Key information
Decision type: Assistant Director
Reference code: ADD2123
Date signed:
Decision by: Amanda Coyle, Interim Assistant Director, Health and Communities
Executive summary
On 1st June 2016 the Greater London Authority was awarded a grant from BE OPEN supported by the Mayor’s Fund for London. The grant was for £158,000 for delivery of the London Curriculum Primary Programme. One of the agreed milestones in the grant award was development, design, delivery and printing of family resources. This request is for approval to draw on expenditure of up to £20,000 to meet that milestone.
Decision
That the Assistant Director of Communities and Intelligence approves:
I. Commissioning Discovery Games Limited to design and deliver London Curriculum Family Resources;
II. Expenditure of up to £20,000 for this work; and
III. A related exemption under the GLA’s Contracts & Funding Code from the requirement to procure services competitively.
Part 1: Non-confidential facts and advice
The Education & Youth team require an external supplier to deliver a short term piece of work to produce family resources, working to a specific, time-critical deadline of the end of this school term and the start of the summer holidays 2017.
The London Curriculum Primary Programme is supported by Mayor’s Fund for London and funded by BE OPEN, a cultural and social initiative founded by Russian businesswoman, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Yelena Baturina in 2012. BE OPEN works to provide a bridge between young creatives and the professional world. It also encourages collaboration between disciplines to allow ideas to come together; between creativity and commerce; tradition and innovation and between ideas and their fruition.
As part of the London Curriculum Primary Programme, we are committed to producing family resources in July 2017. This work will support other Education & Youth programme activity, such as Early Years and STEM, as well as wider GLA activity and campaigns, such as the Love London Zip Oyster Card.
A single source exemption is being sought from the GLA’s Contracts and Funding Code to commission Discovery Games Limited to develop family-friendly walking trails in four central London locations (see Appendix). The rationale for this is the provider’s specific technical and artistic expertise. This is a bespoke project that requires experience and skill to develop educational family resources that support the national curriculum. The provider has previously supported other GLA activity, including the successful delivery of trails around Trafalgar Square for the Events for London team for the Feast of St George and St Patrick’s Day 2017. The provider’s products are high quality and represent value for money from desk-based research and are widely used by individuals and groups in the UK and abroad. Their clients include overseas and UK travel agencies, schools, large and small businesses, charities, individuals, and families.
MD1499 approved the extension of the London Curriculum programme to the primary phase and delegated authority to the Director of Communities and Intelligence to approve receipt and expenditure of the external income. DD2025 approved the receipt and expenditure of funding via Mayor’s Fund for London from BE OPEN for the delivery of the London Curriculum Primary Programme, which includes family resources. External management of the development of these resources was secured through a DAR in May 2017.
The London Curriculum family resources will be designed to encourage London families to explore London via a suite of family friendly maps/trails. It will bridge the gap between key stage 2 and 3 and will support learning through the London Curriculum outside the classroom and in holidays, whilst ensuring greater engagement with families and carers.
It is intended that the trails:
• Will cover different areas and distances/lengths.
• Include London Curriculum-related ‘facts’ and light, family activities. They will highlight London Curriculum partner institutions and their family offers (including links to on-going marketing during the summer holidays and up to the Thames Festival in September 2017)
• Support community engagement and social interaction.
• Are geographically based in central London locations/‘quarters’ e.g. Creative Quarter (South Kensington); South Bank (BFI, Southbank Centre etc.); Knowledge Quarter (Kings Cross, Euston) and Digital Quarter (Old Street and City of London).
• Include interesting themes for trails across the locations incorporating the National Curriculum and London Curriculum material.
• Have maths included in all.
• Are aimed at all ages – children from key stage 2+.
• Capture a ‘free family day’ in central London (e.g. tips for travel and lowering costs etc.) and signposting some venues off the beaten track and other than the big/iconic ones.
• Support the London Curriculum River Explorer’s Trail and Guide which will be updated with more maths and family content.
