Another Amazing Children’s Parade

Children’s Parade. Photo Xavier Clarke 

Jointly produced with award-winning community arts organisation Same Sky and sponsored by the University of Brighton, the 2019 Children’s Parade took place on Saturday the 4th of May. It was fabulous to watch with a spectacular view from above on the Balcony of the Theatre Royal. The theme of this year’s parade was ‘Folk Tales from Around the World’, focusing on tales from Africa, Europe, the Arctic the Americas, Asia and Oceania. This year, 58 schools and 3,473 children took part with the help of over 1,000 parents and carers. It was great to see so many of our Brighton & Hove headteachers leading their schools dressed up for the occasion, an example of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership at its best.

Early Years Nursery Conference

It was a pleasure to open this year’s annual nursery conference held at Sussex University and meet the team. 110 nursery staff attended the event, which focused in the morning on supporting children’s early literacy and language skills with a focus on closing the word gap. The theme for the afternoon was safeguarding. Speakers included Darrel Clews, LADO for Brighton & Hove, Anna Wharf, who spoke about the PREVENT duty, and the final presentation of the day looked at parental conflict and the impact this can have on young children. Throughout the day staff were also able to book onto smaller workshops to develop their skills in Makaton, Music Making, Engaging Fathers in Early Years, and Child Led Play. The importance of the wellbeing of staff was a priority for the day, with information stands from Albion in The Community, My Staff Shop and a bespoke workshop to support staff with questions around the menopause. It was such an important day for our early years workforce who do such a fantastic job ensuring our youngest children make the best start in their education.

Young City Reads

Author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, Onjali Q.Raúf 

I was privileged to join over 1,400 school children for the Young City Reads project finale at Brighton Dome, to see the inspirational author Onjali Q. Raúf live on stage for this special celebration of her award winning book: The Boy at the Back of the Class. I am currently reading this book to my own daughter and it’s amazing. The book tells the story of a young Syrian refugee, Ahmet, and describes refugee crises through the eyes of a child. It is written with heart and humour and highlights the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense. It was very emotional to see so many year 4 and 5 children engaged, listening and then cheering for Onjali. What a fabulous celebration of reading in our city.

In Brighton & Hove there are some incredible projects working to ease the plight of the refugees and to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society feel welcome and safe in our lovely city.

Primary children at the Young City Reads event at the Dome. Photographer credit: Sam Luck

Watch Onjali introduce the project and her book here.

Supporting Transition for Children and Young People in Care and Previously in Care

The Virtual School has recently published a transitions resource based on learning from parents and carers of children previously in care. Parents and carers spoke about what they have found helpful for their children in supporting them to deal with change, as well as suggesting what would be even better practice. This short resource is designed to add to the transition toolkit that schools already have in place. It covers why children in care and previously in care may benefit from an enhanced planning and transition process and includes whole school approaches and support for individuals. It includes ideas, suggestions and examples from local primary and secondary schools, as well as links to additional materials. I’d recommend all schools to take a look. Please contact virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk for a copy, and if you have access to the wave and school bulletins, please click here .

Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan this year began on Monday 6th May. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic. Fasting takes place from dawn to sunset during this period. It is a time in which Muslims dedicate to refocus on purifying their souls and conduct through self-reflection, self-sacrifice and prayer. It was good to hear that so many of our schools were learning about Ramadan and supporting and respecting colleagues and families who were observing Ramadan this month. We are now looking forward to Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Learn about this important religious holiday.

City Mathematics Strategy across the City

Maths poster

It was a real pleasure to attend the celebration event for the schools involved in the very successful maths (Strategic School Improvement Fund) project. There was so much enthusiasm in the room for maths and we could tell from the presentations just how far schools have progressed in their thinking. It was also good to hear about the times it didn’t go so well and the great learning that it brought.

The schools presented their maths projects

Brighton & Hove City Council is pleased to be able to support the further development of maths through a new project ‘it all adds up’. We are delighted that together with the Sussex Coast Teaching School Alliance, Stuart Mcconnachie, Headteacher and National Leader of Education from Coldean Primary, the fantastic SLE (Specialist Leaders Education) from the maths hub, and our local schools, we can use the learning from the project to further develop our approach to maths across the city. If any other schools would like to take part, please contact Hilary Ferries by e-mail: hilary.ferries@brighton-hove.gov.uk or telephone: 01273 293738.

Foster Care Fortnight

Foster Care Fortnight took place this month – the UK’s biggest annual fostering awareness campaign, developed and delivered by The Fostering Network. The campaign this year highlights the power of fostering to change futures and celebrates the transformational effect of foster care and the achievements of everyone involved. We are continuing to work hard to increase our number of in-house Foster Carers. We have a growing Foster Carer community who are changing the futures of fostered children and young people every day. They do what they do because of the significant, positive impact the children and young people in their care can have on them as a fostering family. If you or someone you know could become a Foster Carer and can make a difference to the lives of children who need support, then the Recruitment Team would love to hear from you. To find out more call 01273 295444, visit the website, complete the enquiry link or e-mail fosteringrecruitment@brighton-hove.gov.uk

A New Special Educational Needs and Disability Strategy

Work is underway across the city partnerships to develop a new SEND Strategy 2020-2025. A wide range of partners including health and social care colleagues, parents and carers and school staff are working together on agreeing a new set of priorities for the city around SEND. They are identifying what actions will need to take place across the next 5 years and looking at how progress can be meaningfully measured. The SEND Partnership Board will oversee this work and will be monitoring progress in the future. If you are not yet involved and would like to have your say please contact sen.team@brighton-hove.gov.uk .

