Jo's April Blog - Ofsted have descended upon us!
This month Children’s Services got that inevitable and long awaited Ofsted call. A large Ofsted team have descended upon the city and are with us for four weeks, evaluating the way we safeguard and look after our children and young people. Aside from the relief that the anticipation is now over, we are getting a good opportunity to demonstrate what we think we are doing well, as well as using the Ofsted experience to help us progress even further towards our aim of making Brighton and Hove an even safer place for children to grow up. I’ve been so impressed with how our staff across Children’s Services, particularly those on the front line, have responded to this challenge as well as keeping that important day job going. Thank you to the schools and other partners who are providing support and input. Ofsted will report back to us with their initial findings on 8 May.
Be The Change
On Thursday 17 April I attended ‘Be the Change’ at the Amex, which was the first event of its kind in Sussex and helped inspire around 100 students from schools across Brighton and Hove about their future. Hosted by LoveLocalJobs.com, the event was aimed at Year 10 pupils who, for one reason or another, have become disengaged with school or lack confidence in their own abilities.
The students took part in workshops and group activities led by Humanutopia’s founders, Carlo Missirian and Graham Moore, both former teachers who understand the challenges facing young people today. Volunteers from the business community and senior leaders across the city including our Chief Executive, Penny Thompson, were central to the activities, playing the role of mentors to small groups of students. The experience was designed to open the young peoples' eyes to the world of work and the wealth of possibilities and career opportunities in Brighton and beyond. I had the opportunity to take part in some of the activities myself and even in the short time I was there I was able to see a difference in the attitudes and confidence of the young people I was working with. Richard Bradford and Helen Emerson from Dorothy Stringer took a group of students along. Here's what they thought about it: "A really inspiring day for both students and staff alike. Great to see how the students responded throughout the day from non-engagement to full participation. It was wonderful to see how the students' confidence grew as the day went on. The combination of business and enterprise and personal development was a real plus."
LoveLocalJobs.com are looking forward to holding further events of this kind. More information can be found here http://news.brightonandhovejobs.com/2015/04/local-businesses-inspire-next-generation-at-ground-breaking-careers-event/ or by contacting Rosanne@LoveLocalJobs.com or Georgina@lovelocaljobs.com.
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| 'Be The Change' event on 17 April |
Balfour Primary School General Election
This month with the general and local elections round the corner, it was fabulous to hear about Balfour Primary School's special event, when they turned the school into a polling station and replicated the whole process that the country will go through on 7 May. Their election was to vote for the school values, with all the children, staff, families and governors casting their votes, from 7am to 7pm! 1391 votes were counted and the result ended with the values; Respectful, Enthusiastic, Friendly, Caring, Courageous and Ambitious.
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| Rose Wisdom (Partnership Adviser - Governor Support) at the polling station! |
Primary Headteachers' Phase Meeting
I joined our Primary Headteachers earlier this month for a packed agenda which included Gill Brooks (CCG Commissioner for Children’s Mental Health) talking about the consultation into Community Mental Health services and asking schools for their view on future models of practice.
Dave Tanner (Senior IS Support Officer) and Mary Ellinger (School Partnership Adviser) talked about the new primary assessment and the use of SIMs to support schools, including baseline assessment and the new moderation and assessment training dates: 22 June (Year 1 and Year 3) 1pm-4pm, 23 June (Year 4) 1pm-4pm, 30 June (Year 5) 1pm-4pm. Email standardsandachievement@brighton-hove.gov.uk if you'd like to book a place.
Sam Beal (Partnership Adviser - Health and Wellbeing) was able to share the latest Safe and Well at School Survey results which have now been published. The survey was also piloted this year with FE and special school settings.
We are delighted that there was a 4% reduction in Year 4-6 pupils reporting they had been bullied at school representing a 13% reduction since 2006. 88% of primary pupils now report that their school is good at dealing with bullying and 94% of them state they feel safe in school. For secondary schools numbers reporting bullying stayed the same as in 2013, however there has still been a 14% reduction since 2006 and steady increases in students reporting safety at school and enjoyment of learning. A briefing on the secondary school data can be found here http://www.bhconnected.org.uk/content/surveys
This positive data reflects the hard work and dedication of schools to the health and wellbeing of children and young people and the effective joined up working between the council, schools and other partners. We know however that there is more work to do and that the SAWSS data shows that some groups of young people, including for example those who say they get extra help, are more vulnerable to bullying and so we need to continue to use the data to target our preventative strategies.
Tim Read from the Community Safety Team joined Sam to speak about a new guidance document which has been developed for schools, police and other teams supporting young people and their parents/carers when bullying occurs.
Secondary and Continuing Education Partnership
At this month’s meeting we focused on public health including school nursing, self-harm and CAMHs support. There is a shared understanding that emotional and mental health is a major priority for schools and colleges. New forms of social media are contributing to problems of self-harm and other cyber pressures.In response we are developing a collaborative approach with schools, Public Health and Children’s Services to pilot a new way of working. In two schools, a primary mental health worker from the Community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service (CCAMHS) team will spend a substantial time with the school working to improve skills, resilience and confidence of staff to meet the needs of pupils at early stages. In response, we will be asking pilot schools to identify a lead for emotional/mental health within the school who can coordinate relevant school resources and provide an interface with the CCAMHS worker.
