A great start to the academic year

Congratulations to all our children and young people, parents, headteachers, teachers and support staff for the great set of improved education outcomes for 2018.

• Early Years has risen to 72.6%reaching a Good Level of Development, above the provisional national average of 71.5%
• The percentage achieving age related expectations in reading, writing and maths at Key Stage 2 has risen to 67%; well above the provisional national average of 64%
• Attainment 8 at Key Stage 4 has risen to 47.9%
• A* - C A-level results have also risen from 76.8% to 84%

 It is fantastic to see this continued success across the city and a reflection of a lot of hard work and a successful education partnership.

Congratulations to Blatchington Mill - Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) Hub 

Blatchington Mill have been successful in their bid to establish a modern foreign languages (MFL) hub in Brighton & Hove. They are one of just seven schools nationally to have done this. This is a major achievement for the school.

The project will involve supporting other secondary schools to improve outcomes in MFL, important for English Baccalaureate (EBacc) success and also reflective of the city we live in and the life skills we want young people to have, including the ability to be bilingual in a globalised and increasingly interconnected world.

Take a look at the DfE Press release at the TES site: https://www.tes.com/news/dfe-announces-national-language-centre-and-hubs

Welcome to our Newly Qualified Teachers

Last week I had the pleasure to meet and welcome some of this year’s NQTs at the University of Brighton, where they were given valuable information about all the support available during their induction year. Both events included inspiring speeches from ex-NQTs and also Mark Holdaway from the Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS). Behaviour management is one of the biggest concerns for NQTs and I was pleased to see that Mark is leading considerable training for NQTs in this area throughout the year, for both primary and secondary NQTs. Sharon Mackenzie and the School Workforce Development Team co-ordinate an extensive training & development programme and provide useful resources on our BEEM portal for all those NQTs registered with us. We hope they all have a successful and rewarding year!

Snailspace Brighton

It was so good to see our schools and education providers expressing their creativity with the creation of so many junior snails on show across the city as part of Snailspace Brighton & Hove @snailspacebh. Snailspace is an extraordinary art trail across the city from the 15th of September until the 18th of November, fundraising for @MartletsHospice whilst reminding us all to slow down & #BeMoreSnail. Meet Herbert (picture above), Carden Primary’s Carden Snail, named after Sir Herbert Carden who the school was also named after. He's living in Patcham Library at the moment. https://www.snailspacebrighton.co.uk/

Dorothy Stringer’s Snail, Murma, at the Jubilee Library

You will remember that Brunswick Primary was inspected in June and I’m very pleased that they have been judged as Good. ‘The headteacher and his senior team have high aspirations for pupils. Leaders have a clear vision for the school that is shared by the whole school community.’ Well done to the headteacher Shaun Collins, teachers, support staff, parents and of course the children!

New apprentices Clare Topa from Hangleton Primary School and Ian Jones from Hove Park School

We are pleased to announce that Ian Jones from Hove Park School and Clare Topa from Hangleton Primary School have started their Level 4 School Business Professional Apprenticeship with GBMET!  This apprenticeship will cover elements such as procurement, HR, Governance and Risk and financial organisational management. We currently have 2 places available to start now or next year. To find out more please contact gavin.graham@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Congratulations to St Paul’s Primary School - International School Award

St Paul’s Primary visit to Zaragoza in Spain

Congratulations to headteacher Linda Dupret and everyone at St Paul’s Church of England Primary School. The school have received their International School Award again. The International School Award team British Council said the following about their application:

‘The international dimension is firmly embedded in your school's curriculum and whole-school ethos, promoting citizenship and foreign language learning, and celebrating cultural diversity across the school and wider community. Your links with schools in two very different areas (Spain and Uganda) are well-established and active, providing rich learning opportunities for both pupils and staff, and your visiting international students further enrich the diverse intercultural experience and learning for your pupils and staff. Your international activities are clearly well managed and coordinated so that they are an integral part of your annual curriculum. Your seven submitted international activities enable your pupils to learn about other countries and aspects of their cultures and languages. The teaching and learning of Spanish is brought to life by the real-life context of your communication and reciprocal visits with your Spanish partners, with evident positive impact on your pupils' progress and attainment in Spanish.’ 

