November 2015

Consultation and change

Over the last few weeks there has been much publicity about the work we are doing to redesign our SEN and disability provision and also our Learning Support Services. Regan Delf (Assistant Director of Children's Services) and I have spent a great deal of time with groups of parents across the city and meetings with local and national SEN groups and teachers, reassuring them. Parents have been fearful that we will no longer provide them with services. This is not the case. However we do need to change how we do things. We want even better services, less complicated, more upfront, more personalized and more joined up. We know we need more support for some groups, for example for those with Social Emotional and Mental Health and Autistic Spectrum Conditions. I would like to thank those parents and school staff that have been helpful and supportive in getting the correct messages out there. We want to listen to everyone during this important consultation period. 

The voice of our children and young people 

  

Benfield pupils who gave the presentation

This group of year 5 and 6 pupils from Benfield Primary School in Portslade have been involved in a project to give their views on the use of digital media in their learning. The children attended a conference of prestigious organisations where they spoke to a large number of unknown adults. The feedback was very positive, noting how articulate, thoughtful and engaging these children were. Their viewpoint was successfully brought across to organisations present, including the London Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Science Museum, the V&A and Brighton Museum. These children have set a fine example of pupil voice. Well done.

I am delighted that Ofsted has judged St Mark's Primary to be good. I know what a journey this has been for everyone at the school and want to extend congratulations to Jane Fendley and her team.
  
We also had our first 'short inspection' at St John the Baptist's Primary and the report has just been published. Congratulations to Carmel Hughes and her team for maintaining their judgement of good from their previous inspection. Jane and Carmel both shared their experiences at the Primary Headteachers’ meeting last week which was well received by heads and the LA team.

This brings the percentage of schools in the city that are good or outstanding to 85%, which is the highest it has ever been!

Jamie Oliver’s kitchen garden

Breakfast Clubs info booklet

The Sugar Smart event was well attended by primary schools at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. Vic Borrill from Brighton and Hove Food Partnership, celebrated healthy breakfast clubs within the city. The Jamie Oliver Foundation Kitchen Garden Project gave details of resources available and how city schools can sign up for free. Eden, the school meals provider for Primary and Special schools, talked about their project to reduce sugar and increase fibre in desserts served across the city. They introduced “The Bright’s”, the characters which will appear on our new menu leaflet and will assist with food education. Tasty healthy nibbles were provided by Jamie’s with low sugar desserts by Eden! 

School Organisation 

   
I was very reassured that our independent report on pupil forecasting and pupil place planning confirmed that our primary pupil forecasting is accurate and our secondary pupil modelling confirms the need for more places at secondary level going forward. This month’s Cross Party School Organisation Working Group welcomed the report and praised the LA team for its work in this area.

It was good to join members of the Portslade Partnership of Schools with Richard Barker, our new Head of School Organisation, to work in collaboration with them on future projections of there being surplus places in their schools. We had a constructive dialogue and the group are working on short and longer term suggestions as a way forward.

We have also had two meetings of the Secondary Admission Review Steering Group this month, chaired by Councillor Dan Chapman. The group are debating all the options for possible changes to secondary catchment arrangement going forward and will be ready to consult in the Spring. 

The council has launched its annual consultation on admission arrangements for September 2017. Responses are welcome. Click here for the bulletin from this consultation.

I am pleased to confirm that after a robust application process Saul Johnson has been appointed School Admissions Manager. Saul brings to the post a wealth of experience of school admissions in Brighton and Hove and will be a positive addition to Richard Barker’s School Organisation management team. I am sure you will support Saul following his appointment. If you have any admissions issues or queries you can contact him directly by email saul.johnston@brighton-hove.gov.uk or by direct number 01273 293653. 
 

Anti-Bullying Week ran this month from 16 to 20 November. I was very pleased to hear how schools across Brighton & Hove got involved. I enjoyed reading all your tweets. Many used locally and nationally developed materials to ‘Make a Noise about Bullying’. Anti Bullying Week also saw the launch of the Anti-Bullying Toolkit on Pier2Peer which provides case studies of good practice from across Brighton & Hove City Council schools. Thanks to the schools and colleges who contributed. We look forward to adding to this with case studies from other schools to share our good practice and commitment to preventing bullying.

