Happy Easter Holiday

As we approach the Easter holiday I wish everyone a happy, safe and restful break. For our children and young people and those working in nurseries, schools, colleges and other education provision across the City, thank you for your hard work and commitment to education and learning this term.

Statutory Relationships and Sex Education

The Primary PSHE lead teachers delivered the annual Development Day to 30 PSHE coordinators, to focus on ensuring our primary schools are well prepared in advance of the relationships and sex education that is becoming statutory in September 2019. Teachers looked at a wide range of newly created Brighton & Hove lessons and resources covering positive body image, gender stereotyping, inclusive families, managing puberty with confidence and positive relationships including online safety. Some of the activities the teachers took part in included designing puberty emojis, making models of their own family, and practicing being body positive about themselves. These resources will be shared on BEEM. 

Puberty Emoji’s

Sarah Rose from Stonewall also came to talk about their new Early Years resource which looks at how to promote gender equality across our schools and shared more of their resources available to primary schools. 

Feedback on the day included:
'The new RSE plans are fantastic and invaluable in teaching children to be confident and love themselves - just as they are'

‘A really useful day. Great to take back to school to empower staff.'

'Fantastic to see the new resources which are very relevant to issues arising at school. They are just what I need and have been looking for. Well judged.'

Primary PSHE Co-ordinators trying out a families activity.

World Book Day 

Despite the snow, this year’s world book day was as spectacular as ever with schools and our children and young people celebrating their love of reading across the city. 

Some of the Moulsecoomb Primary children taking part in the World’s Greatest Book Show World Book Day event

Thank you to Vanessa Lewis from the Book Nook and Louise Zahra, Reading Recovery Teacher Leader, for organising the World’s Greatest Book Show World Book Day event. It was great that so many schools got out to The Theatre Royal at the end of the snowy week. They targeted invitations to schools with high disadvantage. The places were free and the children saw a great show from top authors who all then stayed to sign books. 

Here are some comments from the Reading Recovery teachers: 

‘The children were engaged and enchanted by the show. On the bus on the way back they were busy sharing their books and looking at the dedications the authors had written inside. It was a really special event for them! One child asked if she could really keep the book and was excited about how shiny it looked.’

Another child was really interested in the author's stories and how they became writers.

One mum said ‘Thank-you so much for taking her. She came back full of smiles’. Her daughter said ‘I started the book when I got home on Friday and finished it on Saturday! Some bits were scary and some bits made me laugh!’

Maths launch 

Maths launch

I am delighted that the Key Stage 2 maths project has got off to such a great start, with Coldean and Saltdean providing subject expertise and the University of Brighton framing it all in a lesson study model. Thank you to the hard work of our Sussex Coast Teaching School for their partnership work with schools across the city. 

International Women’s Day

PACA students celebrating International Women’s Day

The 8th of March was International Women’s Day. It was great to see many of our city schools and educational provision celebrating and recognising the positive impact of women in our lives. 

Varndean School International Women’s Day poster

Sam Beal, Partnership Adviser: Health and Wellbeing, went to a talk organised by the Council’s Women’s network called Show up, Live Brave and Be Seen. The speaker was Roxanne Hobbs from The Hobbs Consultancy and she talked about the importance of showing up as our authentic selves which might mean showing our vulnerability and imperfections and that this takes courage and an ability to set boundaries. Her talk was based on the work of Brené Brown:

Bridging the Gap Between the Indoor and Outdoor Classroom 

Sussex Wildlife Trust helped seven schools bridge the gap between the indoor and outdoor classroom this month, with free training on how to use their school grounds as an effective learning resource. Teaching in school grounds has great advantages – it’s safe and accessible, there’s no requirement for additional staff or transport and it can be delivered spontaneously.

Held at Brunswick Primary, the two day course covered fire building, using tools such as a bow saw, saw horse and hand drill, cooking flat bread and campfire doughnuts, and gardening to encourage wildlife. Richard James from Brunswick commented:

‘We learnt such a lot. Mike and Katie were superb…a very enjoyable two days - can't wait to put it into practice.’

