One Minute With Emily Bartlett: London Change Partnership Programme Participation Officer

How long have you worked for BELS?

Since April 2024

Tell us a bit about your role

I co-ordinate engagement and communication across the Change Partnership Programme (CPP). Barnet is the regional lead for London on this Department for Education initiative. The CPP is being used nationally to test and learn about improvements to SEND support and alternative provision, so my role is varied and spans across many different projects! As part of this, I am leading on a pilot Autistic Peer Mentoring Programme for young people in Barnet, which will begin in January.

What is our favourite thing about your role?

I always enjoy carrying out engagement work with young people and I’m lucky that my role means I get to collaborate on projects with many different teams across Barnet.

What do you find challenging?: The Change Programme moves at a fast pace with multiple projects running simultaneously, so it’s sometimes a challenge to co-ordinate this across services, teams, families and our partner boroughs. However, facilitating to a partnership approach is also an aspect I really enjoy, so it’s worth it!

Which of our BELS values resonate mostly with you, and why?:

Championing diversity and inclusion because this is central to all the work that we do. It is important to me that our work encourages young people to celebrate themselves as valued members of the Barnet community.

What are your interests/hobbies outside of work?

I enjoy getting outside for a run (especially if there’s a coffee and pastry at the end) or a swim in my local lido even through the winter. In the summer, I go to music festivals with friends and family.

I love animals so I often visit a city farm at the weekend – I’ve always been obsessed with pigs as shown in my picture!

What is the most fun you have had at work recently?

I really enjoyed working with the Autism Advisory Team to host the first Embracing Autistic Identities Week of Events. For the in-person event, we hired a silent disco and animals including ducks, rabbits, chameleons and snakes for the young people to interact with. This was shaped directly from what the young people said they wanted. I’m so excited to see what we can put together for the 2026 event.

What’s the one piece of advice you would give your 13-year-old self?

Try not to be such a perfectionist – you’ll regret not trying new things just because you found them scary. You don’t need to be good at something to give it a go or enjoy it!

Where’s your favourite place to holiday and why?

San Sebastián in Spain because I’m a massive foodie and the food there is always amazing! It has two beaches, one for swimming and one for surfing. Plus, it’s small enough for me to walk everywhere which I like because I can find big, busy cities a bit overwhelming.

If you could learn to do anything, what would it be?

To become fluent in every language. This would make travelling a lot more interesting.