The information area in St Paul’s link school in Zaragoza

‘Congratulations on working so hard to co-ordinate such an impressive range of work as an International Co-ordinator! You are a credit to the school and the wider community.’

 Hove Park School Big Camp 

Football game at Hove Park’s Big Camp

Just in case you missed it at the end of the summer term, Year 7 students from Hove Park School spent the day at Hove Park's Big Camp. Students spent the whole day on the field taking part in a range of Forest School type-activities such as making camp fires, team building, obstacle courses, shelter construction and wood craft, with some of our students then camping out under the stars. Well done to Jim Roberts, headteacher at Hove Park School and everyone at the school and at the Local Authority who helped make it happen. Have a look at the promotional video made about the Big Camp 2018 that was featured in the school’s Parklife newsletter.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSNKVeGnP7o

Congratulations to Carden Primary for their 70^th Anniversary

Happy 70th Birthday to Carden Primary. It is 70 years this week since the school opened to children. They were lucky to be visited by quite a few of Sir Herbert Carden's descendants who enthralled the children with information about the former Mayor of Brighton.

Author Imogen White at Carden Library

As part of the anniversary, Imogen White, author of the Rose Muddle books, was at the new Carden Library. 

Promoting STEM in our schools 

Prof Kathy Romer, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Sussex, addressing the children – with the former CEO of the UK Space Agency and founder of the PrimarySpace initiative, Katherine Courtney, standing alongside.

This month I had the opportunity, along with pupils from several of our schools across the partnership, to see a Mars Rover in action and to participate in a range of interactive activities to stimulate their interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

The University’s Widening Participation scheme works with a number of schools each year to support the aspirations and ambitions of young people in considering their future career options.

Around 800 children from schools in Sussex attended the event on the 12^th of September, based on the theme of space and organised alongside a former head of the UK Space Agency.

John Chinner from Airbus UK with Bruno, the ExoMars Rover

The event gave me the chance to see local children engaging with people working in different STEM careers and participating in various sessions and hands-on demonstrations, aimed at providing them with an inspirational learning experience. It was great to see Benfield Primary, Middle Street Primary, Peter Gladwin Primary, St Luke’s Primary & Junior and  St Martin’s Primary taking part. See also a link below to a news item on the University of Sussex website about the event and how to get involved in the future:  https://www.sussex.ac.uk/news/all?id=45910

Welcome to our new headteachers

I joined Pinaki Ghoshal (Director of Children’s Services) and Mark Storey (Head of Education Standards and Achievement) to welcome our new and acting headteachers and heads of school for induction to support them all in their new roles. 

Welcome to our new headteachers Bob Speight at BACA, Mark Poston at PACA, Luke Lording at Mile Oak Primary, Rachel Kershaw at St Margaret’s Primary and Gemma Chumnansin, head of school at Benfield Primary.

Welcome also to our new Acting headteachers: Andrew Lincoln, at St Andrew’s Primary, Jo Staveley at Bilingual Primary, Dawn Loader and Sandra Mullholland at Balfour Primary, Natalie Burley at Saltdean Primary and Acting head of school Anna Keane at Hangleton Primary,

Welcome back also from maternity leave Rachel Breen, Cottesmore St Mary’s Primary.

I  would also like to welcome Cassie Palmer from Coldean Primary School and Shelley Baker from Varndean School who have been seconded for one day per week as Pupil Premium Teacher Advisers. They have joined our Local Authority team to support the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership priority to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children and young people. Their work will include direct advisory work with individual schools; support with the LA training and sharing of best practice; support with pupil premium reviews and further development of the LA disadvantaged strategy.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
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