Children’s Parade

Woodingdean Primary School and their Mother Fish

The festival is in full swing and I hope you are all taking some time out to enjoy. It began once again with a fabulous children’s parade. I was blown away by the creativity of our children and young people from so many of our Brighton & Hove schools. A massive thank you to all parents and school staff who supported them in putting together such a fantastic display.

Varndean School at the Children’s Parade

It’s also important to remember May and June is SATs and exam time and for us to wish well and provide support all our children and young people during what can be a stressful time.

Elm Grove Primary football tournament

Elm Grove Primary football team winners with their cup

This week the Elm Grove Primary football team represented Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premiere League Schools football tournament. Each Premiere League team has a school team representing them. The children played on Leicester City's football ground, with a Premiere referee and were put up in The Hilton! (all funded by the Premiere League). To achieve this, the team won big city-wide, then county-wide, tournaments. This is the first time a local school has participated in this tournament given Brighton & Hove's new position in the league. The children and Deputy Headteacher Mr Waring were very excited! Well done to Elm Grove. 

Every Child a Reader 

The Every Child a Reader (ECaR) service is working closely with Collected Works, a local organisation, to ensure pupils in disadvantage have the opportunity to take part in local community cultural and festival events. Collected Works collaborate with local teachers to choose a book and provide support for schools and pupils to read the book together with weekly publication of materials to share. Schools use the opportunity to develop a city wide conversation, like a giant book club. This discussion is expertly enriched by the opportunity to attend a heavily subsidised show to meet the authors and share stories. 

Presenting this year’s BIG READ for schools in Brighton & Hove (and beyond) . . .

Greg James and Chris Smith, Young City Reads authors 2018

Young City Reads returns this year with a spoof superhero epic that’s both fabulously funny and heart-warming. The concept is simple – one book, by one author is selected for classes to read, explore, discuss and creatively engage with.

Kid Normal by Greg James and Chris Smith

‘We know that Brighton is full of superpowers: seagull evasion, shingle navigation and dolphin racing, to name but three. And now we’re looking forward to adding a few new ones with the help of your awesome powers of creativity. We hope you enjoy meeting Murph and his friends in Kid Normal, and we can’t wait to meet you all to make up some new stories!’

Pupils entering the beautiful Dome venue for Young City Reads Brighton Festival Show 

Hundreds of local pupils signed up for the big read and Brighton Festival Show. Collected Works gains sponsorship to support pupils in disadvantage with books, ticket and travel costs. Every Child a Reader schools promote the event to include pupils who have worked hard at developing and maintaining reading skill and enjoyment. It was a joy to see all the pupils arriving with much excitement at The Dome. The authors did a great job of entertaining and including, the sold out audience. New characters were created and a Queen’s Park Primary teacher and local pupils showed great acting skills in helping to tell the story on stage. A special moment was meeting three Longhill Secondary Pupils who had been previous Reading Recovery Pupils in Y1 at Primary, they are engaged, enthusiastic and successful readers. There was a very long book signing queue, however a very memorable and enjoyable event. I have met pupils in school this week proudly clutching their signed books and reading them at break time.

You can find more information on Collected Works here: http://collectedworks.co.uk/young-city-reads-2018/ 

West Blatchington new building

Pupils signing the steel beam

It was great to see the first duty performed by the new Mayor Dee Simson was in support of one of our schools. Madam Mayor attended West Blatchington Primary School where she joined the school’s competition winners who signed one of the steel beams forming part of the school’s new building. They then watched it being lifted and secured into place where it will remain for decades to come. 

The signed steel beam being lifted into place 

The Mayor was excited to learn that the pupils will be moving into their new school building during her year in office and hopes she will be able to come back and officially open the site in April. 

Hidden Children

The Council has been developing its strategy for ‘hidden children’; those who are on the roll of a school but not attending full-time. Often the attendance of these children and young people at school is a protective factor in reducing risk to their welfare. We have shared our developing thoughts with primary headteachers and school governors at our termly meetings in the last couple of weeks and we shall be providing more information after half term. It is key to the success of this strategy that the Council is informed of all pupils who are in receipt of a part time timetable. Watch this space for more information. 