• Offer a possible media opportunity with BE OPEN, the Deputy Mayor, and VIPs etc. at a location on one of the trails in central London with some families who are using the trails.
• Link with summer holiday/weekend activity in a venue in each of the four locations over four weeks (possibly repeated) and with printed copies of all the trails and all London Curriculum cultural, heritage and scientific venues cited in trails available for families on-site.
• Can be developed further in the future with a focus on Early Years and including content and ideas for local boroughs – local park, high street, back garden etc. (e.g. East London).
Format
The pack will be produced for downloadable and digital formats. In addition there will be a print run (Z card style) to target disadvantaged families, including those who don’t have access to online resources or are unable to print off the trails.
Opportunities it offers
By drawing on existing London Curriculum resources and partners, we will build sustained relationships and marketing opportunities for the London Curriculum programme by the development of new resources and links. It is a sustainable model:
- The strong relationships with London Curriculum ‘Champions’ – cultural, heritage and scientific venues and institutions in London can be utilised.
- Activity could be targeted to specific groups, for example foster carers.
- Existing trails can be updated/refreshed in the future
- New trails can be developed (e.g. East London).
It will also create opportunities to link with other GLA activity in the future such as:
- Love London Zip Oyster Card
- Fourth Plinth Schools Award
- Year of the Engineer 2018
- Centenary of Women’s Suffrage 2018
- Transport for London – travel in/around London for families
Future phases of the programme can be refreshed and updated to embed within Education & Youth programmes, such as the work on Early Years and STEM.
The London Curriculum materials are aimed at all London primary schools for use with key stage 2 and 3 pupils. The family resources will be designed to extend the London Curriculum schools materials to family focused materials.
The family resources will be digital and universally available for all London families and visitors. The digital content will be on London.gov and to the GLA accessibility standards. In addition the family resources will be printed for distribution to targeted groups, such as children in care/foster carers and we will utilise all our routes to ensure they reach those in the most disadvantaged areas.
The resources will draw on London's extraordinary heritage, people and places and will foster recognition of different communities’ contributions to London encouraging good relations, tackling prejudice and promoting understanding between people from different groups. This will support the GLA’s delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty as set out in the Equality Act 2010. The family resources will focus on free family activities in central London to encourage all London families to make the most of London’s cultural heritage, particularly the most disadvantaged
The Mayor’s vision is that every child in London should have the best possible chance for happiness and success, making the most of the city’s great opportunities. To give all young Londoners the best start in life educational standards need to be raised, inequality addressed and young people’s ambitions and resilience must be nurtured.
The London Curriculum family resources support that vision and also draw families together in engaging in the school curriculum and raising standards.
5.1 The estimated cost of £20,000 will be funded from external grant received of £158,000 from BE OPEN via the Mayor’s Fund, as approved by DD2025.
6.1 Sections 1- 2 of this report indicate that:
The decisions requested of the Mayor concern the exercise of the GLA’s general powers, falling within the GLA’s statutory powers to do such things considered to further or which are facilitative of, conductive or incidental to the promotion of economic development and wealth creation, social development or the promotion of the improvement of the environment in Greater London; and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the GLA’s related statutory duties to:
• Pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people;
• Consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom; and
• Consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2 In taking the decisions requested, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to Section 3 (above) of this report.
6.3 Part C, Section 9 of the Contracts and Funding Code ("Code")) requires the GLA to seek a call-off
from a suitable framework, where possible, or if not, under a formal tender process which will be managed by TfL in respect of the supplies/services. However, the Assistant Director may approve an exemption from this requirement under Part C, Section 10 of the Code upon certain specified grounds. Officers have indicated at paragraph one of this report that the relevant ground applies. On this basis the Assistant Director may approve the proposed exemption if satisfied with the content of this report.
6.4 Officers must ensure that appropriate contracts are put in place between and executed by the GLA and Discovery Games Limited before the commencement of the relevant services.
Signed decision document
ADD2123 London Curriculum Family Resources