Annual Governance Conference

Delegates at the Annual Governors Conference

Our Governor Support Team, led by Sharon MacKenzie, hosted its annual conference at the University of Sussex on the 3rd of March. It was really impressive to see so many committed governors and clerks travel in the snow on a Saturday to engage in debate and share good practice. Dr Tony Breslin led the conference all morning, which was based on his RSA report ‘Who Governs our Schools’. In this he explores the importance of stakeholder involvement on governing bodies and encouraging everyone to be more aware of the role of the governor. Tony has been delivering keynote speeches across the country and he recognised it as a ‘great privilege’ to be working with Brighton & Hove governors, reporting on Twitter that it was a ‘fantastic turnout, brilliantly organised and fun to be part of; thanks to all governors who attended and participated, and to all involved in planning the day!’  Follow Tony on Twitter @Ukpolicywatch and Governor Support @BHSchoolGovs.

Dr Tony Breslin speaking at the Annual Governors Conference

 Working in Education Fair

Recruitment Fair

Another great Saturday event when B&H Education Partnership hosted its first ‘Working in Education’ recruitment fair on the 10th of March at the Jury’s Inn on Brighton seafront. Amongst the exhibitors were representatives from our schools, universities, colleges, council teams and teaching schools, all giving advice about working in different roles in education. There were also workshops that participants could attend, such as interview tips and different routes into teaching. It was great to see that so many people were keen to work in schools in Brighton & Hove, and we look forward to running the event again next year.

 Recruitment Fair (photo credit: Nancy Meaker, Patcham High School)

Apprentice Graduation

Elizabeth Flegg and John Druce, Co-Chairs of the South East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network

The National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) ‘Class of 2018’ Graduation Ceremonies was held on the 9th of March. It was great to attend with Pinaki Ghoshal, Director of Children’s Services, and Rachel Carter, Head of Skills and Employment, and celebrate with the young people and their families. It was also a good way to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week and individual achievements including our own Brighton & Hove City Council apprentice graduates. 

Pinaki Ghoshal, Director of Children’s Services, presenting award to Fifi Bula, Apprentice

Pinaki Ghoshal, Director of Children’s Services, and Rachel Carter, Head of Skills and Employment, with the apprentices

The Supported Employment Team 

Stephen Howse at his work experience in the Mad Hatter Café on Western Road.

The Supported Employment Team (SET) work with employers and people with disabilities who face barriers to employment to gain experience and work towards finding and maintaining paid work.

Most of us identify ourselves by our work. When we meet someone new, often one of the first things we ask is ‘what do you do?’ Being able to join in properly with that conversation makes a huge difference to people’s self-esteem and wellbeing.

Stephen is a client of the SET team and is always working hard in his work experience at the Mad Hatter Café. He has increased the hours he is spending there by agreement with the café manager. His sister (who took the photo above) says that since starting his work experience ‘his head is held high and he’s walking like a giant full of pride’.

Celebrating Academic Progress at Key Stage 5 

Brighton & Hove City Council has received an award for academic progress at KS5 (A level). The award given by Learning Plus UK acknowledges the progress students who studied A levels at maintained schools or colleges in the city made between the end of KS4 and the end of their A level studies, compared to similar students across England. BHCC have an academic progress score that is in the top quintile for LA’s in England.

Shiromi Cabraal (BHCC) & Calum Watson (PACA) were there to collect the award.

Learning Plus certificate

Rachel Carter, Head of Skills and Employment, said ‘BHCC are delighted to accept this award on behalf of all young people studying in the city, and acknowledges the efforts that all schools and 6th form colleges make to ensure young people are successful in their studies. In addition, our team continues to champion post 16 learning at all levels and to improve the offer in the city for vocational and apprenticeships opportunities working will all providers’. 

Learning Plus UK is a not for profit organisation providing support to the education sector to improve performance and raise standards.

Foster Carers Conference

Sam Wilson speaking at the Foster Carer’s Conference

On the 13th of March the Virtual School held its annual Foster Carer Conference at the Sussex County Cricket Ground. The Virtual School really value this as a great opportunity to work closely with Foster Carers, facilitating dialogue about all educational matters. 