Welcome to our Newly Elected Members

Following the local elections, the city council held an event on Tuesday the 7th May to welcome newly elected Members and give them a flavour of the range of services provided by the council directorates. The event was set out as a market place, each directorate having a stall to display information about the services they provide. The event was well attended by new councillors who were very interested to hear about the range of services delivered by Families, Children and Learning and work with schools and our wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership and our plans for the year ahead. Our new lead member for FCL is Nick Childs and he will be the chair of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee.

Patcham Junior School was inspected this month. Congratulations to Patcham Junior School for retaining their Good judgement from Ofsted.

‘Pupils’ attitudes to school are very positive. They [..] enjoy coming to school because teachers plan exciting things to do and make learning fun.’ 

Moulsecoomb Primary School received an inadequate judgement from Ofsted. They will continue to receive support from the Local Authority and the wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership on their improvement journey. There were many positive elements in the report and it was good to read the many strengths of the school being recognised.

St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School and St Mark’s CE Primary School have also had an Ofsted Inspections and I look forward to sharing the results in the next blog.

After extensive consultation, Ofsted have now released the new Ofsted Inspection Framework for September 2019. Please look at the link through to this framework and the inspection handbook on the Ofsted website. 

Work of Youth Employability Service and the Supported Employment Team 

Dean Coussens, Employability Adviser providing advice to a young person

The Youth Employability Service and Supported Employment Team have been busy working in partnership on the Think Futures programme, supporting young people 19 -25 years not in education, employment and training. Since October 2018, 88 young people have received bespoke packages of support to access meaningful employment and education opportunities including the achievement of AQA unit awards and a range of vocational qualifications. We are delighted that participant feedback so far has been really positive.

Curriculum: Intent, Implementation and Impact

We are looking forward to seeing all headteachers or senior education leaders from across the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership on Friday 14 June at Brighton Racecourse for our termly cross phase event to share experiences and ideas on Curriculum. There will be opportunities to join in workshops and hear from a range of speakers. If you have not already booked your place, please sign up via BEEM (login required) or email schools.training@brighton-hove.gov.uk If you are unable to attend yourself, then please send another member of your leadership team. There is plenty of on-site parking at Brighton Racecourse and parking permits are not required.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

The Summer Term and Brighton Festival begins

I hope everyone across the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership managed to get a break from work over easter. We have an important term ahead of learning and creativity across the city with all the fun Brighton Festival brings, the fabulous Children’s Parade (on the 4th of May), numerous educational trips and the annual sports days. 

May and June is also tests and exam time and I’d like to wish all our children and young people well, but recognise it can be a stressful time for many. It’s important for us all to work together and ensure support is in place for all our children and young people’s emotional wellbeing.

Trans Day of Visibility

Pronoun stickers

In Brighton & Hove, four of our secondary schools and two colleges shared the work they did to mark ‘Trans Day of Visibility’. The International Trans Day of Visibility was a great success at Longhill this year. It provoked many comments from students and staff as to how interesting, thought provoking and uplifting the assemblies and activities were. Amongst comments made by staff who saw students after assemblies were: ‘They were buzzing with it and had loads of questions’, ‘The clips went down really well’

There was a great deal of excitement and interest over the Trans stickers, handed out to students through their Mentors (Tutors) at the start of the day; and the contents of the lunchtime stall kindly hosted by Liv from Allsorts Youth Project. Feedback from the day from our Trans community revealed that they felt the issues they wanted to be raised in our initial meeting had been addressed. It was a day of mutual support, warmth, kindness and focus on our diverse community celebrating its differences and valuing its solidarity.

Curriculum Revisited

A word cloud of the geography curriculum

The School and College Leaders Cross Phase Business meeting this term will focus on the creativity of the curriculum. This is very timely with the new Ofsted framework coming out in the autumn. A group of headteachers are planning with Hilary Ferries (Senior Adviser: Education Partnerships) and the teaching schools to create a positive morning, where we will hear from school leaders and have workshops to share strategies as we consider intent, implementation and impact of the curriculum offer. I look forward to seeing you on 14 June at the Racecourse (please note change of venue).

BAME School Staff 

BAMEed, a national organisation for BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) educators, are holding their third annual conference at the University of Brighton in June 2019. BAMEed connects, enables and showcases the talent of diverse educators so they may inspire future generations and open up the possibilities within education careers. We hope that all BAME school staff and interested parties are able to attend this event. As there is a low number of BAME staff in schools, this is an opportunity to be part of a support network, a forum for discussion and a group with shared experiences and interests. 

