Hannah, apprentice and care leaver
Increasing the number of apprenticeships in the city is a top priority for us. I’m delighted we have some amazing apprentices already working with us. It’s a pleasure to be able to showcase Hannah’s story in the interview below. Hannah recently spoke at the Virtual Schools Conference as she is one of the council apprentices who is a care leaver.
My Name is Hannah and I am 21 years old. I am currently doing a Level 3 Apprenticeship in Customer Service at the registrar’s office in Brighton Town Hall.What Sort of things does your job involve?
My job involves welcoming visitors, registering Births, Deaths, Marriages, Civil Partnerships etc. and producing legal documents (like birth certificates) in line with statutory requirements .
What did you do before your apprenticeship?
I did a few low paying jobs, like cleaning and working in a coffee shop. With these jobs I didn’t feel like I was really going to get anywhere and I wanted a role that would help me start a career.
Why did you want this apprenticeship?
I knew I wanted an apprenticeship as soon as I left school, I knew I wanted to get into work and be able to have experience and references instead of just learning things theoretically, like I would have at college. Unfortunately I struggled to find one that I thought I would enjoy. I came across a Level 2 Customer Service Apprenticeship at Brighton & Hove City Council. It sounded like something a little bit different and something I thought I would enjoy. Just before the end of my Level 2 Apprenticeship, I was asked to stay on and complete a Level 3. I was really happy to accept the opportunity as it meant better job security (because it was a longer contract) a chance to build on the skills I had gained, and I could stay on with the same team I’d been working with for a year.
For you, what were the main differences between the levels?
For me the main difference in changing levels was that the coursework was a lot more work based – I could give examples in my coursework of things I had experienced at work. I have a lot more responsibility, for example, soon I will be able to register marriages.
Would you do the next level up?
I would definitely like to do a Level 4 if I am given the chance. The study side of apprenticeships really interests me because I love being able to learn the theory behind the job I am doing, and would make me more employable.
What do you feel you have gained from your apprenticeship?
For me my apprenticeship has not only helped me start a career but also really helped my personal development too. I have much more confidence and am able to take on responsibilities.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about taking on an apprenticeship?
When you are looking for an apprenticeship, remember to go for something that really interests you, not just something that pays well. It’s really important not to get discouraged if you can’t see anything you like. There are so many options out there if you just keep looking! Have confidence in your skills and achievements; don’t underestimate what you can achieve in the future.
Brighton and Hove Education Partnership
On 6 June the Children, Young People and Skills Committee agreed our proposal to begin an engagement with school leaders, governors, parents, young people and other stakeholders regarding the co-construction of a model that formulises our City Education Partnership. The partnership’s purpose is to strengthen the family of schools and further develop our schools led self-improving system, whilst continuing to raise standards. Hilary Ferries will be taking a lead role on this work and will be contacting partners directly to ensure everyone’s view is heard. Our plan is to engage with stakeholders over the next few months and then to develop a model that will go out for consultation in the late autumn. This is an exciting opportunity to develop a deep, robust and purposeful education partnership where we all contribute to sustainable local improvement. It will also help to ensure there is clarity of purpose and roles so we make sense of the different overlapping networks and alliances operating in the new world of education regionally and nationally, so that Brighton and Hove can achieve maximum benefit and future proof our local partnership.
Award Winners – congratulations
Many congratulations to colleagues who won national awards recently.
Sue Middleton (formerly of Dorothy Stringer) who won Teacher of the Year.
Steve Everard, Premises Manager at West Blatchington, who won staff member.
City Academy Whitehawk, voted the most improved school.
PACA who were voted Community School of the Year.
Dorothy Stringer, for School of the Year.
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| Kathryn Coleman collecting her award from NAHT President, Kim Johnson |
Congratulations also to Kathryn Coleman (ECaR Teacher) and all the Woodingdean Primary School staff, pupils, families and community for winning a National Reading Recovery School of the Year Award 2016. The theme of Kathryn’s application was: Woodingdean Primary Builds a Reading Community. Her case study highlighted the effectiveness of a whole school approach in developing a reading for pleasure community of successful readers. Work with the local library and community was a feature of the application. The award was presented on Friday 10th June.
Here is a link to the announcement on Institute of Education UCL site here: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/international-literacy/ilc/events/rr-awards-2016
It is great to see all these achievements celebrated and we are very proud of the individual and whole school success.
Teacher Recruitment
Recruitment of high quality teachers and leaders is a major national challenge and concern. Locally we are beginning to experience some issues too. To respond to this a discussion took place at the primary heads meeting in the spring term and then my team commissioned a social media recruitment campaign to encourage teachers to come the city. The online social media campaign received 458 'clicks' (people that looked at it). Rachel Simmonds, Headteacher of West Blatchington Primary, will now be following this work up further by asking headteachers whether this translated into successful job applications for new teachers. If you have any specific recruitment issues and would like to offer further ideas or suggestions then please get in touch with Rachel.