Rob Caddick speaking at the Foster Carer’s Conference

The Virtual School sees our Foster Carers as one of the most valuable resources available to the education of our Brighton & Hove Children in Care. This year Rob Caddick led the conference and introduced the speakers. There were informative and interesting presentations from Mark Holdaway and Elizabeth Freeman from BHISS on working with the behaviour symptoms of SEMH; Sam Beal, the partnership advisor in Health & Wellbeing, spoke about bullying, prejudice and unkindness and Fay Lofty from National Collaborative Outreach Programme on supporting getting Brighton & Hove CIC to university.

The event was a great success and will be followed up on the 12th of April with a Foster Carer Q&A on ‘transitions’ with Rob Caddick and Darren Muirhead who will advise on transitions post statutory school age.

It’s been a busy Ofsted time for us. 

Goldstone Primary had a short inspection at the end of January, and were judged by Ofsted as Good. Well done to the staff, parents and children. 

Last month Longhill High School received a ‘section 8’ Ofsted monitoring inspection. The report confirmed the school’s journey to becoming a ‘good’ school is firmly on the right track. It is an overwhelmingly positive report that reflects the hard work and determination to succeed shown by senior leaders, governors, staff and students.

The report clearly highlights improvements that the school has made since its last inspection in 2016 and includes strong acknowledgements of these from the students themselves.  Some of these include: 

• Through better quality day-to-day teaching and learning, we are raising standards, without losing any of the school's welcoming atmosphere
• Teachers feel more confident about asserting themselves and insisting upon high standards
• The inspector saw motivated pupils who want to learn and who value the positive relationship they have with staff 
• We have introduced a number of initiatives to inspire pupils and raise their aspirations
• Pupils told the inspector that they were motivated to try harder and push themselves because their targets were so ambitious

We are very proud of all the hard work and success of students, teachers, staff and parents. Keep up the great work. 
  

Longhill Science pupils

                                                  

Longhill Science pupils

Longhill Ukulele lesson

Dorothy Stringer Secondary School, Tarnerland Nursery, St Mary’s Catholic Primary and Queen’s Park Primary have been inspected, and I look forward to reporting back next time. 

Let's Dance

Let’s Dance poster

Last week was the annual 'Let's Dance' event. This is a great example of the B&H Education Partnership in action. It’s the largest celebration of schools dance in the country which brings together youth dance from 78 schools, groups, universities and colleges from Brighton & Hove and its surrounding areas to perform together on the Dome’s stage. Well done to all those who performed. 

Welcome and Goodbye  

Dr. Mark Poston, PACA’s new Principal

Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA) has announced that Mark Poston, currently Vice Principal at Miltoncross Academy in Portsmouth, has been appointed as the school’s next Principal. 
Brighton Aldridge Community Academy (BACA) has announced that Bob Speight has been appointed as the school’s next Principal. Bob Speight has taught at five schools in London, as well as gaining teaching experience in Spain and Uganda. He has been a Deputy Headteacher / Vice Principal / Acting Principal for eight years in two contrasting London schools.

We look forward to welcoming them both to the schools and the wider education partnership. Bob will succeed Dylan Davies, who is leaving the academy at the end of this term to take up a new position as one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools. We thank Dylan for everything he has done for the children and young people at BACA and his partnership work across the city and wish him well in his new role.

Bob Speight, BACA’s new Principal

Congratulations to Lizzie Mullarky, the new substantive Head at Brackenbury. 

Simon Hateley is leaving St Margaret’s CE Primary at the end of this term. We wish him all the very best in his future endeavours. Clare Price, Deputy Head, will be the interim head until September. 

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

LGBT History month

We have now come to the end of the annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans history month. Lots of activity took place across the city and in our schools and education provision to mark this important awareness-raising and celebratory month.

This year the focus of LGBT History Month is on ‘Geography: Mapping the World’, especially now that Australia and up to 16 more central and south American nations will be able to enjoy same sex weddings. 

