Thursday, 30 September 2021

Back to School

 


Welcome back to everyone at the start of the new academic year.  I would like to say a huge thank you to all of our headteachers, college principals, teachers and support staff and all those who work in early years who are doing an amazing job ensuring that children and young people across the city have transitioned back into school positively after such a challenging period.  I am looking forward to working with all of our schools, colleges, early years providers and other education settings across the B&H Education Partnership this academic year.  As we begin to reintroduce visits and face to face meetings, I’m personally looking forward to seeing some of the excellent practice that is out there across the city and meeting with our teachers, support staff, children, young people and their families. 


Brighton & Hove Youth Council Beach Clean

                                                           The Youth Council beach clean team

Young people from Brighton & Hove Youth Council are currently running an environment campaign to reduce plastic use and improve the environment of the city.  Over the summer they gave up their free time to do a beach clean in Hove.  They were also joined by youth council members from Epping Forest, who were keen to assist and very much enjoyed their visit.  Although it was a windy day, many bags of rubbish were collected and a positive experience was had by all including Councillor Hannah Clare and Deb Austin, Executive Director for Families, Children & Learning, who came to offer their support.

The youth council is made up of young people aged 13 to 19 (and up to 25 with SEND), who are elected or nominated from local schools, colleges and youth groups.  If you would like to know more about the youth council, or to check if your school currently has representation, please contact Tracie James on tracie.james@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Summer School


Several of our secondary schools ran a summer school during the August holidays to help Year 6 pupils transition into Year 7.  There was a wide range of activities on offer including team building, PE, art, music, drama and environment studies, together with maths and literacy.  A huge thank you to all the secondary school teachers, primary school teachers and external providers who made these events possible.  Pupils really appreciated the opportunity to visit their new school, meet some of the teachers and make new friends. Feedback from parents has been fantastic too:

“My child really enjoyed their summer school with you.  They got the opportunity to practice walking on their own, and it has really made a difference to them to meet a few people and teachers.  It’s been a really great way to prepare the year 7’s for September. I know my child will certainly feel much more confident when they start.”

Brighton & Hove Trans Inclusion Schools Toolkit 


An updated version of Brighton & Hove’s Trans Inclusion Toolkit has now been shared with all Brighton & Hove schools. New content reflects feedback from a wide range of groups including, parents, carers, and year 10 pupils who took part in a consultation exercise earlier in the year.  

Research by LGBTQ+ advocacy organisation, Just Like Us, found LGBTQ+ school pupils are twice as likely to experience bullying than their straight, cisgender peers. The toolkit offers practical advice about how to help vulnerable young people questioning their identity or who’ve identified as trans.  Prepared with key partner Allsorts Youth Project and local schools, the guidance covers topics such as gender stereotyping, language, clothing, name changes, safeguarding, confidentiality, toilet provision, special educational needs, pronoun use and changing facilities for sports.  


Kickstart Jobs Fair

                                                 Elle Dyson, Youth Employment Hub Coordinator 
                                                    and Anerly Cartlidge, Youth Hub Work Coach

It has been great to hear more about the Kickstart Jobs Fair which was held at Brighton Dome on Thursday 29 September.  The event was a huge success with over 150 young people attending and employers were so impressed with the candidates that many were offered roles on the spot!  In total, 19 young people walked away from the event with a new role, with many others offered interviews or work trials. 

The Youth Employment Hub was on hand to provide support to the young people attending the event on the day, helping them navigate the event, approach employers and generally providing information, signposting and advice.  The pre employment team also attended the event to promote the Council’s own Kickstart vacancies

Women’s EURO Ticketing - Exclusive Schools Group Booking Window


The UEFA Women’s Euro Championship takes place in 2022 and the FA is offering schools an exclusive opportunity to secure their tickets to group stage matches to make sure that all teachers and pupils have the chance to watch the action on their doorstep.

The Schools Group Booking Window is currently open until 5pm on Friday 8 October.  Concession (under 16s) tickets are priced between £5 - £7.50, and for every nine concession tickets bought, one adult goes free.  Schools who book their tickets within this window will also have the chance to win a visit from the UEFA Women’s EURO trophy – a great way to get students excited ahead of watching the action live!

Dates to watch out for include:-
28 October 2021 UEFA Womens EURO 2022 Final Draw
January 2022 Schools resources go live
11-17 July 2022 Schools Week

For more information or to book you tickets visit www.thefa.com/competitions/uefa-womens-euro-2022/schools

GB Met College Central Brighton Campus Opening


I was delighted to be able to attend the opening of the GB Met College Central Brighton Campus redevelopment on 24 September which was formally opened by Caroline Lucas MP.  It was great to take a tour of the building and have an opportunity to see the fantastic new facilities available to students.


Ofsted has resumed normal school inspections and have been into Brighton & Hove in the last two weeks.   The first two schools to receive an inspection this term are: St Nicolas CE Primary School on 21 and 22 September and Carden Primary on 29 and 30 September who both received a Section 8 inspection.  We look forward to the results of those inspections in the near future.   We are expecting there to be a large number of inspections this academic year and are keen to support you in your preparations

For the first time since Ofsted started inspecting early years and childcare settings, all the city’s private, voluntary and independent early years and childcare group settings with an Ofsted judgement are currently good or better.   Inspections were suspended between March 2020 and April 2021. Now that they have resumed, both of the settings with a Requires improvement judgement have been inspected and are now Good. 

This is a great testament to the support that the Early Years Team give to PVI providers, and to BHISS, EMAS and Darrell Clews as LADO who also support providers.  Thank you to everyone for your hard work and of course, congratulations also to all of the providers themselves.

Welcomes


I am very pleased to welcome Kay Watson, who has taken over as Acting Headteacher at St Luke’s Primary School this term.  Kay has stepped up from her Deputy Head role until a new Headteacher appointment is made.
  Kay Watson

I am also delighted to announce that we have appointed Mia Bryden to the post of Interim Head of Service, Home to School Transport. Mia will be joining us in late October. Some colleagues may remember Mia from her former role for the Council as Safeguarding Board Manager.  We are all looking forward to welcoming Mia and working with her in her new role.

                                                                           Mia Bryden

Goodbyes


Mia will be replacing Regan Delf who has been covering the Interim Head of Service, Home to School Transport position for the last 20 months.  We are very grateful to Regan for all of her help and hard work in this role and she has done a tremendous job working with the team to improve the service.  We are very pleased that Regan will remain with us supporting in some other areas of education and skills.

  Regan Delf

We also say goodbye this month to Caroline Parker, Head of Early Years and Early Help Strategy, who is leaving the Council after 22 years.  Caroline has been a brilliant advocate for the early years sector during this time and has overseen some fantastic achievements and we have all appreciated her inspirational knowledge, management and leadership.  She will be greatly missed by all of her colleagues in Education & Skills, Families, Children and Learning, throughout the Council and by partners across the city.    We wish Caroline all the very best as she moves on to new adventures. 

Caroline Parker


Best wishes,
Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
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