My colleague Rehana Minhas received this wonderful letter from Maura Docherty, Primary Advisor & School Improvement Partner within the School Improvement Service, Children, Schools and Families at the London Borough of Camden, after the DCSF Roll-out Conference for the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard...

"Dear Rehana, I’m writing to congratulate you on the national launch of the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard on Friday 22 January 2010. It was a wonderful showcase of the tremendous impact this award has had on the education of children and young people in Leeds. The excellent portfolios and displays of work gave very strong evidence of how well schools had met the criteria and responded to the duty and moral obligation to promote race equality and minority ethnic achievement in schools. You planned an amazing programme. It was wonderful to hear from Doreen Lawrence OBE, the Right Hon. Ed Balls, the mayor, and also from the many headteachers who are developing strategies to raise achievement and improve community cohesion in their schools. I was greatly impressed by the personal contributions from children and young people who are being inspired to achieve more and whose lives are being demonstrably transformed. I will be talking to colleagues in Camden’s School Improvement Service at senior leadership level about the award and how it has supported schools in Leeds. Much good work in this area is already happening in Camden, but I’m certain that schools would see gaining the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard as an opportunity to review their policies and practices and examine the achievement of all their pupils to ensure that no group is disadvantaged. Thank you for the invitation. Yours sincerely, Maura."

It is deeply encouraging to receive feedback like this after all the hard work that went into the launch conference.

Chris