Varndean’s suggested LGBT books

In February we also remembered two special events: the 30th anniversary of the passing of Section 28, which prohibited local authorities from disseminating materials that ‘promoted homosexuality’ in schools; and the 40th anniversary of the murder by shooting of Harvey Milk, the USA’s first out-gay elected councillor. Both actions changed the face of LGBT political engagement and activism profoundly. On a happier note, the rainbow flag was launched as a symbol of LGBT unity and equality forty years ago in 1978.

Whole Family Working

It is the responsibility of all agencies to work together to support and safeguard children and young people. This includes ensuring that help and support is provided to children and their families at the earliest opportunity available and when concerns first start to emerge. We are currently consulting on a new Whole Family Working Strategy and Threshold Document. As part of our consultation, it was good to join professional partners and councillors from across the city at our Children's Services Partnership Forum at the cricket club this week to debate our whole family approach and shape our strategy going forward. The consultation will be open until Friday the 2^nd of March 2018, so please take a look and let us know what you think.

Youth Cross Party Working Group

It was good to join our young people and councillors for the Youth Cross Party Working Group. There was a good debate on how to spend £90,000 additional funding for the Neighbourhood Youth Grants programme agreed in the Council’s budget for 2018/19. Ten young people sit on the group and represent the Youth Council, Children in Care Council and Youth Groups across the city, together with one Councillor from each of the three political groups who attend the Committee.  The Group is jointly chaired by one of the young people from the Youth Council and Councillor Dan Chapman, the Chair of the Committee.  

Working in Education Recruitment Fair

Brighton & Hove Education Partnership is hosting a 'Working in Education' Recruitment Fair on Saturday the 10^th of March 2018, from 10am to 3pm at the Jury’s Inn, Brighton Waterfront. Recruitment and retention is one of the top priorities of this city partnership. The fair will promote all the opportunities Brighton & Hove has for those who wish to work or volunteer in education. There will be stalls and talks throughout the day, so that attendees can hear from colleagues in schools, colleges, universities, early years settings, teaching school alliances and council teams that support schools. If you have vacancies in your service that you would like to publicise at the event, please contact Sharon MacKenzie on schools.training@brighton-hove.gov.uk. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Brighton & Hove Education Partnership

The partnership is working very well with positive engagement from all partners. At the next meeting the board will be looking at our strategy to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children which is a priority focus for the city. The Partnership is beginning to look at developing a work-life balance 'pledge' that schools and colleges might want to sign up to and there may be an opportunity for some shared-ownership housing for some teachers in the city. 

Please have a read of ‘Optimism of the will: the development of local area-based education partnerships, a think-piece’ by Christine Gilbert, which talks about the national development of education partnerships. 

Link: http://www.lcll.org.uk/publications.html

School Governance

This Saturday the 3^rd of March we’ll be holding the Annual Governors Conference at the University of Sussex Conference Centre. We’ll be exploring the study ‘Who governs our schools? Trends, tensions and opportunities’ with the author Dr Tony Breslin. 

Dr Tony Breslin is a public policy analyst specialising in education and par­ticipation. The Director at Breslin Public Policy Limited, he is the author of two recent RSA publications, 'Who Governs Our Schools? Trends, Tensions and Opportunities' (2017), which is the outcome of an 18 month scoping study into school governance in England, and 'A Place for Learning: putting learning at the heart of citizenship, civic identity and community life' (2016) which advocates a community-based approach to lifelong learning. I'm looking forward to listening and learning together on Saturday with governors across the City.

Employer Speed Dating Event

‘I know what an interview is like now - I was very proud because I used very good words and good clear speech’

‘I liked dressing up in smart clothes and liked being prepared for a real interview’

These were some of the comments made by students who attended our Special Schools Employer Speed Dating Event last month. Schools involved were Patcham House, Downs Park and Cedar Centre and local charity Team Domenica. Staff who supported the Y10 and Y11 students found it a unique opportunity for their students. It gave them a real taste of an interview with outside people. The event gave students a chance to meet ‘real employers’ in an interview style setting, each student went through a series of interviews with the employers where they were able to ask questions and also develop their communications skills. 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 confidence boost and took away lots of practical advice from employers.

