Maths Mastery

I was overjoyed that maths was the agreed theme of our headteacher and senior leaders event this month. Maths has always been a passion of mine as a learner and as a teacher, my partner began her career as a programmer and my girls love anything to do with maths. We have lots of fun at home playing maths games and doing anything with numbers!

Although we have good practice in Brighton & Hove and some schools are doing exceptionally well with outcomes in maths, overall as a city outcomes are not as good as we would like.

At the end of primary school, maths attainment at the expected standard is in line with national, but progress is below. At the end of secondary school, maths attainment and progress are above national. For disadvantaged pupils, attainment and progress is below national at both the end of primary and secondary school.

It’s for this reason we agreed to lead an event looking at ways in which we can collectively as a city raise standards. The event was a great example of our B&H Education Partnership coming together to work collaboratively, share ideas, learning and best practice, and offer school to school support across the phases of education.

Kate Williams from Longhill High School speaking at the School and College Leaders Business Meeting, focusing on Maths

Heads and senior leaders shared passionately the journeys they had been on in their own schools to improve maths. We heard about the impact of Every Child Counts, Shanghai and Singapore maths, maths mastery, deep learning, and the work of the Maths Hub regionally and locally. We challenged headteachers and senior leaders to take the learning from the event back to schools to improve practice and take up the offers of school to school support available across the partnership.

Suzanne Morgan and Katy Reeves from Saltdean Primary speaking at the School and College Leaders Business Meeting

Use of ICT across the curriculum at Hove Park

I joined young people, governors, teachers and local businesses to celebrate Hove Park’s digital journey to become designated as a distinguished school by Apple, one of only 24 in the country. Joining two young people and a teacher from Hangleton Primary on a learning walk, we were able to see in practice the students using their ipads and a range of software as tools to support their learning. Take a look at the Hove Park story: Hove Park School - #iBooks

We have had another unusually quiet month with only one Ofsted Inspection: Blatchington Mill Secondary School & 6th Form has had a Section 8 Ofsted Inspection. I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once they have the outcome report.

Cardinal Newman also had a one day monitoring visit from HMI. It was a very positive outcome with a recognition they are taking effective action, well done to Cardinal Newman.

For primary we now have 94.2% of schools that are good and outstanding and the national average is 90%. For secondary we have 80% that are judged good and outstanding, and the national is 78%. We are therefore above the national average overall with 93.1% of all schools that are good and outstanding, and a credit to our strong Brighton & Hove Education Partnership.

Guys and Dolls Production at Varndean School

I was delighted to attend this fabulous performance just before half term. The Drama and Music departments worked incredibly hard for months to bring it all together. It was a truly amazing performance by young people, well done to all the staff and young people involved.

I’m aware there have also been fabulous performances at other schools across the city that I didn’t manage to get to, but it’s been great to see successes shared on social media. Please take a look.

Success of the Youth Employability Service (YES)

The Matrix Standard is a unique quality standard for organisations to assess and measure their information, advice and support services, which ultimately supports individuals in their choice of career, learning, work and life goals. The Matrix Standard is looking for excellence in provision. I’m delighted to share with you that a recent review of YES highlighted that they are a quality deliverer of IAG (Information, Advice and/or Guidance) that is managed with clear leadership and direction and is highly valued by young people and partners. As an innovative organisation, YES has developed service delivery approaches over the last three years particularly in relation to technology.

The organisation has achieved all agreed targets and received much positive feedback for the implementation of NEET strategies. Staff feel very supported and frequently cited the leadership approach as ‘key to our success and making YES a great place to work’. At the core of YES is a team of highly skilled advisers, who are equipped with the skillset to link with, engage and motivate the full range of young people. YES has been identified as an 'expert authority' in NEET data management and is sharing this good practice through dissemination activities with neighbouring boroughs and the wider South East region.

Well done to the YES team, keep up the good work!

The YES Matrix Certificate

Visit to Cardinal Newman

Pinaki and I enjoyed a visit to Cardinal Newman to meet with Dr. James Kilmartin (Headteacher) and Claire Jarman (Deputy Headteacher). It was positive to discuss the school’s impressive set of results in 2016. The school's Progress 8 score was above the national average and all schools in Brighton & Hove, and in the top 20% of schools nationally. Their overall Attainment 8 score was above national and amongst the top schools in the city, as were their results for disadvantaged pupils.

It was good to hear from James and Claire what they are doing to ensure that these positive outcomes continue. Claire shared with us how they are using early morning teaching and learning briefings to support the improvement of outcomes for disadvantaged learners. This week’s one was delivered by the drama department and had standing room only. They shared drama techniques used to create a community in the classroom, supporting the school’s aim that every student is known and loved.

This month, Shiromi Cabraal (Post 16 Partnership Officer) and Georgia Easteal (Business Support Apprentice) organised an Employer Speed Dating Event at the AMEX Football Stadium for students who attend our Special Schools in Brighton (Patcham House, Downs Park and Cedar Centre). This event gave the students a chance to meet ‘real employers’ in an interview style setting. For the students, being out of their normal learning environment and attending their very first interview was a big challenge, but after the event the students left with a massive confidence boost and took away lots of practical advice from employers.

One student said ‘this day has made me more confident for interviews in the future’, another student said ‘the first interview is always going to be the scariest but you grow your confidence the more you do it.’ 

A wide variety of employers from various sectors attend this event, this included Churchill Square, Brighton & Hove Buses, Willmott Dixon to name a few. Northbrook College said ‘the event was a success and made an impact on all those involved’. 

Welcome to a new member of the team

Welcome to Lisa Mitchell, a new member to Rachel Carter's Employment and Skills team, employed as a project officer. Lisa will be coordinating the work of the City Employment and Skills Plan. We all look forward to working closely with her.

Lisa Mitchell

Congratulations 

Well done to Caitlin McGinley, Lead for Phoenix Centre at Hove Park School for winning the Autism Awareness Award for the school. Well deserved.

Mo Bham (Principal Educational Psychologist) presenting award to Caitlin McGinley

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
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