BAMEed would like to support a regional group for Brighton & Hove BAME teachers and school staff, and hold its first meeting at the conference in June. If you are interested in being part of this group, but can’t attend the conference, please contact John Lynch (Independent Consultant, working with Beth Thomas-Hancock of the University of Brighton to support BAME student mentoring programmes) at jk33lynch@btinternet.com You can book onto the BAMEed conference here . For more information, see the website here 

Syrian Flavoured Ice cream supports children’s Big Read 

Brighton artisan ice cream parlour Boho Gelato has created a new Syrian inspired flavour in honour of this year’s Young City Reads book, ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ by Onjali Q Raúf, winner of The Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. The book follows the compassionate story of Ahmet, a young Syrian refugee and a small group of determined nine-year-olds, who go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their new classmate has a sense of belonging.

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said: ‘Young City Reads is such an inspiring way to encourage more children to enjoy reading and express their ideas creatively. ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ is a perfect choice for Brighton Festival 2019, as we welcome Malian musician Rokia Traoré as our Guest Director. The book’s messages of friendship, kindness and celebrating difference should be shared now more than ever.'

Congratulations to Cardinal Newman – Rugby Champions 

Newman Rugby Academy have seen phenomenal success this season which culminated in the team winning the National AoC Final at Moseley, Birmingham. The team had worked their way up to the final where they played against Myerscough College who they beat in an exciting game winning 40-5 to crown them National Champions.

Newman Rugby Academy have been working extremely hard to get to National success. The Rugby Academy was created to allow students to develop themselves and play a high standard of rugby alongside their studies. 

Mr Neil Lester-Card, Rugby Academy Coach, said: ‘This is a fantastic result for Newman College and the players. It has been our goal for a number of years and to achieve it in such a convincing manner is a brilliant way to finish the season.’ Well done, Cardinal Newman!

Queen's Park Primary School at the Theatre Royal 

Queen's Park Pupils in ‘Emil and the Detectives’

Mark Storey (Head of Education Standards & Achievement) had the absolute pleasure of attending ‘Emil and the Detectives’ at the Theatre Royal. It was great to see the whole year 5 group getting involved and all were included. They were involved in every aspect of planning and creating this year's end-of-term play, including set design, costumes, lighting, sound, special effects, make-up and designing programmes for the audience - complete with word searches and cast lists. The children also stage managed and operated sound and light for the performances under the guidance of the theatre’s tech team. This is the first time a Brighton school has performed its end-of-term play in their local theatre. Well done Queen’s Park. 

Queen's Park Pupils in ‘Emil and the Detectives’

‘I saw children looking happy; having high expectations of what can be achieved and having an experience they will always remember. It was also great to see children from other schools enjoying the performance too. Thanks to all the staff and children who have been involved, great work and well done’ (Mark Storey) 

Governance Conference: Education Trends 2019: What’s coming now and next?

 Some of the school governors going up the i360

Our Annual Governance Conference was a great success and we were lucky to have glorious weather for the day at the i360 and we have received overwhelmingly positive evaluations . I welcomed the opportunity to attend and contribute to the debate with Pinaki Ghoshal (Director of Children’s Services), Mark Storey (Head of Education Standards & Achievement) and Hilary Ferries (Senior Adviser - Education Partnerships). Governors particularly appreciated how informative and thought provoking Laura McInerney was (Education Journalist & Co-Founder of Teacher Tapp). Laura gave us lots of food for thought and talked about the trends in education that will affect us over the next few years. However, they did also appreciate having the opportunity to hear from the Local Authority panel. We really did get the impression that we were ‘all in this together’ to do the best for our schools, and everyone went away feeling very positive. 

The view from the top. We even managed to conquer a couple of people’s fear of heights!

National quality mark for our Supported Employment team

The work of a Brighton & Hove City Council team that helps get local people with disabilities into jobs and training opportunities has been praised by a national body. The council’s Supported Employment team has gained a kite-mark award from the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE). The team is one of only 11 in the country to have been through a new auditing process being trialled by the association. They are currently working with more than 80 local people, helping them gain and retain employment. The team provides support to the employee, the employer and work colleagues through training, job coaching and advice.

We want all our residents to have equal access to training and employment opportunities. The BASE kite-mark is a very clear sign that we’re doing things the right way, and I hope it will lead to more local employers working in partnership with our Supported Employment team. To find out more about getting support from the council’s Supported Employment team to offer jobs or training opportunities to local people with disabilities, please email SET@brighton-hove.gov.uk or phone 01273 29 5961.

This month Ofsted has been visiting Moulsecoomb Primary and St John the Baptist Catholic Primary schools. I look forward to reporting back next time. 

