January 2016

Secondary results now in the top quartile!

Photo source: PACA  

It was a great way to start the new year with our KS4 validated results being published in the January statistic release from the Department of Education (DfE). I’m delighted they confirmed a rise in the percentage of Brighton & Hove students gaining at least five A* to C grades including English and Maths. This rose to 61 per cent, up from 53.6 per cent in 2014. Brighton & Hove is now in the top quarter of local authorities and above national, SE and statistical neighbours. Congratulations to all students and teachers. I know there is still a way to go in terms of progress and achievement of all groups of pupils, but this is a significant improvement and achievement.

Ofsted has been in the city schools again since my last blog. Reports for St Martin’s and Cardinal Newman have now been published. Both schools were judged to require improvement. All staff are working really hard with us to address the issues raised and are confident they will regain their judgement of good when Ofsted return.

Ofsted also undertook a short inspection of our Community Learning provision this month. My team and our partners from the Friends Centre worked hard to demonstrate the quality of the education provided to adults and the impact that it has on them. Inspectors noted the responsiveness of our family learning lead consultant Gill Meyne and the team at the Friends Centre. We await publication of the outcome but we consider it to be a positive experience and we are already looking at the next steps to improve this work further.

Faith and belief in educational settings 

I am delighted that the guide by the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education (SACRE) is now ready to go into schools and colleges. This provides background information on a range of faith and beliefs as well as useful food for thought on how best to support children and families from faith backgrounds. This looks set to be effective in supporting spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. It’s expected to complement the work going on in schools to promote positive identities and a sense of belonging.

My team and I look forward joining some of the Places of Worship visits that have been organised to find out more about our local communities. I hope many school staff will also get to go on these.

The guide and list of visits can be found on Pier2Peer.

PE Funding: DfE Report Released

The DfE recently released their findings following the 2nd survey on how Primary Schools are spending their PE funding. CPD as a national issue is highlighted with a focus on making sure the funding has a sustainable impact. The premium has enabled schools to enhance both the quality and range of PE teaching. As a result of this investment, schools have reported a range of positive effects, including greater confidence and skills to teach PE and greater participation. Further details are in the full DFE report.

Many thanks to everyone who recently completed the Brighton & Hove City Council questionnaire about this PE funding. We are in the process of collating this information received with a high response rate and will be reporting this back to schools. We now await DfE confirmation of the funding allocation up to 2020.

Primary schools athletics meeting at Withdean

 

Fairlight Primary School hosted an event with the Scout Association as part of a pilot project. I asked Gill Manton from my team to attend. The project is designed to help develop key character traits in young people aged eight to ten years old. It was attended by parents/carers, children, the Headteacher and our Deputy Mayor.

Headteacher Damien Jordan gave a presentation explaining the importance of this ‘Character by Doing’ schools project, which is modelled on the cub scouting programme.  This actively involves young people in creating a Code of Conduct for behaviour. Fairlight is one of six schools nationwide that are delivering this programme, funded by the DfE Character Education Grant scheme. The Scout Association made clear this isn’t just about children signing up but also for parents/carers to volunteer. If other schools are interested in this positive programme, I know that Damien would be happy to discuss and share.

Primary Writing Project and SEND

Shared Writing Bevendean Hearing Support Facility

It is good to hear that the SEND work of Ali Davis, Teacher in Charge of Bevendean Primary Hearing Support Facility, as part of The Primary Writing Project has been recognised by the trainer team as exemplary. At the beginning of January Ali met with trainers Pie Corbett and Julia Strong from Talk4Writing.

Ali believes that the use of Talk4Writing approach is highly beneficial to statemented and SEN children. The progress achieved using the Talk for Writing model with language deprived children has been shared nationally in Ali’s case study.

The results of this will form part of the Primary Writing Project: School Supporting Schools Conference on 29 June 2016. 

Well done Ali and team for all your good work!

School dogs

As a result of a request by the school council, Fairlight Primary School now has a school dog called Bessie!  She has been joining in classroom activities as well as conducting 1:1 sessions as a ‘reading dog’. Bessie has proved herself a very popular classroom assistant. Patcham High School also has a dog, Ralph. He has been a part of the school team since 2014.

Research shows that having a school dog can promote self-esteem, provide emotional support and increase empathy. It can improve attendance, with students coming in early to spend time with the dog before class. The school dogs live with a teacher who brings them in each day. Schools report an increased sense of community and enthusiasm for school. Reading dogs have been popular in several schools including St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School. Pupils read to the dogs which boosts their confidence. A school dog is also seen to strengthen the school’s sense of community.

Are there other schools receiving canine support for lessons?