The employers came from variety of sectors and included Brighton Dome, Sussex Cricket Club and JobCentre+. They all commented on the confidence and determination young people had and how much young people improved as the interviews progressed.

One employer said ‘This event has shown me that this skills practice is even more important for the futures of those with additional needs, and I'll ensure I prioritise it when offering employment support to the special schools I work with in Brighton & Hove’.

For more information, contact Shiromi Cabraal, 16-19 Project Officer: shiromi.cabraal@brighton-hove.gov.uk, 01273 29 0735. 

 

Cardinal Newman Catholic School were inspected in January. They were judged by Ofsted as Good. Here are some quotes from the Ofsted report:

‘The headteacher and other leaders have successfully improved the quality of education for pupils and students since the last inspection. They understand the school’s strengths and weaknesses well.

Pupils’ personal development and welfare is outstanding. A strong sense of community permeates the school which pupils and students value and contribute to willingly.’

Take a look at this very positive report. 

Dr James Kilmartin, head of Cardinal Newman and students celebrating their Good Ofsted rating

Goldstone Primary were also inspected recently and we are awaiting the report. I look forward to feeding back next time. Longhill High School have also had a positive HMI monitoring visit that went very well.

Primary Indoor Athletics

School Games Indoor Athletics event at BACA

Well done to the schools that took part in the Indoor Athletics competitions. 30 schools and 552 young people took part, with 52 Sports Leaders running the event. We had an extremely close competition this year. Well done to Cottesmore who will now go forward to the School Games Final on the 8th of March at the Triangle Leisure Centre to represent Brighton & Hove.

For more information, contact Emma Greenough, Brighton & Hove School Games Organiser & Active for Life Manager Children & Young People Tel:  01273 292569 emma.greenough@brighton-hove.gov.uk  

School Games Indoor Athletics event at BACA

Services to Schools

I’m delighted to let you know that Sharon Mackenzie has been appointed to provide the strategic oversight for traded services for schools during Roger Snell’s secondment to Orbis, joining Yaz Jenner who is taking on the operational aspect of the role. Sharon has now returned to full-time work in Education & Skills and the extra day will be used for this role, thus enabling her to still carry out the Governor Services Manager and NQT Induction Co-ordinator roles.

If you have any questions please contact Sharon on 01273 293465 or Yaz on 01273 293511.  They have set up a new inbox for any queries relating to Services to Schools: beem@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

My Fair Lady at Varndean

Thank you to Varndean Secondary School for inviting me to their annual show this year, 'My Fair Lady'. I was blown away by the professionalism and talent of the young people who performed. It’s so good to see the arts being promoted and celebrated in our schools.

New Statutory Guidance

The new statutory guidance from the DfE was published this week: ‘Promoting the education of looked-after children and previously looked-after children.’

I am very pleased that this updated guidance now recognises that children previously in care (pic) have the same needs as children that are currently in care (cic) and should therefore be given every opportunity to reach their full potential.

The guidance describes the means by which the local authority discharges its statutory responsibility to promote the educational achievement of pic children. The local authority will be a source of advice and information to help parents to advocate effectively for their pic children. 

Other key messages from the guidance also include an emphasis on:

• a joined-up approach to addressing the mental health needs of cic and pic;
• greater recognition of the educational and emotional needs of Asylum-seeking and refugee children;
• the importance of using the PP+ grant to fund interventions that have a strong evidence-base of success.

Overall, the guidance promotes a greater awareness of the varying needs of our young people and demonstrates how working together is essential to securing excellent outcomes for any child who has been in care.

Here is a link to the guidance document.

Congratulations to Louise Cook

Following interviews on the 20th and the 21st of February, I’m delighted that Louise Cook has been appointed as Executive Head of the new SEMH Hub. The hub is part of the City’s new vision for special provision and comprises Homewood College, Brighton & Hove PRU and the Connected Hub. Louise is currently the headteacher of the Connected Hub. She will take up her new post after Easter. Colleagues will no doubt want to congratulate Louise and offer her best wishes in her new role.

Louise Cook

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.