Yesterday, the Knowsley Better Together Board hosted its first annual summit which focussed on unlocking educational opportunities to support strong achievement and attainment.
The summit brought together partners from the council, education, health providers, social care, community organisations, housing providers, local businesses, employment and skills and young people, recognising that strong educational achievement and attainment is shaped by a wider range of partners and not just those in the education sector.
The summit had a number of interactive sessions where representations from different agencies discussed a number of key themes including addressing wellbeing barriers to achievement, improving school attendance, and the critical role of education in safeguarding children.
The summit aimed to identify good practice, opportunities for collaboration and develop an action plan to address the key themes discussed. In addition, the findings will inform the development of the Knowsley Education Partnership Strategy.
Cllr Graham Morgan, Leader of Knowsley Council and Chair of the Knowsley Better Together Board, said:
The summit provided a great opportunity for a range of agencies to come together to discuss an issue that everyone can influence and support.
Ensuring our children and young people get the best start in life, throughout their educational journey and beyond is a key priority for us all.
It was also timely that the Board collectively endorsed our ‘Putting Children First’ approach, working together to ensure that children are safe, happy, healthy and achieve in their life.
I’m looking forward to progressing the ideas generated to ensure we can continue to inspire and support our children and young people to achieve and succeed.
The programme of annual summits will support the Board to manage the overall strategic direction for the Knowsley 2030 Strategy by convening a wider group of stakeholders, refocus collective efforts, and align partnership action against the priorities in the refreshed Knowsley 2030 Strategy.