Congratulations - School Chef of The Year

Goldstone Primary School’s Kitchen Manager, Marion Jane, won the regional finals for School Chef Of the Year (SCOTY) South East Region. Well done Marion!
 

Goldstone pupils, Chris Pearson (Headteacher) and award winning Chef Marion Jane enjoy the dessert

Post 16 update

The Sussex Area Review of post 16 provision is under way. Alongside this there is a local review as requested by the Children, Young People and Skills Committee which is aligned to the Sussex Area Review. I was pleased to join the Heads, Principals and Chairs of Governors of all those schools with 6th forms and our academies, FE and 6th form colleges, hosted by Hove Park Upper School. These reviews will focus on possible options to maintain a sustainable solution in local post 16 provision and to meet the needs of all learners in the city. Further discussions will take place over the next 2-3 months to ensure all institutions are considered and consulted, including looking at future needs, continued choice of provision and to explore opportunities for collaboration.

The Employer Skills Taskforce which is made up of a range of key employers in the city, as well as representatives from educational institutions, has also met again this month, and is busy working towards a citywide pledge, supporting an increase in the numbers of good quality apprenticeships.


Children in Care Awards

I thoroughly enjoyed joining children and young people, their parents and carers at the annual awards for our children in care. I was proud to hear about their resilience and great achievements. Over 45 awards were presented. The afternoon included a powerful speech and insight from Councillor Tom Bewick, Chair of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee. He also remarked on the impressive resilience of our young people and thanked foster carers for their hard work. The afternoon continued with performances and a disco. The star guests ‘Purple Haze’ our children in care band were a particular favourite and brought great excitement to the room. Thank you to the children and young people and the Fostering and Virtual School teams for all their hard work to make this event such fun and a real success!

Children in Care Awards

School governance

Cllr Tom Bewick addresses the event

I was pleased to open our Governance, Strategy and Partnership meeting at City College this month, which brought together a large number of governors and clerks from across the city. Councillor Tom Bewick outlined his administration’s priorities for the city and congratulated schools on the results this year at both primary and secondary level. Delegates also had the opportunity to share their experiences about how they are strengthening governance by developing partnership working. There was some interesting debate about how we continue to improve pupil attendance in schools following a presentation from our Attendance Lead Gill Manton. Our guest speaker Martin Kaliszewski presented governors with some analysis of pupil performance and trends across the city. Governors will be able to explore this further with us at the ‘Closing the Gap’ governors’ conference on 30 January 2016.

School visits

It was a pleasure to visit Whitehawk City Academy and hear about the positive work they have been doing to reduce exclusions and improve attendance. It was also good to see how they have developed the school environment and learning spaces with lots of opportunities for creative and imaginative play for all children.

Saltdean Primary School

Suzanne Morgan and her team welcomed me to Saltdean Primary where I was pleased to see how well the building work to expand the school is progressing. Its success is a huge credit to Suzanne and her team who have remained strong and positive through a challenging time. They have also continued their relentless focus on positive teaching and learning, moving the school from strength to strength.

I look forward to seeing the completed project.

Hilary and I had a productive session with Julie Aldous, the Headteacher of Middle Street and Chair of the Brighton City Partnership for Education, to discuss the role of the partnership in school improvement. This partnership has developed well over time and has a clear plan of collaborative work to support its schools with ongoing improvement. They have recently been successful in their application for charitable status, which will now give them further opportunities to bid for funding for the Partnership. Another good example of effective school to school support working in our city.

Horrific terrorist attacks

We have all been affected by the horror of terrorist acts including those this month in Paris and Beirut. It is important that schools aim to provide safe learning environments and opportunities for children and young people to discuss the feelings, anxieties and questions they have as a result of international and national events and the media coverage following them. We also need to be vigilant in ensuring that we identify, challenge and record any prejudiced based incidents or bullying that may occur in and around our communities. If you need any further advice and support please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons.