February 2016

Partnership working

I do hope many of you found time to take a half term break this month or at least a few days off work. I spent time with my family at Centre Parcs which was an enjoyable experience and hassle free holiday with sunshine every day and everything laid on! 

February at work has been a highly productive month with a range of partnership events with headteachers, governors and other stakeholders moving us forward on our top priorities. Reviewing the educational landscape, the importance of partnership working and strong networks of schools, other education providers that support and challenge each other is becoming increasingly clear. I’m aware there is lots of exciting and diverse practice already happening in the city and am keen to promote and develop this in partnership with school and college leaders. I’m looking forward to continual dialogue with our headteachers and partners as to how we develop this way of working going forward so we have the very best practice.

Sharon MacKenzie (School Workforce & Governor Support Officer / NQT Induction Co-ordinator) at the Governors Conference

Partnership with our city’s school governors

Cllr Tom Bewick

I joined more than 100 of our school governors who came together for the annual Saturday Governors’ Conference led by our Local Authority Governor Support Team.  The theme was ‘Closing the Gap’ and we spent a packed morning with inspiring speakers and facilitators, who challenged governors’ thinking about how they can have an impact on improving progress and life chances for all our children in the city. The conference was opened by our lead member, Councillor Tom Bewick, Chair of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee.

Our keynote speaker was Martin Kaliszewski, who works with the DfE, local authorities and schools around the country to interpret data and use this to inform the work we do with our disadvantaged pupils.  

There was also time for delegates to attend discussion groups that were led by our own governors sharing practice from their schools, and it was fantastic to hear all the practical information that governors could take back to their governor bodies. The feedback from this event was excellent.

It has been very quiet on the Ofsted front this month with no visits to our city’s schools, however the report for Cardinal Newman was published. The school was judged by Ofsted to require improvement to be good. I would like to commend headteacher James Kilmartin and the team at Cardinal Newman for their swift action to start addressing the issues identified by inspectors. We will be working in close partnership with the school and its governors on its journey to good.

Visit to Downs Junior School

 Left to right:Lonny Offley (Attachment Lead Teacher) and Emma Hearn (Assistant Headteacher)  at Downs Junior School 

I was delighted to visit Downs Juniors to meet Gianni Franceschi (Headteacher), Lonny Offley (Attachment Lead Teacher) and Emma Hearn (Assistant Headteacher), who are doing inspirational work around pupil premium and adopted children.  The school have invested in an Attachment Lead Teacher, Lonny, who supports some of the most vulnerable in children in school by working both individually with children using therapeutic interventions and by training staff as school so building capacity. They are keen to share their good practice and provide school to school support.  If you wish to know more about this initiative that is having clear impact you should contact Mark Storey (Head of Virtual School). Lonny and Emma also joined us to present at our School and College Leaders business event to share this excellent practice. They skilfully got our headteachers engaged in theraplay using bubbles!

Gianni Franceschi (Headteacher, Downs Junior School) blowing bubbles!

New secondary school for Brighton 

The University of Brighton have now announced this week that the Department for Education has approved plans for a new secondary school in Brighton. The school will be for students aged 11 to 16 years and will offer 180 places each year. 

Professor Debra Humphris, the university’s Vice Chancellor, said: “We are delighted the application has been successful.......We are pleased to be working in partnership with the city council and other stakeholders on this exciting development. We look forward to fully engaging and working with parents, the community and with local schools to fully develop the plans for the new school. Our outstanding School of Education will play a key role in these developments.’’

School and College Leaders Business Event – ‘’Progress For All’’ 

John McKee (deputy headteacher, Patcham High) with Olivia and Ethan

It was a pleasure for me to open our School & College Leaders’ Business Meeting at the University of Sussex and emphasise the importance of progress for all our children and young people. The event focused on sharing good practice, closing the gap, supporting our disadvantaged children and young people, including Children in Care and Adopted Children, and the importance of celebrating diversity within our schools. Presentations from schools included Patcham High, Blatchington Mill, Elm Grove, Downs Junior. 

John McKee, Olivia and Ethan (who were amazing) gave a lively presentation on Patcham High’s GRIT and Resilience project work, demonstrating the impact this has had on students and practical measures that can be employed by other schools to develop these traits in their own pupils (it included a vacuum cleaner but you will need to ask John about that). 

Sam Beal distributed the Faith Guidance in Educational Settings document and a fascinating presentation from Maryam Riaz and Kaneez Mahab-Rehman on being a British Muslim and the different educational experiences from two women who grew up in Brighton and Bradford. Full details are available on the schools bulletin .

The special educational needs and disability review: positive changes are afoot!

I hope that by now you will all know about the consultation which has recently opened on the exciting changes we are considering to bring our 6 special schools and 2 pupil referral units into 3 integrated provisions. We also plan to relocate our specialist nursery from its current accommodation into a more inclusive setting, since although the Jeanne Saunders Centre has served us well over many years, as a building it is no longer fit for purpose.

It is really important to us that you all have your say about these plans, so please respond by logging onto the consultation portal on council’s website, where you can read all about why we need to make changes, what we are proposing to do, and when we plan to do it. We have a lengthy timeframe for the implementation of any changes (up to 2020), so there will be plenty of opportunity for everyone to contribute their ideas to help us to develop even more amazing opportunities for our most vulnerable children and young people. 

Employment and Skills

The consultation with schools, colleges and academies regarding the local post 16 provision is ongoing and the meeting of headteachers and chairs of governors welcomed Gary Peters, Chief Executive of Love Local Jobs, who is also  vice chair of the Employer Skills Taskforce. Gary addressed the meeting talking about skills needs and sector growth locally, encouraging engagement between education and employers.  The Employer Skills Taskforce has now completed its work and on 18 March it will being issuing a call to action for employers to get involved in the campaign to support apprenticeships. 

Information, advice and guidance (IAG) remain high on our agenda and Rachel Carter from my team is leading this work with schools and colleges and other partners for the local authority. We are working in partnership with the schools and the Coast to Capital Local Enterprise Partnership to help educational institutions develop a skills strategy which will support young people into the world of work, whilst engaging with employers locally.

The City of Brighton and Hove saw the launch of the 'Be the Change' programme at the Amex on 24 February. Nine of our city's secondary schools and academies sent a selection of year 9 students to the launch event, and saw students excel their own expectations and those of their teachers. 'Be the Change' helps young people to identify their barriers to success and understand what positive changes they need to make in order to realise their aspirations. 

Also this month senior LA representatives attended the 'Creative Tech Futures' event hosted by City College, this is an exciting initiative with employers and City College. 

Congratulations and Welcome 

I was privileged to join Longhill governors as they recruited a new headteacher. There was a strong field and a difficult decision for governors. We are delighted with the decision and we look forward to welcoming Kate Williams to the city. Kate is currently vice principal at Strood Academy in Medway. 

It was also an opportunity to see how well the school is doing under Richard Bradford and the Acting Headteacher, Jo Cassidy's leadership and a chance to meet the staff and pupils of Longhill who were engaged in the recruitment process. I was also very impressed with the use of inspirational messages around the school.

Longhill High School Corridor

In the local authority this month we welcome Paul Neville to the Schools Data Team, he is a Data Analyst who has joined us from Sussex Police.

Services to Schools Marketplace Event

Our services to schools offer is developing at a pace with a real focus on efficiency and value for money and providing you all with the quality services you need. 

Please come and join us at the Services to Schools Marketplace drop-in event on Tuesday 8 March, 9.30am-12pm at the Sussex Cricket Club, Dining Rooms. The event provides the opportunity to meet with the leads from the Services to Schools teams and to discuss your services provision ahead of the 16/17 buyback. There will also be updates from the Literacy Support Service and further information about the Orbis Partnership and what it means for schools.  To book your place please contact fifi.bula@brighton-hove.gov.uk or directly via BEEM.

There is a Primary Headteachers meeting also taking place at the same venue, in the Boundary Rooms from 8.30am-10.30am, headteachers are welcome to pop in after.

Best wishes,
Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons.