Wishing you a Happy
Christmas
and good wishes for
the New Year
from
Jo Lyons
and the
Education & Skills team
Daily Mile
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| St Paul’s pupils enjoying the Daily Mile |
Despite
only having a small amount of outdoor space, St Paul’s Church of England
Primary School have taken up the daily mile with great enthusiasm. A total of 45 different children have
participated and there are 5 children who have been every day. Well done St Paul’s!
11 of our Brighton & Hove schools are currently running
a Daily Mile or similar programme in their school. In Brighton & Hove there are significantly more children
(in school Years 1-11) who are active across the week (32.0% undertake an
average of 30 minutes or more both at school and outside school but not every
day), compared to the national average (25.7%). In our city there are also significantly
fewer children (in School Years 1-11) undertaking less than 30 minutes of sport
and physical activity a day at school and outside of school (61.2%) than the
national average (67.5%). There
is still work to be done to get children active for 60 minutes in & out of
school and how the daily mile can
help schools achieve their Active 30 minutes.
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| St Paul’s pupils enjoying the Daily Mile |
The PE and School Sport Premium funding guidance does make
reference that ‘Where schools choose to take part in an active mile, you should use your
existing playgrounds, fields, halls and sports facilities to incorporate an
active mile into the school day and develop a lifelong habit of daily physical
activity’ .
Schools can use the Active Planner for further guidance and
support around introducing Active Miles / activities into the school day. https://www.activeschoolplanner.org/
School Christmas performances
It’s that time of year when our schools and
colleges have been ‘wowing’ their parents and communities with amazing end of
year performances.
I had the great pleasure of visiting Coldean
Primary to see their Key Stage 1 performance of ‘Dumbo’ which was a fabulous
display of talent from all their children. Thank you, Coldean.
Little Green Pig
Little Green Pig are a charity that run writing workshops in
schools and after school clubs for children and young people. They came to the
Primary Heads meeting this month and shared a video of the BrightSTAR project
which took place in Moulsecoomb Primary. This was a whole school writing
project based around a school curriculum topic of space. More details are
available through the website where you can also watch a film of the project
and its impact here: https://www.littlegreenpig.org.uk/blog/watch-a-transmission-from-brightstar/
Every Child a Reader
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| Vicky Hemstedt, Reading Recovery teacher from Middle Street Primary at the House of Lords |
Staff from Middle Street Primary School in Brighton went to
the House of Lords this month to talk
about their outstanding success in helping pupils who struggle with reading. Since
2012 more than 40 children at the school have benefited from the Reading Recovery
programme. Children who are struggling with Literacy in Year 1 are given
daily 1-1 individualised literacy lessons with an expert teacher. This is a
national scheme coordinated locally by Brighton & Hove City Council and
used by 16 schools in the city.
Fast forward six years – and the first pupils to have received Reading Recovery left for secondary school having caught up with their peers and with a love of reading. Many of these children went on to become ‘reading buddies’ and school librarians. Middle Street’s Reading Recovery teacher, Vicky Hemstedt, said: ‘The programme has had a massive impact in our school, not just with improved exam results but also in terms of behaviour and engagement in class. It’s incredibly rewarding to see children’s sheer joy and boosted self-esteem when they become successful readers and writers.’
The council’s Reading Recovery coordinator, Louise Zahra, said: ‘Reading is a fundamental skill – children simply can’t achieve their potential without it. The Reading Recovery programme has had a massive impact in all the schools who have used it – it’s literally changed the lives of thousands of our city’s children.’
The Schools Christmas Concert
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| Pupils at Schools Christmas Concert, photo Ayla Carli |
On Monday the 3rd of December over 1,200 children from 43 different primary and special schools took part in the Schools Christmas Concert at the Brighton Centre. It was a fantastic evening of festive music-making organised by Brighton & Hove Music & Arts with a programme featuring both traditional and contemporary festive songs. Further showcasing musical talent in the city, the massed choir where accompanied by young musicians from Brighton & Hove Youth Big Band and Brighton & Hove Youth Wind Orchestra during this celebratory evening of music. Congratulations to all the young musicians who performed!
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| Pupils at Schools Christmas Concert, photo Ayla Carli |
Family Learning
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| Family baking |
Brighton &
Hove’s Family Learning team ran a Family Christmas Baking session with the Food
Partnership at the Community Kitchen this month. Six families came along for an
afternoon of baking festive cheesy crackers and stained glass biscuits. Family Learning courses are
informative, practical and fun offering a great opportunity for parents, carers
and their children to enjoy quality time together learning new skills and are often the first steps to further learning.
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| Family baking |
As always it’s been a busy time with Ofsted this month. Congratulations
to City Academy Whitehawk and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School on
retaining their Good judgements from Ofsted.
The Ofsted Inspector said the following about City Academy
Whitehawk:
‘School leaders at all levels, as well as the governors, are
strongly committed to providing the best possible education for pupils.’
The Ofsted inspector said the following about Our Lady of
Lourdes:
‘Leaders work effectively together and have created a
positive culture that supports all members of staff in doing their very best
for the pupils in the school.’
We also have to give great congratulations to Royal Spa
Nursery on being judged Outstanding again.
The Ofsted inspector said this about Royal Spa:
‘There is a culture of care and kindness throughout the
school. The learning environment both indoors and outside is a wonderland of
activities waiting to entice children to use their curiosity to learn.
The comment of one parent exemplifies that of others:
‘In my opinion Royal Spa is everything a nursery should be:
safe, welcoming, caring, educational and fun. Due to the attentiveness and
warmth of the staff, my daughter settled into nursery and is excited to go in
each day.’
Other inspections have taken
place and we are awaiting the results for Hertford Junior School, Middle Street
Primary School, Fairlight Primary School and King’s School. I look forward to
reporting back next time.
The Ofsted Annual Report 2017/18 is also now out, read it here.
Welcomes and Goodbyes
It’s time to say goodbye to Andy
Lincoln from St Andrew’s CE Primary. Thank you for his leadership at St
Andrew’s during his time as interim head teacher.
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| Helen Emerson, PSHE Lead Teacher |
It’s time also to say thank you and goodbye to Helen Emerson, PSHE
Lead Teacher for the local authority and PSHE Co-ordinator at Dorothy Stringer.
Helen is leaving us to work as Secondary Subject Specialist for the PSHE
Association. We are delighted for Helen as this recognises her skills and
abilities, but it is also recognition of the high quality PSHE practice we have
in Brighton & Hove. I would like to thank Helen for the support she has
given to secondary schools and in particular new PSHE co-ordinators. Helen has
been instrumental in organising Theatre in Education Tours dealing with
exploitation, developed resources for PSHE and provided excellent training to
schools. Her commitment and ‘can do’ energy will be missed, but we wish her
well.
Best wishes,
Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.
