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| Benfield primary school children celebrating with the hats they have made |
I am delighted that the Sussex Coast Teaching School
Alliance is now up and running and will be led by Benfield Primary in Portslade.
It is made up of an alliance of schools including primary, secondary and
special schools. This is a great success for this partnership and for the city.
See Twitter account @BenfieldPrimary
@Portslade Leader
Congratulations also to Pavilion & Downs Teaching
School who have just had a very successful launch which I attended earlier this
month. Follow their Twitter account on https://twitter.com/paviliondowns
and their new website http://www.pavilionanddowns.co.uk/
to hear about their offer and aspirations.
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| William Deighan at the launch of the Pavilion & Downs Teaching School |
The two teaching schools are such important developments
for the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership and will provide us with a
great opportunity to support initial teacher training and ensure continued professional
development is in place for our entire school workforce. The teaching schools will
also promote and develop school-to-school support and will share best practice
and support schools with a range of needs.
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| Ellen Mulvihill speaking at the Pavilion & Downs Teaching School launch |
Special School & PRU Reorganisation
Our proposals to merge our existing special schools and PRUs to create
three integrated Hubs was given final approval at the council’s Children, Young
People and Skills Committee last month. You can read the full committee report here. This means that we can
now move ahead to implement changes after a very lengthy period of debate and
consultation. While we know there have been mixed views about the various
elements of proposed changes, we are confident that all of us will want to work
together to fulfil the vision for our new Hubs and improve even further
provision and outcomes for our young people with SEND.
This is an exciting
development for the city. We already have good and outstanding specialist
provision in our city. Our vision, based on feedback and consultation with
families and professionals, is to improve this by:
- Ensuring excellence consistently across the board for all children and young people
- Extending the integrated education, health and care (extended day / respite for short breaks) offer on the site of each Hub
- Providing more support for our families coping with the most complex needs and challenging behaviours
- Extending the post 16 offer for our most vulnerable young people
- Improving the process of transition to adulthood·
World Mental Health Day
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| Fairlight Pupils with ‘Flo and the Funny Feelings’ author Anna Williamson |
Carlton Hill, St Luke’s and Fairlight pupils recognised
World Mental Health Day on the 10th of October. Year 4 children at
Fairlight learnt to understand their different feeling like happiness and
anxiety from the story ‘Flo and the Funny Feelings’. Author, TV presenter and
Childline counsellor: Anna Williamson visited the school to share the story
about safety and how to recognise worry, stress and anxiety. The story also
explains some coping mechanisms and the importance of seeking help from trusted
adults if they are worried.
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| Anna Williamson reading to a class at Fairlight |
Read more at: Brighton & Hove Independent and The Argus
Well done to all schools involved.
This learning is part of the Primary Schools Mental Health
Initiative. Sign up here to receive the Primary Schools Toolkit. www.findgetgive.com
The YMCA have also been busy and produced the Right Here
Parent / Carer Mini-Guide to support parents and carers of children aged 5 –
10, providing information and advice around how to talk to your child about
their emotional mental health wellbeing: Parent Guide
For more information: https://www.brightonandhovewellbeing.org/
Celebrating our local Black History
In
conjunction with the University of Brighton’s Race and Faith Staff Equality
Network Group, all are welcomed to discover the incredible Black History of
Brighton & Hove, and the ongoing impact and contribution of African and Caribbean
people in Sussex at the Edward
Street Lecture Theatre on Friday 20th Oct, 4-6pm.
Join Bert Williams MBE, who leads the Brighton & Hove Black History Project as he reveals the hidden history of Brighton & Hove, and
provides an opportunity for you to engage with the stories of Black and Asian
men and women and their connection to the city.
The talk will be followed by a wine reception and exhibition
of Diversity Lewes' heritage project,
which celebrates diversity in Sussex and tells the stories of some of the
county's most extraordinary residents.
The event is free, but please
book your place by following the link: Event Brite tickets
I would
love to hear from schools and other providers what positive things you are
doing to celebrate Black History.
Our Education Offer
I’m delighted we now have our first published Local Authority
brochure, which outlines the services and support our Families, Children and
Learning teams provide to early years settings, schools, colleges, universities
and other education establishments across the city. Information about each of
the services available in our ‘Education Offer’ is provided, together with
details of how your school or settings can access them, the potential benefits
and how they can help to support better outcomes.
This publication clearly signposts to the wide range of services
and support available to you, your staff and pupils. It also highlights our
shared commitment to working in partnership with you to improve standards in
education and achieve better outcomes for all children & young people in
Brighton & Hove.
Printed copies of this Family, Children and Learning Education
Offer will shortly be distributed to schools and other settings. You can now
view a downloadable PDF copy of the brochure at Beem
I’m delighted to announce that Elm Grove were graded as Good
in their last Ofsted inspection. Congratulations to Louise Willard and all
staff, young people and governors on this outcome. Elm Grove Ofsted Report
St Martin’s were also inspected last month and have also
been judged good. Congratulations to Alex Wingham and all staff, young people
and governors on this positive outcome. St Martin's Ofsted Report
We are very proud of both schools’ success – well done.
Education
Partnership developments
The strategic board of the Brighton & Hove Education
Partnership met again this month and mapped out the work they will lead across
the city involving all education partners. Some of this work will include:
The recruitment, retention and celebration of staff in
education - a group is looking at the development of materials all schools can
use, considering 'pool' arrangements or joint advertising and interviewing and hosting
an annual award ceremony to recognise education success across the city.
A plan to improve attendance and reduce exclusions in
schools was begun. This includes our team liaising with the early years team to
address 'good habits early'. The plan also involves school cluster partnerships
and the Local Authority working together with a clear message across the city
to parents that ‘every day counts’.
An outstanding PSHE event on SRE
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| Secondary PSHE leads at the Brighton Museum training session |
Monday 9th of October saw an exciting new
project and resources being brought to Brighton & Hove by Alice Hoyle from
the Sex Education Forum and Dr Jen Groves from Exeter University and hosted by
Brighton Museum. The regular Personal, Social, Health and Economic consortium
with many of the secondary school PSHE leads had a fun, informative and engaging
training session learning about sex and history. Using objects from the past to
open up discussion about issues in relationship and sex education in a safe and
removed way including things such as consent, body image, gender identity,
healthy and unhealthy relationships and pornography. The session was brilliant
with lots of laughter and learning, with many of the PSHE leads already looking
at how to develop this into classroom practice. PSHE colleagues also got the
opportunity to view the fascinating Museum of Transology.
If you would like more information, please contact Helen.Emerson@brighton-hove.gov.uk
.
School Admissions Animation
Following the agreement of
the Children, Young People & Skills Committee, the Council has now started
its public consultation phase regarding proposed changes to the admission
arrangements for September 2019. The major proposals are changes to the
secondary school catchment areas to better manage the numbers of pupils in the
Varndean / Dorothy Stringer and Hove Park / Blatchington Mill catchment areas and a
reduction in the Published Admission Number of 5 primary schools. The public
consultation will close on 19 November and there are 11 public meetings so far
scheduled to give people the opportunity to hear about the proposals and to ask
questions.
Further details are available
at: Consultation Press Release.
The consultation and accompanying documentation can be found at: Consultation.
We have
produced a quick guide to help everyone gain a better understanding of the
secondary school admission process. The deadline to apply for a secondary
school place is 31 October. Take a look at the School Admissions Animation.
Heads up: Anti-bullying week 13 – 17 November
Anti-bullying week this year has the theme is ‘All Different, All
Equal’ and suggests particularly celebration of difference and equality.
Let us know what exciting things you will be doing. Some helpful links
to get you thinking:
Communication
Almost all schools and LA services are now using Twitter to
celebrate best practice and communicate across the city – take a look. If
you’re not yet up and running and need help, please ask.
Best wishes,
Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.
