It has been a productive month as our schools and colleges approach the end of another term of creativity and learning, with staff and children looking forward to that well deserved break. At home we have been having fun with the children making cupcakes for the school Easter celebrations and preparing for the excitement the chocolate egg hunt brings, balanced with some lovely walks by the sea and on the Downs this Easter weekend.
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| Easter cupcakes |
Early Years Places for 2 year olds
I’m delighted that Rudyard Kipling Primary School and Royal Spa Nursery School have been expanded using capital funds so that they can now offer free early years places to eligible two year olds in their nurseries, alongside existing provision for three and four year olds.
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| Opening day at Rudyard Kipling |
The Council's Chief Executive, Penny Thompson CBE, every quarter presents a 'Big Difference Award' to an individual nominated by colleagues for outstanding service to B&H citizens. I was thrilled that this month the award went to Susie Haworth, our School Meals Team Manager, for her fantastic work in introducing the Universal Infant Free School Meals scheme, whilst at the same time ensuring that the Pupil Premium count was not affected. In her comments, Penny wrote, "Susie’s energy, enthusiasm and determination shone through and she had led enormous change in a short time with very positive outcomes." I'm sure that all of you who know Susie would agree with Penny's statement and that this award is richly deserved.
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| Susie Haworth receiveing her award from Penny Thompson |
A suggested read for you all over Easter is Ofsteds Speech to the Association of School and College Leaders Conference 2015. An interesting focus on optimism and resilience in leadership https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/speech-to-association-of-school-and-college-leaders-conference-2015
Governors Working in Partnership
I was delighted to attend the Portslade Partnership of Schools’ Governor conference on 5 March. This was a great example of school to school support in action as the evening was led by governors from across the partnership. We had a good debate about governors role in developing strong partnerships as beacons of excellence to support school improvement. The conference challenged governors to understand its data and be more outward looking to support all children and young people across Portslade to reach their potential.
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| Three of our governonrs Jenny Barnard Langston, Rosalind Turner and Clive Bolton |
The Conference Season
Regan Delf and I joined a wide range of multi-agency professionals, parents and young people to begin looking in more detail at how we will implement our integrated models of practice for young people and their families who have Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) and Social Emotion and Mental Health (SEMH). To stimulate our thinking it was great to hear from three other authorities that had developed innovative models of practice.
As part of our ongoing commitment to meeting the needs of children and young people with autistic spectrum conditions (ASC) in the city, Brighton and Hove in partnership with NHS welcomed over 200 delegates to a conference at the AMEX. We were delighted to welcome Baroness Browning, Vice President of the National Autistic Society, who delivered the opening keynote address providing delegates with an overview of key legislation, particularly relevant in the context of the changes to SEND legislation now covering young people up to the age of 25.
This year’s annual EMAS conference on Closing the Gap was a great success. Those who attended were inspired, motivated, challenged and had a good opportunity to build knowledge and understanding of best practice. School staff and partners were given an accurate picture of Brighton and Hove data and the challenges ahead by Sarah Berliner the head of the service. The style of the conference was very powerful with an excellent use of pupil voice and real life experiences. The experiences of young people were heard on video. Congratulations to the two EMAS employees who were stars of the day, speaking with honesty and passion about their lives growing up in school. There is nothing stronger than hearing personal experiences.
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| Photos credited to Charles Mansfield-Osborne, MegapixelMovie.com |
Let's Dance
The annual Let’s Dance at the Dome was again a great success, spread over 3 nights with performances from children and young people from across our City schools
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| Hannah Spooner, former Education and Inclusion apprentice now working at YOS as their Court Administrator |
Independent travel to and from school
Considerable time has been spent this month leading valuable work to support independent travel at a point when the consulation on a new policy comes to an end and we move into our implementation phase. I’ve had the opportunity to attend a range of meetings listening to parents, partners and Headteachers views on travel to school and the importance of supporting young people on their journey to independence. I’ve been really impressed with the work of the Cedar Centre lead by their Headteacher, Lalli Howell, who has introduced a range of activities involving her young people including; independent travel training in tutor times, buddy systems, biking and walking to school, and protective behaviour lessons linking in with safety when out in the community.
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| Independent travel at Cedar Centre |
A lovely quote from one of the young people: When I first went on the bus it made me feel very happy and grown up. I started to go with two buddies but now I go on my own. I would never go back on taxis, I prefer buses. I like it because the other high school kids go on buses and it makes me feel grown up. A Year 10 student.
World Book Day
World book day was a great success enjoyed by all, including me! Primary age pupils in Woodingdean celebrated by showing off their reading and writing skills to three published authors and getting tips on how to write books.
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| Daniel Tyler-Dibley - pictured above with his mum Michelle - is one of many pupils who have made fantastic progress through the Reading Recovery scheme at Woodingdean Primary School . |
A new school
In recent years we have had to provide new places for the increasing number of Primary age children. These children are now reaching secondary school age and our School Organisation Plan estimates that we will need up to 300 new places per year group by the end of the decade. One part of our secondary places strategy, worked up in partnership with leading councillors, secondary heads, college principals and the two universities is to explore the possibility of a new school.
This month the council’s Policy & Resources Committee strongly endorsed in principle a proposal from the University of Brighton to develop a new entry secondary school in Brighton. There is a long way to go with this project but we are now positively working with the university to achieve this.
Hello and goodbye
As often is the case at this time of year we have some people leaving us and some new starters. Derek Trimmer, Headteacher from Hove Park and Charles Davies Headteacher from Moulescoombe Primary School will be leaving us this week, I wish them well and thank them for the commitment they have made to the children and young people of Brighton and Hove.
Lisa Evans (School Partnership Adviser) will be joining the LA team after Easter. Lisa has been working as a head of a Primary School in Kent. Her post will fill capacity in the team to deliver our statutory school improvement role and to support and challenge schools.
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| Lisa Evans |
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| Henry Kannike |
Jo
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