Parents and carers supported by Tower Hamlets Holiday Childcare over the summer

The summer break is when there is the highest demand for childcare. 550 families have used the summer scheme, with 780 children benefitting.

The Tower Hamlets Holiday Childcare Scheme offers high quality childcare forchildren aged 3-13 years, throughout 9 weeks of the school holidays over the year, including the long summer holidays. The provision is aimed at supporting parents and carers to continue to work, by providing an affordable childcare option during the school holidays.

The Holiday Scheme is delivered 43 days per year. On average the schemes provide 160 subsidised childcare places per day, supporting 6,450 children in a year, including children with additional needs and vulnerable referrals from social care and schools.

Mayor John Biggs said: “The holiday period presents both logistical and in some cases financial problems for parents as they seek solutions to childcare. As a council we have helped parents through the school holidays, and continue to look at how we can improve our childcare offer throughout the year”.

Cllr Danny Hassell Cabinet lead for Children Schools and Young people said: “The scheme run by the council here in St Mary & St Michael Primary School shows how we are offering high quality affordable childcare to parents across the Borough. I was particular impressed at how the scheme also offers support to children with additional needs.”

Both the Mayor and Cllr Hassell have visited the childcare scheme in the last weeks seeing for themselves how the Borough’s childcare provision offers affordable childcare.

See information on childcare provision in the Borough here

82% of students achieve grades 9–4 in English

 Students across Tower Hamlets achieved success under the new marking system for GCSE’s.

With the exams working to a new marking system ranging from grades 1 to 9 (changed from the traditional A to E grades) for 2018, 82% of Tower Hamlets students achieved grades 9-4 in English, equivalent to the old A to C grades, while in maths 70% of students achieved grades 9-4, a comparable figure to 2017.

New qualifications in 20 GCSE subjects were awarded for the first time this summer, in addition to the 3 reformed subjects that were awarded for the first time in 2017.

Mayor John Biggs visited the Swanlea school in Whitechapel where 73% of students achieved maths and English grades 9 to 4 (equivalent to the old A* to C grades).

Mayor Biggs said “I’m so impressed and pleased for the students who received their GCSEs grades today to see their hard work pay off. Its always an adjustment to work to a new system and the results across the borough are very pleasing.”

Cllr Danny Hassell Cabinet member for Children, Schools and Young People who joined students at Mulberry school said “I’m very pleased that the hard work and commitment of students, teachers andsupport staff has paid off with this set of results”

Students at the Central Foundation for Girls’ school achieved 93%, of grades 9 to 4 in English, 1 percentage point above last year and 73 % of students at the school achieved grades 9 to 4 in both English and maths.

Notable individual successes at Swanlea school

Maud McLaughlin got 8 Grade 9 GCSEs and two A * grades one of just 732 students in the UK who achieved straight grades 9s under the new challenging exam regime