Welcome

Helena Thomas, Principal at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College

I’d like to provide a warm welcome from the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership to Helena Thomas, who has been appointed to the role of Principal at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College (the MET) following an extensive recruitment and selection process led by the Board of Governors. Helena has been doing a great job already acting in the role for the past few months. We are all looking forward to continued partnership work with Helen and the MET. 

Best wishes,
Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Every Child a Reader (ECaR)

Vicky Conry, Every Child a Reader teacher, reading with a pupil

This month I would like to celebrate our Every Child a Reader (also known as ECaR) programme across the city. Nearly 3,000 children in Brighton & Hove who have struggled with learning to read have benefited from one-to-one support through our specialist reading scheme. ECaR currently operates in 14 local schools. It’s aimed at younger children who are below their expected reading level for their age. Each child gets an intensive programme of 1-1 support from specially trained teachers and teaching assistants. This has contributed to our reading success, with recently published national figures showing the city as a whole to be performing considerably above the national average in reading. Watch our video to find out more http://ow.ly/PjUn30nX9TG

Poverty Proofing the School Day

Children, Young People and Skills Committee

Our Poverty Proofing the school day project is now coming to an end. Since June 2017, we have heard the voices of 27,628 children and young people across the city. This month peer researchers from Longhill High School went to the Children, Young People and Skills Committee and the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities and Equalities Committee. They reported on the project and their role as peer researchers.

We are setting up a dedicated page on BEEM http://www.beem.org.uk/Services/5103 , open to all where we are gathering together all the outcomes from the project. This will include the volumes of best practice documents, the lesson plans about poverty, ‘How to poverty proof your school trip’ and an audit tool. In addition, we hope that there will continue to be ‘champions’ of poverty proofing who will encourage us all to look through activities in school life through the eyes of families who may be struggling with money.

St Mark's Primary library launch

This month in time for World Book Day, St Mark’s CE Primary launched their new library. Mayor Dee Simson cut the ribbon and declared the Secret Garden Library open. Headteacher Jane Fendley said ‘This warm, comfortable library stacked with lovely books is an amazing chance for us to show the children the pleasures of reading a good book.’

The garden at St Mark’s Library

Children in Care Council

Geoff Raw with the Children in Care Council

This month Geoff Raw, Chief Executive for Brighton & Hove City Council, met with 8 young people from the Children in Care Council (CiCC). The CiCC gives young people with experience of being in care the opportunity to meet and give their views on their experience of services including social workers, foster care and the leaving care team. The CiCC is also consulted about new developments and shares its ideas and views with the Corporate Parenting Board. The meeting was a great experience for Geoff and the young people, who asked some really interesting questions, such as ‘what keeps you up at night about your job’. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them and supporting them further with their important work.

Celebrating Rainbow Flag awards

Work from BACA allies - student event

The Rainbow Flag Award is a national quality assurance framework for all schools and colleges, focusing on LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, plus other related identities), inclusion and visibility. The Rainbow Flag Award encourages a whole organisation approach to LGBT and inclusion, as well as developing strategies to combat LGBT-phobic bullying. In Brighton & Hove, the Allsorts Youth Project have been delivering this programme, supported by the council. BACA, Patcham High, Blatchington Mill and Hertford Infant Schools have all achieved the Rainbow Flag Award and were presented with their certificates by Reuben Davidson from Allsorts and Anna Spragg (Equalities Manager, Communities Equality & Third Sector) and Georgina ClarkeGreen (Assistant Director - Health SEN & Disabilities) from the council. Well done to these schools who have worked hard to develop their LGBT inclusive practice.

Rainbow Flag Award Winners - BACA

Apprenticeship week

Our apprenticeship team had an exciting week and ran a number of different activities to highlight apprenticeships, and what they bring to the council, our communities, and the individuals taking them up. For the past year, the Families, Children & Learning (FCL) Policy & Business Support Team have been joined by David, a Digital Marketing Apprentice. David has been heavily involved in content creation for different FCL communication briefs, including the annual reports. If you would like to find out more about taking up an apprenticeship or hiring an apprentice, contact the team by emailing apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk

From left to right: Sarah Sawyer & Vanessa Potter Sussex, Council of Training Providers, Carla Butler (Council Apprenticeships Programme Manager) and Elizabeth Flegg, Chair of South East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network

This month during National Apprenticeship Week, I had great pleasure in attending the Apprenticeship Graduation. The event was opened with a live performance from alternative pop band ‘Wavve’ who are students at BIMM (British & Irish Modern Music Institute) Brighton. Apprentices from across the City received a rapturous welcome from family, friends, apprenticeship providers and ambassadors of apprenticeships. Thanks to the staff and apprentices from FCL who attended and made the evening so special and congratulations to all of the graduates.

The Apprenticeships Graduates and Mayor Dee Simson 

First Post Graduate Teacher Apprentice (PGTA) - Downs View School

The advert has gone live for four PGTAs at Downs View School. The PGTA is an exciting opportunity for gifted and talented graduates to follow an alternative route. Working on the PGTA will lead to QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) and gaining a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education).

