February 2015

February has flown by, being the shortest month and with several of us taking time off at half term. I had a fabulous time with my family, going to Center Parcs to celebrate our youngest daughter turning two – such a lovely but lively age! I hope those of you who managed to take a break came back refreshed.

Governance – Leading with Moral Purpose

It was a privilege to open and participate in this year’s Governors’ Annual conference at the University of Sussex. The theme was ‘Leading with Moral Purpose’ and was the best attended, with over 120 people giving up their Saturday morning to be there. Rosemary Campbell-Stephens was the keynote speaker, she provoked and challenged us all to consider the impact our leadership can have on individuals and communities across Brighton and Hove (B&H) and society as a whole.  The second half of the morning was a great example of the school led system in action with table top discussions led by governors on themes such as pupil voice, equality and diversity, and school to school support. I look forward to the continued close work with our governing bodies to support and enable school improvement across the city. 

Rosemary Campbell-Stephens - Keynote speaker at the Governors’ Annual conference  

Children’s Services Performance Board

I joined Directorate Management Team colleagues this month to look in detail at performance across children’s services during the last quarter. We were pleased to see that the previous improvements in performance relating to our young people who are Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) has been sustained or improved upon. The number of NEETs has fallen to 5.9%, which is significantly lower than last year. We still have further work to do, specifically related to some of our most vulnerable groups but this is clearly a success to build on.

Special Educational Needs Disability and Behavioural Social Emotional Difficulties (SEND/BESD)

The Joint committee of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Children and Young People’s Committee took place on the 3rd February. Councillors, senior health representatives, parents, carers and young people came together to discuss and approve the strategy to improve and integrate services and provision for children with SEND and BESD. We are looking forward to working closely with you all to implement these recommendations.

Regan Delf presenting the paper in the Coucil Chamber

The Learning Partnership and City Employment and Skills Partnership

We had an effective ‘coming together’ of these two important partnerships this month to explore how we can better impact on outcomes for our young people. It was an opportunity to highlight the work needed to improve Information Advice and Guidance in schools, increase apprenticeships and promote more effective partnership working between businesses, schools, colleges and training providers in the city. I look forward to being part of this new and collaborative approach going forward, helping to ensure our young people leave school with the skills and opportunities to prepare them for a successful working life.

Virtual School Brighton and Hove 

Like all schools, our Virtual School has a board that functions like a governing body and supporting, challenging and scrutinising its work and function. I had the pleasure this month to chair our board meeting, joined by a committed group of internal and external partners to work closely with Mark Storey (Headteacher) and the team to improve our education outcomes for our children in care. It was encouraging to see the progress the school is making in improving the approach to compliance and practice with the launch of the new Personal Education Plan (PEP). I look forward to seeing the positive impact this will have on outcomes for this important group.

Working as One Children’s Service

A great example of us working together as one children’s service was demonstrated at our recent meeting of the Secondary and Continuing Education Partnership. Attended by our Headteachers, college principals, colleagues from across the council and our two universities. We discussed the very important agendas of Child Sexual Exploitation (CSE), Prevent and Radicalisation. It was an opportunity for us to look at how we might work more collaboratively to raise awareness and improve practice in this very high profile area. It was also pleasing to hear some of the positive findings from the diversity and equalities learning walks we are leading, in partnership with community champions, and how these are challenging schools to improve equality and close the gap in achievement. I urge all schools if they haven’t done so already to take up this offer.

National Apprenticeship Week will soon be upon us (9-13 March 2015). We will be holding one of our regular Apprenticeship matching events on Wednesday 11 March (3pm-4.30pm) at Bedrock in Brighton. These events run every couple of months and are a chance for young people aged 16-24 to access apprenticeship vacancies in B&H and the surrounding areas.  

On Friday 13 March we are also hosting a roadshow and graduation ceremony for all apprentices and apprentice graduates from the Council. The event will take place at the Brighton Town Hall Council Chamber where the attendees will hear from inspirational local speakers, take part in workshops to support their professional development and have a chance to share good practice whilst meeting with fellow apprentices. The idea for this event came from our Apprentice Ambassadors and they have developed the concept and taken charge of the event planning and management. They have also made a film about their experiences as apprentices http://youtu.be/3ZI5GH6ktYM See also
www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/apprenticeships, email kirsten.trussell@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call her on 01273 294921.

Our Brighton and Hove Ambassadors

Changes in school and college leadership

It is the first time in B&H that we have been involved in recruiting so many Headteachers and principals at one time across the city. It’s vital we get the very best leaders to replace those we are saying farewell to.

I am delighted to announce that Joanne Smith has been appointed to Rudyard Kipling Primary as the new Headteacher from September, and Zoe Mcguigan will be the new Headteacher at Hertford Infant School. It is fantastic news that Coombe Road governors have asked Stuart McConnachie to remain as Executive Headteacher for another eighteen months. 

Congratulations to Ashley Harrold who has been appointed as the new Headteacher at Blatchington Mill when Janet Felkin leaves us in the summer. Well done to Wendy King who has been appointed as the new Headteacher at the Bilingual Primary School. We also have a new interim principal Monica Box at City College who we are all looking forward to working with.

Derek Trimmer from Hove Park will move to a new and exciting Executive Headteacher position in Kent after Easter. We thank him and wish him well in his new challenge. Austin Hindman will be acting Headteacher whist the recruitment process goes ahead.

We are also currently going through the planning and recruitment processes for new leaders at St Martins, Peter Gladwin, Moulescoomb, Hove Juniors and Bevendean Primary Schools and for Hove Park and PACA.

Ofsted have inspected Peter Gladwin Primary School this month and I look forward to receiving the report and final judgement.

I was pleased to receive the Ofsted reports for both West Blatchington and Coombe Road Primary Schools. West Blatchington secured a Good judgement and were praised for their leadership and partnership working, congratulations to Rachel and her team. Coombe Road received a Requires Improvement judgement but with strong recognition of the new approach to school to school support and capacity to improve. This was a significant achievement for Stuart and the team during a time of substantial change.

Following recent positive inspections I’m pleased to say that 82% of Brighton and Hove Schools are now judged to be good and outstanding which is in line with national average published in the HMCI annual report.

Best wishes

Jo

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