Closing the Gap
Closing the Gap in achievement for our vulnerable groups and ensuring progress for all remains our top priority across all schools and education providers in the city. Congratulations to Bevendean, St Mary Magdalen, Woodingdean and Downs View, where the recent Ofsted reports recognised the work that the schools were doing to close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. I know most of the secondary schools are starting the ‘Challenge the Gap’ programme in September and I am looking forward to featuring more on this in my future blogs.
I am delighted to say that we have now received the report for both St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School and Woodingdean following their inspections in May and they both awarded Good. Congratulations to the teams at both schools.
This month there was an inspection at St Margaret’s. We are still awaiting the report so I will feed back on this next month.
Youth and Employability Trust It was a pleasure to chair this month’s Youth and Employability Trust meeting on behalf of Pinaki. It was a good opportunity for me to meet our youth and employability partners and hear about the positive work that is being developed. Our vision is to eliminate barriers to work, learning and personal development for young people and adults and the group are working on an exciting and innovative proposal to establish a Youth and Employability Trust as a possible new delivery model for youth and employability services.
This approach has the potential to provide an integrated approach to the youth and employment agenda and include independent information, advice and guidance in the form of an all-age brokerage service, supporting employers and workers / potential workers, and ensure that we have learning and skills opportunities meeting their identified needs.
This approach is bringing together the youth, skills and employability agendas identified by the Children, Young People and Skills Committee. Adopting such an model would enable us to operate in a more dynamic, entrepreneurial way optimising the benefits of both charitable and commercial models to maximise charitable funding and commercial investment and optimise resources to deliver better outcomes.
Volunteer Celebration at Roundabout Children’s Centre
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| Helen Cowling with volunteers at the children's centre |
Volunteers from Roundabout and the Deans Children’s Centre came to a thank you lunch on 8th June as part of the Nationwide Celebrating Volunteers fortnight. The volunteers were given Certificates of Achievements for volunteering by Helen Cowling, Children’s Centre’s Service Manager. Our volunteers are a great asset and we appreciate all the time they give to us including volunteering in groups, preparing the food bank for families, organising community boards and much more. Thank you from the Roundabout & Deans staff team.
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| Helen Cowling presenting Certificate of Achievement to volunteer Rachael Tribe |
Primary School Athletics
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| Aldrington Winners |
Ellen Mulvihill, Head of Behaviour and Attendance, presented trophies on my behalf at the Brighton and Hove Primary School Athletics at Withdean Stadium on 22 June. There were 48 schools and around 1600 children taking part over the both days, which is the most schools we have ever had. Ellen commented "It was a wonderful occasion to see the children fully active and participating with energy and enthusiasm in the activities. The commitment of the school staff and parents is commendable to make these fabulous events happen. When we consider how important sport and an active lifestyle will be to the health and happiness of our children, it is crucial that these days are given the attention and focus they deserve". Well done and congratulations to Emma Greenhough and her team for a great day of school sports!
Pie Corbett: Developing Primary Writing - Schools Supporting Schools Conference
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| Published work |
For more information, the link to the course page is: http://beem.org.uk/Event/30232
More Free Childcare for Working Parents of 3 and 4 year olds
I'm pleased to announce that from September 2017, working parents for three to four year olds will be entitled to an additional 15 hours a week of free childcare. This is a massive expansion of free provision and will be very popular with parents as it could save them more than £2,500 a year in childcare costs. Brighton & Hove's early years team has been awarded "early innovator" status with some additional funding to do project work to ensure that there will be enough childcare in the city for parents who want it. Our online parent survey, looking into likely take-up by parents, has been open for a couple of weeks and to date has had nearly 700 responses. We are doing more detailed consultation with specific groups of parents including those with English as an additional language, those with SEND children and people living in disadvantaged areas. Ensuring that there is sufficient supply of childcare is a major piece of work and we are planning events for early years providers including schools and nursery classes to help them change, adapt and expand for the new offer. There is also likely to be some captial funding available for which we will bid for later in the summer. If you would like to know more, please contact Caroline Parker, Head of Surestart Service, on 01273 293587 or by email caroline.parker@brighton-hove.gcsx.gov.uk
Strategic meeting with Headteachers and wider education partner
I'm pleased to announce that from September 2017, working parents for three to four year olds will be entitled to an additional 15 hours a week of free childcare. This is a massive expansion of free provision and will be very popular with parents as it could save them more than £2,500 a year in childcare costs. Brighton & Hove's early years team has been awarded "early innovator" status with some additional funding to do project work to ensure that there will be enough childcare in the city for parents who want it. Our online parent survey, looking into likely take-up by parents, has been open for a couple of weeks and to date has had nearly 700 responses. We are doing more detailed consultation with specific groups of parents including those with English as an additional language, those with SEND children and people living in disadvantaged areas. Ensuring that there is sufficient supply of childcare is a major piece of work and we are planning events for early years providers including schools and nursery classes to help them change, adapt and expand for the new offer. There is also likely to be some captial funding available for which we will bid for later in the summer. If you would like to know more, please contact Caroline Parker, Head of Surestart Service, on 01273 293587 or by email caroline.parker@brighton-hove.gcsx.gov.uk
Strategic meeting with Headteachers and wider education partner
I was delighted to open our Primary Headteacher phase meeting on the 28 June which was well attended. Louisa Scanlon from Public Health updated everyone on the current Public Health activities within schools, and an opportunity for 10 schools to take part in a Biosphere Project. This was followed by Rachel Sheppard and Laura Gibson from Carden Primary and Balfour Primary respectively, who talked about feedback from the PE and School Sports survey and potential pooling of school funding to pay for a sports adviser to primary schools. For more information on any aspect of this or if you are interested in participating please contact Louisa Scanlon on: louisa.scanlon@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Sam Beal spoke about the new Disability Equality support materials: “Nothing About Me Without Me” http://www.carousel.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/NothingAboutMeWithoutMe_WebResource.pdf and also the need to ensure that if there are any increases in racist incidents, particularly since Brexit, that these are recorded properly. At this challenging time please ensure that Sam and the community safety team are informed of any issues so that they can assist you if necessary.