Headteacher Adrian Carver and Deputy Head Teacher Rachel McDonald-Taylor said:

‘This isn’t just a fantastic offer for people wanting a career in special needs education. It’s also an exciting leap forward for us. By opening our apprenticeships up to people across the city, we’re hoping to tap into a huge, exciting pool of talent.’

The PGTA is a 14 month apprenticeship working within the school with blended learning delivered through the University of Brighton.

To find out more about the Post Graduate Teacher Apprenticeship and Grants available up to £12,500, contact Gavin Graham - apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk . For more information on the vacancy please go to Downs View website; http://www.downsview.brighton-hove.sch.uk/about-us/vacancies/

Local Authority Challenge award

The Local Authority Challenge team, from left to right: Wes Emond, Liz Brand, Mia Brown, Emma Sheridan, Ruth Bradley and Giles Hippisley

Brighton & Hove City Council entered two teams into the South East Local Authority Challenge, with 14 teams tasked with running a fictional council for the day, in competition with each other. The Challenge is aimed at giving participants an insight into the world of executive leadership, including strategic oversight and imagination, decision making under pressure, and working as a team.

One of our teams included colleagues Mia Brown (Service Manager Directorate Policy & Business Support) and Giles Hippisley (Integrated Team for Families Locality Manager). Brighton & Hove did incredibly well in the challenge, having won 3 of the 6 Awards and been nominated in all categories. Mia and Giles’ team brought home the Best Partnership and Best Overall Team awards, and were runners up in the Best CEO and Most Valuable Player awards. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Hove Park School

Hove Park’s Assistant Head of Year Rosie Scott was part of the BBC Radio Sussex and Make Good Trouble Productions live round table discussion between parents, experts and teachers on raising teenagers. The programme was about bringing parents and carers of teenagers together to support and better understand their children and explore issues that may be affecting them including mental health. The show aired on the 4th of March at 9pm and is part of The Big Take Over with presenter Kathy Caton. You can listen to it by following the link below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p070mvpf . Well done to Rosie and Hove Park School.



It continues to be a busy Ofsted time for us all. Peter Gladwin Primary, Hertford Infant and Nursery School, St Andrew’s CE Primary School and Hill Park Special School were all inspected last month. Congratulations to Peter Gladwin, Hertford and St Andrew’s for their Good judgements from Ofsted, and to Hill Park for retaining their Outstanding.

Peter Gladwin Primary: ‘Pupils have positive attitudes towards learning. They say that school is fun. They particularly enjoy the creative curriculum, mathematics and writing.’

Hertford Infant and Nursery School: ‘Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND are cared for and this area of the school’s work is led exceptionally well. The school is highly inclusive, with a growing reputation locally for its skilled work in this area.’

St Andrew’s CE Primary School: ‘Leaders and governors have risen proudly to the challenge of leading a large and inclusive primary school. You [Sophie Thomas, new Headteacher] joined the school in January 2019 bringing renewed energy and direction to improve the school still further.’

Hill Park Special School: ‘You [Rachel Burstow, Executive Headteacher] have established a calm and purposeful school that reflects your commitment to providing the best for all pupils. You and your leadership team are ambitious for pupils and determined to provide the opportunities that they need to succeed.’

Tudor House (residential children's home for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities) received its annual Ofsted inspection. They were rated outstanding in all three areas. This is the tenth consecutive year that Tudor House has been rated outstanding, by nine different Ofsted inspectors. Clare Brunt, Practice Manager said, ‘I am immensely proud of my team and everyone’s contribution to making the service outstanding and also to sustaining this achievement year after year’.

The inspector said: ‘Young people feel very safe and supported in the home. Parents reflected extremely positively on how much they trust the staff to care for their individual child’s needs.’

Stephen Long speaking to Headteachers and Local Authority Colleagues

We also had a visit from Stephen Long, Assistant Regional Director Ofsted, South East. Stephen spoke to Headteachers and the LA about the proposed Ofsted Framework changes and consultation. This was a fascinating morning and provided a useful platform for heads to share their thoughts. You have until the 5th of April to send a consultation response into Ofsted so please follow the link for more details: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/education-inspection-framework-2019-inspecting-the-substance-of-education

Welcomes and Goodbyes

Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter finishes in her role with the council this week, having established and led the Skills & Employment Team in the Education & Skills branch. We gathered together this week with council colleagues and wider partners to say a huge thankyou and goodbye. The Team continue to support those furthest from the labour market, into work and training and leads on the city’s priorities as identified in the City Employment & Skills Plan. Through partnership working with schools and colleges, the team is well placed to support the progression of young people into employment, and to ensure people of all ages have access to training and progression.

I’m delighted to inform you that as Rachel departs, Carla Butler will be acting up into the role. Carla has built the Apprenticeship Team across the council and has been responsible for the roll out of the apprenticeship programme across schools and council departments. She has shown her absolute commitment to supporting disadvantaged residents and is highly valued and respected in her current role. She is looking forward to working with you all.

Annual Conference for School and College Leaders - Hold the date!