Bessie – Fairlight Primary’s new school dog

Bilingual School Opening

Marina Gutierrez cutting the Ribbon 

I was delighted to attend the opening ceremony for the official handing over of the keys to the brand new Bilingual Primary School premises at the edge of Hove Park. Founders of the school, governors and supporters watched while the ribbon to mark the entrance to the school was cut by Marina Gutierrez who is chair of the schools trust. They were joined by fellow founding governor Javier Ruiz and Headteacher Wendy King. The children will arrive on Thursday 25 February for their first day at the new site and a further ceremony will be held after Easter. 

I look forward to visiting again to see the children learning in their new environment.

Post 16 learning and skills

The City Employment and Skills Plan has now completed its second consultation event and is hoping to publish results by March. Thank you to schools and colleges for their participation and input. 

The Employer Skills Taskforce has completed its programme of meetings and will be generating an Employer Pledge by March. There will be a launch event during Apprenticeship Week in March. 

Supported Internships

Supported Intern Rohan

I’m delighted we have our own first intern in the Children’s Service. Rohan is an intern in Jenny Brickell’s Children’s Disability Service. This programme is designed to help young people with a learning difficulty or disability to get into work and become excellent employees. It has started up in conjunction with Plumpton College’s Step into Work programme. “It’s one of the most satisfying and rewarding developments I’ve been involved with. I would really encourage other departments to consider the programme.’’ Jenny Brickell. 
Further details are on The Wave.

Primary Headteachers Phase meeting

I was very pleased to attend the Primary Headteacher meeting this week. It was a pleasure to have Pinaki, our Executive Director of Children's Services, to open the event. He shared with us the council’s commitment to our work with schools into the future. We heard from Andie Wilson Deputy Headteacher, St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School and Isabel Reid from Carlton Hill Primary School about the work they have been doing on ‘Prevent’ and on how to tackle serious incidents. We also consulted on our developing vision for learning for the city. 

Paul Watson shared progress on Primary Schools’ transferring to the vulnerability index (VI) which is replacing the vulnerable pupils register (VPR) explained in this bulletin.

Kate Vallance and Parul Chatterjee from HR joined us to share how they are working to develop the service and better support schools

Primary Headteachers' Meeting – January 2015

Holocaust Memorial Day

I was privileged to attend a Holocaust Memorial Event on the 27 January. This had strong input and attendance from schools across Brighton & Hove. Pupils from Blatchington Mill and Carden Primary schools provided an interesting presentation of what they have learnt about the Holocaust. Hove Park school pupils put on a dramatic performance that reminded us of the horrors of the Holocaust and the need to challenge prejudice. Carlton Hill and St Luke’s Primary pupils attended the event and a range of schools contributed to a display of work about the Holocaust at the library. 

Maxine Lambert from the Traveller Education Unit brought with her a display reminding us of the deaths of Gypsy Roma Travellers during the Holocaust. Both the schools event and the general public event were moving with a strong commitment from all who spoke to challenging prejudice whenever and wherever we heard it. The Holocaust Memorial Day theme ‘Don’t Stand By’ seems relevant to our nationwide issue of hate crime. Particular thanks go to Paul Harrington from Carden Primary School for helping to organise such an important event.

Albert Humberman started a new life in Brighton having been in several concentration camps

Adoption Support

I chaired a positive Adoption Support Steering Group meeting this week with school staff and adoptive parents as well as representatives of other agencies. Michael Wilson (Agency Advisor Adoption and Permanence) gave an update on the National Adoption Support Fund and how positive it is that this will be continued. He reminded us how the fund is being used to provide therapeutic interventions with adopted children across the city.

We also heard about some of the great practice happening to support adopted children in many of our schools funded by pupil premium. I’m interested to hear from schools across the city about innovative practice that is being developed to make a difference for this priority group and the impact it is having. Look out in next week’s schools bulletin Spotlight on Adoption Support Practice in Brighton & Hove schools or for further details or on the Brighton & Hove adoption passport

Welcome and Goodbye 

Welcome to Paul Neville who has joined us as a data analyst in the data team supporting the virtual school for children in care and the standards and achievement team.

Goodbye to Lisa Evans who is leaving her post at Brighton & Hove City Council to return to teaching. Lisa writes:

''I have enjoyed my time at Brighton & Hove and would like to thank all of my colleagues at the Local Authority and colleagues in schools for all of the good wishes.  I feel very sad to be leaving the schools that I have been working with as they have been a very committed and highly professional group of people. I am returning to headship as I miss the buzz of a school environment but rest assured that I am taking a piece of Brighton back with me to Kent.
Thank you Lisa for all your hard work providing support and challenge to our schools in Brighton & Hove''.

I am looking forward to seeing Headteachers and Senior Leaders at the Business Meeting on 12 February and Governors at our conference on Saturday 30 January.

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons. Some more Twitter handles from Children’s Services for you to follow:

@PSHEedBH (Sam Beal) 

@BHSchoolGovs (Governor Support)

@BHCC_EMAS

@PinakiGhoshal

@LSCB_Brighton