Martin Kaliszewski provided an excellent overview of RaiseOnline differences in data since the assessment changes. Although some elements are still unknown for EYFS/ KS1 and KS2 SATs, the overview of the format the data will appear was very useful. Unfortunately as the information Martin shared is still in a developmental phase, we do not have slides available to share at this moment - but more in depth information will hopefully be available soon. Martin did suggest that when the data is available it would be advisable for all heads to look at the breakdown results by question (to assist in skills gaps) and be aware of the national comparators as these are not necessarily comparing like for like. (e.g. in the same way that disadvantaged pupils performance locally will be compared to non-disadvantaged pupils nationally a similar set of comparisons may be used for other groups – for example boys locally to girls nationally) More on this interesting subject to follow.
The focus of our Secondary and Continuing Education Partnership meeting in the same week was SEND and funding the challenges that some of our schools are facing. It was an opportunity to look at the data showing the number of our young people with Education, Health and Care Plans in each school and see the significant differences and discuss the possible reasons for this. The high numbers in some schools are clearly putting major pressures on the whole school budget. It was agreed that another session would take place in July with headteachers and college principals to look in more details at the high needs block and possible solutions.
Be the Change Programme
The grand finale took place on June 28th of the Be the Change programme, mounted by Love Local Jobs, an initiative to boost the aspirations and job prospects for young people from nine of the Brighton and Hove secondary schools. The students had the opportunity throughout the programme to work with business volunteers on six separate occasions as a mixture of day long events, one to one mentoring sessions and workplace visits.
One of the key aims of the programme was to help young people value themselves and others and to develop skills which will enable them to take responsibility for their lives and ambitions. Over 60 young people completed the programme and attended the Award Ceremony, hosted by one of the sponsors, Sussex University’s Widening Participation team. Most young people talked about gaining confidence, gaining a greater understanding about the workplace, addressing their own behaviour within the school setting and taking more responsibility for their actions.
All the business mentors talked about how proud they were of their mentees and how inspiring they had been. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from employers about our young people in the city.
The focus of our Secondary and Continuing Education Partnership meeting in the same week was SEND and funding the challenges that some of our schools are facing. It was an opportunity to look at the data showing the number of our young people with Education, Health and Care Plans in each school and see the significant differences and discuss the possible reasons for this. The high numbers in some schools are clearly putting major pressures on the whole school budget. It was agreed that another session would take place in July with headteachers and college principals to look in more details at the high needs block and possible solutions.
Be the Change Programme
The grand finale took place on June 28th of the Be the Change programme, mounted by Love Local Jobs, an initiative to boost the aspirations and job prospects for young people from nine of the Brighton and Hove secondary schools. The students had the opportunity throughout the programme to work with business volunteers on six separate occasions as a mixture of day long events, one to one mentoring sessions and workplace visits.
One of the key aims of the programme was to help young people value themselves and others and to develop skills which will enable them to take responsibility for their lives and ambitions. Over 60 young people completed the programme and attended the Award Ceremony, hosted by one of the sponsors, Sussex University’s Widening Participation team. Most young people talked about gaining confidence, gaining a greater understanding about the workplace, addressing their own behaviour within the school setting and taking more responsibility for their actions.
All the business mentors talked about how proud they were of their mentees and how inspiring they had been. It’s great to hear such positive feedback from employers about our young people in the city.
Sir Rod Aldridge
Cricket Centre Official Opening:
Despite appalling weather for late June, the official opening of the Sir Rod Aldridge Cricket Centre at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy took place last night. It was a pleasure to attend and be shown the amazing facilities on offer to young people at BACA and all our young people across the city and the wider community. The £1.8m Cricket Centre has been developed with Sussex Cricket to provide a home for the Aldridge Cricket Academy, a base for Women and Girls' Cricket and Portslade Cricket Club. Do get in touch with BACA and go and visit and see this fabulous resource.
Best wishes,
Jo
Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