Viv Grant

Our conference this year will be on October 4th and the theme is around wellbeing. Speaker Viv Grant will be addressing the title: ‘Daring Greatly: How successful school leaders rise above the challenges of their roles and stay connected to their vision, passion and purpose’. Please hold the date in your diary.


Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

LGBT History Month

Portrait of artist Frida Kahlo

It was fabulous to celebrate LGBT History Month across the city this February. This year we were all encouraged to explore Peace Activism and Reconciliation. There was so much learning and creativity going on in schools, libraries and the museum to explore the theme and celebrate together.

Schools were sent some ideas and resources for marking this, including some materials from Stonewall based around the life of Frida Kahlo. We would love to hear what your school has done for LGBT History Month – please provide updates to pshe@brighton-hove.gov.uk. In next month’s blog we will also celebrate schools which have achieved Allsorts’ Rainbow Flag Award and hear more about the Rainbow Flag student event.

Celebrating Young Carers Awareness Day

 Professor Saul Becker; Provost at The University of Sussex and Patron of The Carers Centre for Brighton & Hove, presenting young carers awards

Thank you to all of the Young Carers and their families who attended our Young Carers Awareness Day Event and helped to make the event a great celebration! We are so pleased that so many of you came along (even in the snow!) to join us for the evening. Thank you to all of the school staff who nominated Young Carers for awards and attended the event, and to all of the talented entrants to the schools poster competition. We would also like to extend our gratitude to the guest speakers who presented on the night and to the staff who ran information stalls. I was privileged to join the young people and their families and have the opportunity to give out an award.
Please click the link below to see more photos from the event:  https://carershub.co.uk/news/ 

Poverty Proofing

The ‘Poverty Proofing the School Day’ project is coming to an end and our researchers are in the final few schools this term. I hope that school leaders have found it helpful to look at their schools through a lens of poverty. We are developing a page on BEEM that will include materials we think schools may find helpful moving forward. This will include reports that celebrate some of the good practice in schools, lesson plans for pupils in Key stages one to four that will support pupils’ understanding of poverty, how to ‘poverty proof’ your school trip and a network for poverty proofing champions. We want to support schools in reducing the barriers for young people and families. The BEEM page is here: http://www.beem.org.uk/Services/5103

Brackenbury Primary School took part in a ‘reverse advent calendar’, for those who felt able to bring in an item of food for the local food bank before Christmas. Have you linked to your local food bank? Have a look at their website here:  https://bhfood.org.uk/

Put yourself in the picture: become a school governor

Our Governor Support Team has recently launched a campaign to recruit more school governors. This short video offers a unique insight into what’s involved, with a couple of school governors talking about their role and how rewarding they find it: Become a School Governor (video best viewed in Google Chrome). You can find out more here: www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/governors and the team is on Twitter @BHSchoolGovs.

Posters and flyers have been sent out around the city - see above. If you have any queries or would like a list of current vacancies, tel 01273 293465 or email governor.support@brighton-hove.gov.uk. 

Youth Voice Star Award 

Some of the young people from the Youth Led Grants project

Members of the Youth Cross Party Working Group, made up of young people from various community youth groups and the BHCC run Youth Council, took part in a process to decide and distribute £88,000 to youth projects across the city. This was called the Youth Led Grants project. The applications received had to involve young people in the ideas and actual writing of the bids. The categories were improving mental health, positive youth activities, helping to reduce alcohol & substance misuse and volunteering / work experience opportunities. 23 worthwhile projects in Brighton & Hove benefited from this additional funding.

The Youth Led Grants project were then nominated for a Youth Voice Star Award (run by the British Youth Council) and won the award for Best Youth Led Project for London, South East and East.

They have now been nominated for the National Award on the 8th March – well done and good luck to everyone involved!

Congratulations Hove Junior School

Hove Junior School had a recent Inclusion Quality Mark Award (IQM) inspection and as a result they have been recommended to be a 'Centre of Excellence'.  The Inclusion Quality Mark Award (IQM) provides schools with a nationally recognised validation of their inclusive practice and ongoing commitment to further development. 

There are only 240 schools nationally that are designated a Centre of Excellence, so my best wishes to Hove Juniors as they achieve that goal. 

Here is a quote from Joe McCann, the Director of IQM: 

‘The school is very welcoming with a warm, friendly atmosphere that is evident from arrival at reception on both sites. The environment is bright and very positive with beautiful displays in the corridors and classrooms. The leadership of the Executive Headteacher, Heads of School, Deputy Head and Inclusion Managers sets the tone for the supportive, caring, inclusive framework with high expectations of all and they are rigorous in ensuring that the school’s inclusive vision, encapsulated in the motto “LEARN”, is implemented and thoroughly embedded in the life of the school.’

