zone has had on raising the standards of achievement and attainment of pupils in both primary and secondary phases in the local area and describes its progress over the last three years as “exceptionally impressive”.

Set up in September 2003 as part of the government’s Excellence in Cities initiative, the EAZ, which is managed by leading education charity CfBT Education Trust, supports 12 primary and secondary schools in Lambeth to develop a creative and arts-based curriculum, raise the achievement of underachieving pupils and encourage parental engagement and family learning. The curriculum support it provides “exceeds expectations and targets” according to the report, which also highlights the Zone’s effective partnership working within the local community.

The EAZ team has managed the City Learning Centre since 2006 when it was re-launched and relocated to improve access to, and use of the latest education technology for pupils, teaching staff and parents across Lambeth. In the last year, 73 schools have benefited from its support and activities using innovative technology with over 2,500 pupils and 200 teachers having been supported through its programmes.

Margaret Abbott, UK Services Director at CfBT Education Trust said: “The CfBT Education Action Zone has gained a well-deserved reputation for high-quality, innovative curriculum provision for teachers, pupils and parents, and particularly for the arts-based learning support it offers. We welcome the findings of this report and we will take on board its recommendations to ensure the EAZ’s continued success”.

Sarah Horrocks, Director of the Lambeth City Learning Centre and CfBT Action Zone, added: “We are delighted that our hard work and partnership successes with local schools have been recognised by this report. We work closely with Lambeth schools to explore how to improve children’s learning through creative teaching and innovative technology and my thanks go to my team and also to the many teachers we work with”.

Ends

Notes for Editors:

CfBT Education Trust is a leading education consultancy and service organisation. Our objective is to provide education for public benefit both in the UK and internationally. Established 40 years ago CfBT Education Trust now has an annual turnover exceeding £100 million and employs more than 2,000 staff worldwide who support educational reform, teach, advise, research and train.

As a not-for-profit organisation we re-invest around £1 million of our surpluses every year for practice-based educational research.

For more information contact:

Gillian Parry
Marketing Communications Officer
CfBT Education Trust
60 Queens Road
Reading
Berkshire
RG1 4BS
Tel: 0118 902 1221
gparry@cfbt.com