National Thank A Teacher Day took place last week on 23rd June and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of the fantastic teachers, teaching assistants and support staff in our schools for their hard work and determination in what has been another very difficult year for everyone.
Sussex Specsavers Virtual Summer School Games
Schools in Brighton and Hove have been taking part in the Sussex Specsavers Virtual Summer School Games competitions this term. Over 120 schools in Sussex took part, with KS1 taking part in athletics and KS2 and KS3 in Tri Golf, Tennis and Dance. Two of the competitions - Year 5/6 Quad Kids Athletics and Year 3/4 Tri Golf - progressed through to a virtual Sussex final with Cottesmore winning the Athletics and Carden winning the Year 3/4 Tri Golf. Well done to all schools who took part in the competitions!
You can view the closing ceremony of the games on the Active Sussex Youtube Channel (4) Active Sussex - YouTube from 2pm on Friday 25 June.
Refugee Week 14 – 20 June
Some resources pulled together by Sanctuary on Sea were sent into schools to support marking the Refugee Week theme We Cannot Walk Alone. We hope these were useful and look forward to hearing what schools did to mark this week. You may be interested in this pledge from the council: Council pledges to continue its support for refugee children
Virtual School Summer Conference
The Virtual School hosted its annual summer conference online on 24 June and it was a resounding success. The conference included a typically exuberant and inspiring two part keynote from Kit Messenger. A theme of working as a whole school community was shared by John McKee, who, as headteacher of Patcham High School, has successfully overseen the evolution of a zero exclusion policy now into its second year.
ASATT (A Seat At The Table) addressed the impact of racism on young people who have already experienced trauma and highlighted our responsibility to see, hear and value them within the school community. On top of this was one of the Virtual School’s Brighton & Hove care leavers, Hannah Fulker, who shared her wisdom through her lived experience of being a young person coming through the education system as a child in care.
Finally, there was an exhibition of art work from the Virtual School’s holiday art club along with comments that were submitted by the young people attending the club.
Brighton and Hove Schools Sport Facility Defibrillators Fundraising Challenge
I was delighted to learn more about a fundraising challenge which is being organised by Pete Mowforth, the head of PE at Blatchington Mill School, to raise money for Brighton and Hove Schools Sport Facility Defibrillators by running around 17 miles from Longhill High School to PACA, visiting all Brighton and Hove secondary schools along the way.
The run takes place on Friday 16 July with a group including Liam Murphy from Cardinal Newman School, Matt Ford from Longhill School and others. The aim is to raise money to purchase enough defibrillators for each of the 10 secondary schools to have them located in accessible areas for their facilities, following the horrendous incident involving the Danish footballer Christian Eriksen at the Euro 2020 Championships recently. If you would like to contribute to this great cause, please see the following link https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/defibchallenge?utm_term=R8y8eByVk
Ofsted have confirmed that monitoring visits may take place in Requires Improvement or Inadequate schools during the summer term. We also know that full inspection will not return until the Autumn term. Please see the link for more details Education inspections in the summer term
Moulsecoomb Primary School received their monitoring report which was very positive about the efforts being made by the school, particularly the leadership “Leaders are taking effective actions towards the removal of serious weaknesses designation”. The report acknowledged the challenging circumstances for the school and particularly noted that “The headteacher is steering the school through an unsettled period with care and sensitivity. His aspirations for the school and its pupils remain high.”
Balfour Primary school received a section 8 monitoring visit in June. We are awaiting the report to be published.
Best wishes,
Jo
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