It continues to be a busy Ofsted time for us all. West Blatchington Primary School was inspected last month and I’m very pleased that they continue to be Good. Congratulations and well done to headteacher Rachel Simmonds and all teachers, support staff, parents and of course the children! The Ofsted Inspector said the following about City Academy the school:

‘You [Rachel Simmonds, headteacher] lead the school with energy and are totally committed to providing the best for all pupils, no matter what their background. Your high aspirations are replicated by staff at all levels. Parents and carers told me they love the inclusive feel of the school.’ 

Other inspections have taken place and we are awaiting the results for Peter Gladwin Primary, Hertford Infant and Nursery School and Hill Park Special School. It is Hill Park’s first inspection since  Hillside and Downs Park merged last September. I look forward to reporting back next time. 

On the 26 March we have arranged for Stephen Long, Assistant Regional Director for Ofsted to facilitate a meeting about the Ofsted consultation. The meeting will follow on from the Primary Headteacher meeting. This is open to all headteachers and we encourage all schools to send a representative if the headteacher is unable to attend. The link to BEEM is www.beem.org.uk/Event/88837  The meeting takes place on 26 March, 10.30-12.30am Bramber House, Falmer Campus, University of Sussex.

Welcome

Congratulations to Jo Staveley who has now been appointed as the substantive headteacher of the Bilingual Primary School. Jo was acting headteacher and we are delighted that she has taken on the substantive role. Congratulations to Jo. 

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

A Citywide focus on inclusion

Dr Ioan Rees from Sycol speaking at the meeting

This month 119 headteachers, Inclusion leads and SEND colleagues came together at the University of Sussex representing 57 schools and colleges. We had a full morning of speakers, workshops and stalls to help us reflect on how we can balance the challenges of delivering high standards and embracing inclusion, whilst also maintaining the well-being of staff and students in our school communities. The event was a positive example of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership coming together to debate and address city priorities. 

The highlight of the morning for me was when we heard from three young people from Varndean School, Jimmy, Soren and Samuel, about their experience and what works for them. Very impressive performance from all three to speak in front of such a large audience. We also heard what makes a good team around a child from Henrietta, a parent of a child at Patcham Infant School. Chris Pearson, Head at Goldstone Primary, shared words of wisdom from his years leading an inclusive school, and Ioan Rees from Sycol presented a model for leadership to encourage us to work together for all our schools and in all our schools. His input led to stimulating discussions about future challenges and partnership working. Workshops were also led by Hove Park School on their SEMH model; Downs Junior School on supporting children with autism; and Dorothy Stringer Secondary School on how they structure their support model. 

I was delighted to read the positive feedback from attendees: 

‘Dr Ioan Rees was an inspiring speaker and very thought provoking. Brilliant!’

‘Have taken away some fantastic practical ideas as well as more philosophical challenges of whole school development and successes in inclusion and achievement.’

‘Inspirational talks, great to have HTs and SENCos together.’

‘Very well organised and mixture of theory and practical’

‘Varndean students were amazing!’

We look forward to continuing the debates and working together to promote increased consistency in meeting the needs of children and young people with SEND across the city.

Lorna Cadwallader, BHISS Senior SEN Specialist Teacher Early Years and Jackie Vidler, BHISS Team administrator

Holocaust Memorial Day

It is really important that so many of our schools marked Holocaust Memorial Day again this year and remembered all those who lost their lives.

Lady Milner at Patcham High School with teacher Hannah Kinchin-Frost, Head of Life Skills and Headteacher John McKee

To commemorate the day, Lady Milner visited Patcham High School to deliver an assembly to year 10 pupils. She told the story of how she was rescued at the age of 9 and sent on a train to the UK. Her parents bravely sent her and her three and a half year old sister as they knew Prague was about to be occupied by the Germans. They also knew that this would put them as a family in massive danger. Her parents managed also to escape but for some time were separated from the children. Lady Milner said they were very lucky to have escaped and have lived. It was great to see a school mark such a key event and use someone else's experience to educate young people.  

Lady Milner speaking at Patcham High School

Our Lady of Lourdes marked the occasion by inviting Bryan Huberman into a Key Stage 2 assembly. Bryan spoke about his father’s life living in and surviving the Holocaust. Bryan showed powerful images depicting his father’s life. The pupils were so attentive, you could hear a pin drop. Bryan ended with a Q & A session in which the children were keen to learn more. Bryan then presented the school with a book on the memory quilt that the orphaned child survivors’ families designed to keep their parents’ memories alive. 

Congratulations Brighton & Hove primary schools

This month, we received a letter from the Schools’ Minister Nick Gibb, congratulating the local authority and it’s schools. It commends the excellent work that has taken place across our schools to support the development of understanding on phonics and more widely on reading. By helping more children to improve their reading skills we help them with their wider learning. Well done, I’m really proud of the work that takes place across our schools and the wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership. 

Leadership by our young care leaders

YPBMF Horsham Chanel & Chloe

This month our care leavers, supported by the Youth Participation team, took part in the Young Person’s Benchmarking Forum in Horsham (YPBMF), hosted by West Sussex. The theme for the forum was ‘accommodation’ and ‘loneliness’. Care leavers from Southwark, Bristol, Walsall, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove were able to network and share their personal experiences through a poster sharing event. The event was coordinated by Catch 22 on behalf of the National Leaving Care Benchmarking Forum (NLCBF) and will feed into an All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG).