Moulsecoomb Primary Space Training

Moulsecoomb Primary children working on a space training project

Little Green Pig took up residency in Moulsecoomb Primary School to create BrightSTAR- Brighton Space Training and Research, the city’s first academy for astronauts.
Over four months they worked with every child in the school, from Nursery up to Year 6, helping the pupils expand their imagination and take delight in creative writing while training to blast into space.
We’re very proud to present a film showing the project, which you can watch here. https://www.littlegreenpig.org.uk/blog/watch-a-transmission-from-brightstar/

Mental Health Provision at Hove Park School 

Jim Roberts, Headteacher at Hove Park School, shared the DfE report published this month which highlighted the work the school has done supporting mental health provision. This forms part of a series of case study documents aimed at sharing best practice. Take a look: 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/705083/Supporting_Mental-Health_pen_portraits.pdf 

Congratulations to Downs View 

Downs View School and Link College has been given approval by the DfE / ESFA to be an independent provider of post 19 education from this September. I am delighted that the hard work of the staff has paid off after what has been a protracted application process to become an ISP (Independent Service Provider). I look forward to continued successful working with the local authority on this important project for the city.

Queens Park Primary Tapestry – awe and wonder at assembly

Mother and child from Queens Park Primary School with tapestry 

Queens Park Primary School recently used the International Womens Network’s tapestry at a KS2 assembly. The tapestry shows the diversity, creativity and skills of the many women from different cultures, who live in Brighton & Hove. Each square represents the personal vision and work of the women, who come from more than 25 different countries. The group sit and sew together on a weekly basis at Jubilee Library, as they make new friends.

Kate Harvey, lead on School of Sanctuary at Queens Park School said ‘I had no idea of how powerful the quilt was going to be, but the discussions and comments it provoked from the children were incredible. Some of the children recognised their mum’s squares (work) and were so proud.’ Discussion included conversations on moving away from a home and making a new one and how sad or happy the women felt.

If your school or centre would like to borrow the tapestry or find out more about the International Women’s Network, please email lindabeanlands@gmail.com

There are also a number of family learning opportunities in the city delivered by BHCC Adult & Community Learning through the Friends Centre. Email  Kirsty.Cregan@brighton-hove.gov.uk for more information.

St Bartholemew’s Primary had a monitoring inspection this month as a school graded Requires Improvement. The Ofsted inspector said positively: ‘Senior leaders and governors are taking effective action to tackle the areas requiring improvement identified at the last section 5 inspection in order for the school to become good.’ Well done to St Bartholemew’s. 

I would also like to congratulate Julie Plumstead and her team at Tarnerland Nursery on the retention of their Outstanding grading. The inspector states that Julie is ‘an inspirational leader’, who demonstrates ‘a vision for excellence, not only in your own school but for the wider community’. The report reflects the outstanding work the nursery does in providing excellent care and development. Congratulations to all involved. 

Brackenbury Primary, Carlton Hill Primary and the Connected Hub have recently been inspected and I look forward to reporting on their results in the next blog.

Welcome, Goodbye and Thank You  

Gavin Graham, our new Apprenticeship Adviser

Welcome to Gavin Graham, our new Apprenticeship Adviser in the Apprenticeship Team. Gavin’s role within the Apprenticeship team is to offer a support service for all council staff including schools. This includes advice and support on recruiting an apprentice and to use the Apprenticeship Levy funding to develop existing staff. Gavin has extensive experience having previously worked for the National Apprenticeship Service and most recently supporting NHS trusts with apprenticeships, whilst working for a training provider. Gavin’s email address is gavin.graham@brighton-hove.gov.uk tel: 01273 293320. 

Trevor Cristin

Congratulations to Trevor Cristin, currently head teacher of St. Andrew’s Church of England Primary School, Hove, who has been appointed as the new Diocesan Director of Education for the Diocese of Chichester. Mr Cristin, who has been a head teacher for 16 years and a teacher all his working life, will now oversee the work of the Diocese with its 157 church schools and academies. Mr Cristin will begin his duties in September.
Best wishes,

Jo

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