May - Festival Time!

The Children’s Parade

May, the month when the festival begins, is one of my favourite times of the year. It is a reminder to me what an amazing place the City is to live and work and for our children and young people to grow up in.

The festival began as usual with the children's parade, a magnificent display of creativity and talent from our schools showing the coming together of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership at its very best. Our headteachers showed an amazing display of visible leadership, dressed in an array of colourful costumes alongside teachers, parents and families.

Solidarity with Manchester

We have all been shocked and appalled by the terrorist attack in Manchester this week. Our deepest sympathy goes to all affected by this horrendous attack, and in particularly the families and friends of those that have died or been injured. I am sure colleagues are already making appropriate responses to support pupils and students. Just a quick reminder that on this page of Pier2Peer you will find a range of resources for schools, parents and carers related to supporting those worried about terrorism: school portal link.

In the case of any racist or religiously motivated incidents reported inside or outside school, contact the Community Safety Casework Team on 01273 292735 or by e-mail at communitysafety.casework@brighton-hove.gov.uk A duty officer is available Mon to Fri 09:00 – 17:00 to provide advice and guidance. The Police can be called on 101 or 999 if a hate crime has been committed.

Partnership Events

This month a range of partners came together for a number of important strategic discussions and planning for further improvement across the city. At Primary heads we looked carefully at school organisation and place numbers in our primary schools now and into the future. Looking together at how we can ensure ‘no school is left behind’ to face challenges alone. 
Our Special schools heads met and debated the next steps in the SEND review with Regan Delf, Assistant Director - Health SEN & Disabilities, and the model of school improvement and school to school support for SEND going forward.

The B&H Education Board met for the first time with representatives from all phases of education, our universities and both dioceses. There was a real commitment to work together across the city partnership and lead education in a time of much national change. As a group we began to identify the priorities for our city that would become the focus of our collaborative work into the future.

Our Children's Services Forum met and was attended by a wide range of partners from across the city. Young people were at the centre of the event passionately sharing their views about what a 'Child Friendly City' means to them. The event was opened by two fantastic musicians, Alfie Jukes and George Cooper from Hove Park Secondary school with their band Homebound. Before leaving everyone pledged something they would do to contribute to creating a truly ‘child friendly city’ for all.   

Safe and Well at School Survey

Thanks to all schools who participated in the Safe and Well at School Survey. There has been a significant fall in reported bullying with six primary schools now having data showing less than 10% of pupils reporting bullying. It is also positive that there has been a 13% decrease in lesbian, gay and bisexual students reporting they have been bullied in the secondary school data. However, pupils reporting they get extra help, young carers and those who are adopted or in care report higher levels of bullying. We look forward to working closely with you to begin to address this.

Our Equalities Work

Schools are reminded of the Disability Equality - Training of the Trainers on Thursday 15 June. For further information and to sign up go to BEEM.  

Additionally, the Anti-Bullying Alliance is launching an online programme called All Together, aimed at reducing the bullying of disabled pupils. Further information is on their website. 

Schools of Sanctuary - congratulations to Coldean Primary, Fairlight Primary, St John the Baptist Primary, Benfield Primary and Patcham Junior for receiving certificates over the last year for making their schools places of welcome. The case studies for the work that has taken place at these schools can be found on Pier2Peer.

Take a look at a write-up on one of the projects undertaken at Fairlight Primary: The World at Fairlight Blog.

Fairlight Primary pupils at Brighton Museum

I am looking forward to hearing about how we can build on this good practice at the Schools of Sanctuary and Eid Celebration event on Thursday 29 June. Sign up on BEEM. 

I was interested to read the recent NUT and Runnymede Trust report Barriers report: the impact of racism on BMEteachers. Developing city wide approaches to increasing the numbers of BME staff in schools and colleges will be one of the agenda items discussed at the School and College Business Leaders meeting on Friday 16 June. Sign up for this event on BEEM.

Best practice in our schools

This picture embodies the Year 4 work over the term, as we moved it from the classroom into the hall

I'm always blown away by the amazing practice we have in our schools. This month I had the pleasure to visit Hove Juniors (the Portland Road site) to meet with their leadership team and go on a learning walk across the school. It was so good to see the progression evident in the displays, the consistent high standards and the vibrant and creative learning environment. Great also to hear the head and senior leadership team’s passion to look outside their school to continue to improve and make a difference.

Examinations and SATs

It's the examinations and SATs season and our children and young people have been, and for many will continue to be, sitting tests. It's a time for us all to give them maximum support and encouragement. It's also important to appreciate the pressures this can bring for pupils and the need to build resilience and support their positive wellbeing.

We wish all the children and young people the very best and look forward to hearing about their achievements and progress they have made.

Rudyard Kipling had a one-day inspection this month. I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once the report is out. The Ofsted report for Moulsecoomb Primary School was released and although the overall judgement was Requires Improvement, we are absolutely delighted that Leadership and Management were rightly graded as Good and that the Lead Inspector recognised that the school is ‘rapidly improving’. Well done to Adam and his team in continuing to improve outcomes for children and their families in a vulnerable area of the city.

Daily Mile

1,984 children took part in the Daily Mile (DM) Brighton Pilot. DM is a great way to help children meet the recommended 60 minutes of sport and physical activity a day. No training or equipment is required, there are proven benefits for children and schools, pupils and parents love it and it helps with concentration and behaviour. It can be done in 10-15 minutes within lesson time or breaks. Cottesmore St Mary's, Elm Grove, Hertford Junior, Peter Gladwin, City Academy Whitehawk, Coombe Road, Stanford Junior and Balfour all took part, and many of the schools made the DM part of their school day. Well done to all.

See the this link for more information.

Balfour Primary children running as part of Daily Mile

Events Coming Up

Developing Reading Communities Conference, 3 July 2017, Sussex University. Come and discover new and relevant approaches for developing positive and current reading strategies, creating a reading community for all. The event is for primary and secondary heads, English leads, teachers, librarians and students. Our keynote speakers are Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and Pie Corbett. There will be workshops with Nick Sharratt, Dan Freeman, Abie Longstaff, Prue Goodwin, Professor Jane Oakhill plus other key practitioners

Please book via BEEM. Code: ECaR-0717-T002 or email: louise.zahra@brighton-hove.gov.uk 

Welcome and Goodbye

We are delighted to welcome a number of new headteachers this term and look forward to working with them and supporting them in their new and substantive roles. Although they will face challenges ahead, they have one of the best and most rewarding jobs anyone could have. 

             Katie Blood                              Jim Roberts                      Alex Wingham             Vicky Philips                             St. Bartholomew’s                       Hove Park                          St. Martin’s                  Coombe Road

We are saying goodbye this month to Lucy Roberts (Primary School Teaching and Learning Assessment Consultant), who has provided clarity and stability in primary assessment and moderation processes across the city. Lucy is well known in Education and Skills for her professionalism and her credibility and respect with schools. She has had a significant impact on the quality of teaching in the city. In her new role as Inclusion Coordinator at Elm Grove Primary, Lucy will continue to drive to improve standards for our children. We look forward to continued collaborative work with her.

We also said goodbye to Clare Johansen, our Education & Skills Office Manager. This is an opportunity to thank her for all the hard work she has put in to setting up our systems and getting us settled into Hove Town Hall. We wish her well in her new role closer to home.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
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