Supporting Apprenticeships in schools

All maintained schools in Brighton & Hove pay into the apprenticeship levy, and funds have a limited shelf life of two years which means that from May this year any of the original payment not utilised will expire and will be no longer available, and this will continue each month thereafter. The Apprenticeship Team have produced materials to support schools to promote apprenticeships to your existing staff. Take a look at our school animation and video 

More on maths 

One of our top priorities championed by the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership is Maths. It was good to attend Coldean for a special visit by two maths teachers from Shanghai. The Mayor and Coldean Primary School welcomed  the teachers Ms Linyan Hou and Ms Minzhu Miao with an amazing display of British dances, poems and songs. Ms Hou and Ms Miao have been teaching groups of children, demonstrating the mastery approach. Last week, teachers from all over Sussex gathered for mornings of maths. They observed lessons and discussed the mastery approach, the teaching methods and the gains in understanding the children have made over the two weeks. 

If you’d like to know more, applications are now open for teachers who would like to be part of the Teacher research group. For more details, visit www.ncetm.org.uk/masteryrecruitment 

Linyan and Minzu with Mayor Dee Simson

Big Difference Awards 

Council Chief Executive Geoff Raw presenting the awards

So pleased that staff from the Integrated Team for Families in the Education and Skills service were nominated for the Team and Collaboration Award.  It was an excellent demonstration of how colleagues can collaborate across services, rise beyond silo working and solve issues within communities. Congratulations to Melanie Pollard (Family Coach) and Stephen Woodward, (Parental Relationship Coordinator). 

Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) also received an award for Team Work. Christine Booth (Teacher), Meeta Johnson (Teacher) and Nada Gamaan (Home to School Liaison Officer) attended the ceremony and council Chief Executive Geoff Raw said he would like to meet the bilingual assistant team to share the award with them. Well done to all! 

City celebrates GCSE success

This month’s DfE statistical release confirmed that the overall GCSE results in schools across Brighton & Hove continue to outstrip the national average. The city is four percentage points ahead of the national average in both the government’s key measures for English and Maths combined. 68% of Brighton & Hove students achieved grades 9-4 compared to the national average of 64% and 47% of Brighton & Hove achieved grades 9-5 against a national average of 43%. This has also included an improvement city-wide in Progress 8, another key government measure. This year-on-year improvement comes on the back of improved results city-wide at both A-level and primary level. Well done to our young people and their teachers, who have worked really hard to achieve this. With all of our secondary schools now rated ‘good’ by Ofsted, parents can be confident that their children will get an excellent education whichever school they go to.

A focus on Science at Westdene

Richard Robertson, Scientist in Residence, giving a talk on gravity

Westdene Primary School kicked off the spring term with an action-packed Science Week that resulted in a week of wonder that created a great buzz all around the school. This special event was launched with an assembly titled ‘Are We Nearly Here Yet?’ which was the story of the whole Universe, told in 45 minutes. During the week children were captivated by awe-inspiring activities that included workshops, visitors and whole school challenges. Children produced creative posters and models on the theme of a ‘Journey in Science’ which were displayed for everyone to enjoy in the entrance hall. One of the highlights of the week was when over 200 children and parents attended an interactive talk on gravity one evening presented by ‘Scientist in Residence’ Richard Robertson. Parents and carers also gave up their time to inspire the children with talks and workshops about their jobs and careers in science. ‘It was lovely to see so much passion and enthusiasm displayed by our children and we hope the children’s thirst for knowledge will lead them to read and explore more widely.’ (Mel Stone – co-lead for science).

This month has been slightly quieter on the Ofsted front. 

Congratulations to Hertford Junior School, Middle Street Primary School, Fairlight Primary School and King’s School on retaining their Good judgements from Ofsted.

Hertford Juniors: ‘The school is held in high regard by parents, carers, pupils, staff and the local community.’

Middle Street Primary: ‘You [Julie Aldous, Headteacher] have created a culture of strong partnership between staff, pupils and parents and carers that allows everyone to contribute to the success of the school.’

Fairlight Primary: ‘You [Damien Jordan, Headteacher] lead a dedicated and enthusiastic team that works hard for the benefit of all pupils. The school’s inclusive ethos is a great strength.’ 

King’s School: ‘Pupils from a range of backgrounds thrive in this highly successful and inclusive school. Leaders are dedicated, determined and ambitious.’

West Blatchington Primary were inspected this month and we are awaiting the results. I look forward to reporting back next time. 

Welcome

Sophie Thomas, St Andrew’s new Headteacher

Welcome to Sophie Thomas, who is now in post as the new substantive Headteacher for St Andrew’s. Sophie came to us from Newick Church of England Primary School in East Sussex and we are delighted to have her with us in the city as an experienced school leader.  

We all wish her well and are looking forward to working with her.
Best wishes,
Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.