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| Secondary and Continuing Partnership Meeting on 17 April |
Adoption Support
We had another lively and productive adoption support steering group meeting this month. It’s always a pleasure to chair this group as I am joined by such a passionate and creative group of professionals and parents, including Headteachers and Heads of Service across the Children’s Services and its wider partnership. We were able to progress our work with schools on our Attachment Aware Brighton strategy, more schools are signing up for training and are rolling this out across their schools using our newly identified school Attachment Champions. At this session we also looked at the benefits of developing an approach to Personal Education Planning for adopted children and those on Special Guardianship Orders, similar to the approach we use with our Children In Care. We agreed this was something positive to explore further.
Take a look at our newly launched Adoption Support Passport. The passport explains a range of services in social care, education, health and the voluntary sector and has been developed with the help of our adoptive parents. It includes the offer provided by the Virtual School:
http://www.fosteringinbrightonandhove.org.uk/content/adoption-support-passport
Please let me know what you think.
School Attendance
As part of our drive to promote and ensure good school attendance, we have launched our revised Code of Conduct to schools. See bulletin http://wave.brighton-hove.gov.uk/schools/bulletins/Lists/Posts/DispForm.aspx?ID=4090
Good school attendance is a top priority for the city and ensures that all children are able to develop both academically and socially, improving their life chances. It also has a significant welfare role in safeguarding children and young people. This Code of Conduct plays an important part in the range of school strategies and policies we use to support good attendance and raise achievements for our pupils. We look forward to working with you all to ensure we improve attendance, reduce persistent absence and holidays in term time.
Opening of BHASVIC Copper Building
I was delighted to be invited to BHASVIC’s official opening of its new building. Professor Dame Athene Donald (DBE FRS) was there to unveil the plaque and officially open the building, as well as providing an inspiring speech about her academic achievement and career as a physicist. Staff and students at BHASVIC are very proud of the new building which will provide quiet study areas, classrooms and catering facilities built to the latest energy efficiency specifications. I was very impressed by this superb new space which I know will help BHASVIC students excel in their learning. Principal Chris Thomson said: “We are delighted with our new building which will make a significant contribution to the outstanding education which the College offers”.
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| Left to right: Shirley Brooks-Mills (BHASVIC Vice Principal); Mayor of
Brighton & Hove Councillor Brian Fitch; Dame Athene Donald, DBE FRS (Master
of Churchill College Cambridge); Jutta Knapp (BHASVIC Assistant Principal);
Chris Thomson ( BHASVIC Principal);Neil Cole (Amiri, Construction Director;
Peter Freeman (BHASVIC Chair of Governors); James Moncrieff ( BHASVIC Assistant
Principal) |
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| Andrew Parry Lead Governor, Westdene Primary School with their PE and Sports Co-ordinator, Tim Laing |
Celebrations
Congratulations to St Andrews CE Primary School who secured a ‘good’ judgement from Ofsted with a positive report. Well done to the staff, children and parents.
This month a beautiful plaque to commemorate architect Thomas Simpson was unveiled by the Mayor of Brighton on the front elevation of West Hove Infant School. Simpson designed a number of schools in the city to provide free education for all children between the ages of 5-10 years once it became a legal requirement in 1880. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend but Linda McMillan (School Partnership Adviser) attended the event to represent Children’s Services which she thoroughly enjoyed.
Congratulations to Hove Juniors and Hertford Junior who have just achieved the Working With Others Gold and Silver Awards respectively. These awards acknowledge schools’ commitment to the values of Working With Others and the benefits they have gained as a result.
New School
A lot of my time this month has been spent meeting and working closely with the University of Brighton on the proposed new school. We are very excited at the prospect of a much needed new secondary school in the city. The University, in collaboration with us, are busy putting together the bid ready for the end of May and gathering expressions of interest from current Y2 and Y3 parents and carers. They are keen to work with local schools as part of the Learning Partnership and we hope Headteacher colleagues will join us in supporting and developing this important proposal.
Hello and Goodbye
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| Left to right; Kirsten Trussell, Hannah Spooner (former apprentice) and Apprentice Ambassador Rachel Maddison |
Kirsten Trussell (Partnership Adviser - Education and Skills) is leaving our team to take on an exciting role as a Skills Development Manager at Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership to implement their Skills Development Plan. Having been a valued member of the team for over seven years, Kirsten will be greatly missed and I would like to thank her for all her hard work on behalf of the Council.
Andrew Livingstone was appointed this month as interim Headteacher at Moulsecoomb Primary. Thank you to Paul Beverton, Headteacher from Our Lady of Lourdes for releasing Karen Taylor to be Acting Deputy Head at Moulsecoomb. This is another good example of school to school support. From September Maddy Southern will be the Acting Headteacher at Hove Juniors. Also, for one term from September Alex Wingham will be Acting Headteacher at St. Martin's Primary.
We also welcome Martyn Giddens who will start in September as Headteacher at Bevendean Primary School. I’m sure Martyn’s enthusiasm will be a great asset to the school.
Mary Ellinger (School Partnership Adviser) has been appointed interim Head on a job share with Syb True at Royal Spa Nursery until Christmas. She will continue to work part time in her Schools Partnership Advisor role.
With great sadness this month that I read a letter from Hass Yilmaz who has for many years been our Principal Educational Psychologist, who shared the news that he has terminal cancer and just a short time to live. He has done the impossible and written an uplifting letter which is incredibly moving. He is well loved by colleagues and many have described him as an excellent psychologist, a lovely guy and supportive friend. Our kind thoughts go to Hass and his family.
Forthcoming events
The School and College Leaders Business meeting on the 9 June will have a focus on equality to enable further targeted work with vulnerable pupils and students.
Please save the date of the next Headteacher Conference on 2 October, where we will have keynote speaker Tim Brighouse.
I am off to the Children’s Parade on Saturday 2 May and look forward to seeing all your creative work!
Best wishes for the bank holiday weekend.
Jo
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