Brighton and Hove Schools win national ‘Pupil Premium’ awards
What a great way to start 2015 with schools minister David Laws writing to Balfour and St Bernadette’s primaries saying they are amongst the most improved in the country in terms of attainment and progress of their disadvantaged children since 2011. Both schools have been awarded £1000 for this achievement.
Bevendean Primary School, Coldean Primary School, St Andrew's CofE (Aided) Primary School, St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School and St Mary’s Catholic Primary School also received a letter from David Laws MP, to congratulate them on the improvement in the key stage 2 results of their disadvantaged pupils since 2011.
We are delighted as our top priority for our city’s schools this year is to close the gap in academic achievement for our disadvantaged groups and these schools are certainly setting a positive example.
We were delighted to receive final Ofsted reports on Saltdean, Somerhill Juniors, Hertford Juniors, Fairlight Primary and The Connected Hub, all confirming Good judgements. Well done to those schools and their staff, children and young people.
SoundCity and ‘Our Future City’
I was pleased to attend this month’s board meeting for ‘Our Future City’ and to be part of a six-month conversation across the city that seeks to improve the lives and life-chances of children and young people through cultural engagement and creative skills. Of particular interest was some important work going on with some of our most vulnerable young people and a strong emphasis on supporting wellbeing and resilience through engagement in cultural activities. Alongside ‘Our Future City’, I also attended the SoundCity board meeting, where we discussed the plan for music education in the city over the next two years. It was great to hear about SoundCity 3, a performance event which will take place at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 14 March featuring a large number of young musicians from local bands, music groups and secondary schools.
Adoption Steering Group
I was delighted to chair a lively and challenging debate at our January adoption Steering group meeting. As well as continuing to progress our ‘Adoption Passport’ work. We were able to look at the new SEN reforms and how they will support the needs of our adopted children. We are challenging all services across the city to review their practice and ensure they are taking account of the needs of this important group. It was therefore good to hear from the Virtual School and the Educational Psychology Service how they are working in collaboration to develop a city-wide approach to continuing professional development - ‘Attachment Friendly Brighton’.
Secondary School Improvement
Early in January we had a very constructive meeting with Janet Felkin the chair of the Secondary Schools Partnership (SSP) to discuss and review how our important collaborative work is going to drive forward improvement. We were able to hear more about how effective the Challenge Partner Programme is in those schools where visits have already taken place. It was an opportunity to discuss the forecasts for the current cohorts of year 10 and 11 and challenge the work that is taking place in every school to be sure that all students are on track and the predictions are accurate. To support further improvement in our secondary schools the LA has also commissioned work to review the use of Pupil Premium and provide challenge and support to close the gap in achievement for those with SEN. I look forward to reporting back to you on this work later in the term.
A frequent topic of conversation with schools is how we can improve our communications and access to information. I’m pleased to say our new Services to Schools purchasing and management system, BEEM, will be available to schools later in the Spring Term. This easy-to-use online portal provides quick access to all our services to schools. From booking training to sharing information, this ‘one-stop-shop’ will support you across many of the day-to-day tasks relating to our services to schools. Keep an eye out in the Schools Bulletin for updates about the new system including details of any upcoming training sessions. Roger Snell, our new Schools Traded Service Manager, will be happy to tell you more.
PE and Sport
There are some important developments happening in individual schools and across cluster partnerships to transform school sport. To share best practice and drive forward change I have this month brought together leads from schools, sport and leisure and public health to champion this work. It was an opportunity for me to hear first-hand the fabulous work going on at Goldstone and Carden Primary Schools and Dorothy Stringer Secondary. We all agreed that more still needs to be done to ensure there is a consistently good offer in place, we improve personal fitness, pupils are challenged to achieve their very best and that we foster a love of sport. I am passionate about this agenda and truly believe this work will help to instil confidence, improve self-esteem and determination, and contribute to children’s happiness and achievement. I look forward to reporting back on the development of our strategy and the impact of this work in future blogs.
Faith Matters
We took the annual Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) report to Children’s Committee this month. Religious education (RE) makes a significant contribution to pupils’academic and personal development and also plays a key role in promoting social cohesion and the virtues of respect and empathy. Lord Nash has recently written to all LAs about the importance of SACRE in supporting Religious Education and I am pleased to say that our SACRE actively supports RE development and training. It is also keen to support with the development of British values and will be looking at the national guidance with teachers and school leaders to see if there is anything they can contribute.
At the next Secondary and Continuing Education Partnership on the 9 February we will have an opportunity to look at how we work more effectively with faith leaders across the city and our approach to promoting peace and tolerance in connection with our work to prevent the radicalisation of our young people.
Welcome to new members of the team
Bob Griffin our SEN Partnership Adviser has joined us to assist in the work we do to support and challenge special schools and PRUs and raise achievement for our children with SEN across the city.
Congratulations to Sarah Price the new Principal at Kings Secondary School. Important to note also that Peter Merchant is now interim headteacher at PACA and Stuart McConnachie is interim headteacher at Coombe Road Primary.
The service redesign and recruitment in the Behaviour and Attendance team is now complete. I’m delighted we now have the management team in place. A major focus of their work will be in collaboration with schools and governing bodies providing the support and challenge needed to improve attendance and to tackle holidays in term time, persistent absence and exclusion.
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| Left to right: Mark Holdaway (Head of Behaviour and Inclusive Learning Team), Allistaire Smedley (Perfromance Analyst), Ellen Mulvihill (Head of Behaviour and Attendance), Gavin Thomas (Vulnerable Pupil Manager), Gill Manton (Attendance Manager) |
This month school governance has been an important focus for me. I have had the opportunity to join a number of governing body meetings in schools across the city to challenge them in relation to their strategic leadership role and receive challenge back on how we support them in the important role they do. Their role is vital in a time of change with the government’s current agenda to encourage them to be smaller, more strategic and more skilled based and locally with our work encouraging them to focus on increasing diversity of membership particularly from BME communities. I’m always so impressed with the commitment and effort that our governors put into supporting improvement in our schools, and the time they give often on top of busy jobs and lives.
I’m looking forward to spending some more time with governors from across the city at our annual governors’ conference on Saturday 31 January, the theme this year couldn’t be more relevant ‘Leading with Moral Purpose’ and I’m excited to hear what inspirational words the key note speaker Rosemary Campbell-Stephens will have to share with us.
Official Opening of Newman College
It was a pleasure to attend the official opening of Newman College the new sixth form of Cardinal Newman School. The event was conducted by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor with some inspirational talks from the young people on the impact of the new building on their learning. I was taken on a tour of the building by the sixth formers who felt privileged to have such an amazing modern learning space.
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| Left to right: Paul Clingan (Director of Sixth Form), Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Domenica Maxted (Chair of Governors) and Dr James Kilmartin (Headteacher). |
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Best wishes
Jo
