With the end of the summer term fast approaching, I would like to thank you all for the hard work and dedication you have shown towards the children and young people of Brighton and Hove over the past twelve months. This has been a challenging year for everyone but the resilience and commitment you have demonstrated over recent months has been really inspiring to witness. I hope you are all able to enjoy a well earned rest in this beautiful weather and that you have a very happy and safe summer. I look forward to working with you all again in the Autumn term.
Upcoming Young Artists of Brighton & Hove
Earlier this year, the Virtual School ran its first ever art competition welcoming all Brighton & Hove children in care, children previously in care and care leavers. All entrants have now been invited to participate in a live art exhibition held in an established local arts organisation. The exhibition, which hopes to raise the profile of this group of children in the city, is titled Upcoming Young Artists of Brighton and Hove, and will take place at the Phoenix Art Gallery, Brighton. It will feature the work of all the competition entrants, including five winners of the Virtual School’s art competition. The exhibition starts at 12pm on Saturday 3 September and ends at 5pm on Sunday 11 September 2022.
PSHE Co-Ordinator’s Development Event
It was great to hear that the PSHE team held their first in-person training since the pandemic on 30 June. Over thirty PSHE leads from across KS1-4 attended the event at the Jubilee Library. Ashley Seymour-Williams led a session on PSHE and Ofsted, followed by Dr Polly Haste's workshop, helping PSHE leads to prepare their narrative with Ofsted or any visitors to schools. Secondary leads and their feeder primary colleagues then discussed the impact of Primary RSE on Y7 learning.
The afternoon was rounded off with a formal goodbye to Sam Beal who has led the PSHE team for so many years. It was also a chance to say goodbye to Hugh Garling who has worked with the PSHE team since 2009. It was fantastic to that so many dedicated PSHE leads came together, including the new secondary PSHE leads, to consider where this curriculum work can be developed over the next year.
Sussex Speak Out Challenge
Congratulations to Alfie Douglas, chair of the Youth Council, who was invited to be a judge at the Sussex Speak Out Challenge on the 29 June at the Old Market Theatre. The Challenge is a programme designed to develop young people’s confidence and communication skills, giving them the opportunity to speak out on issues important to them. Over 200 young people had taken part in the challenge, culminating in a schools Sussex final with eight finalists. Alfie was joined by other invited judges, including Councillor Alan Roberts and Atiya Gourlay, Strategic and Partnership Lead for East Sussex Children’s Services.
Virtual School Summer Conference – ‘Empowered Teachers Empower Young People’
The Virtual School Annual Summer Conference was held on 30 June to great success. In a packed programme, Kit Messenger from Changing Chances talked about the benefits of moving from a more behaviourist approach, to one which is more trauma-informed and attachment aware. Senior leaders from The Weald Community School in West Sussex also shared their experiences about coaching with kindness and support, whilst still maintaining high standards of behaviour and achievement. There were also presentations from Brighton & Hove’s Anti Racism Advisor, Camille Kumar and from the Brighton & Hove Young People’s Project founder and manager Vannessa Crawford. Two care leavers and an educational psychologist also spoke about the power of language when talking about SEND, children in care and care leavers.
Hove Park Wellbeing Work
It has been great to learn more about the important work that Hove Park School is doing with students to embed emotional wellbeing support into their school and ensure that every student feels safe, happy and cared for. A skilled pastoral team and fully integrated counselling service work together to support students, parents and teachers across the school in a variety of ways. This could be through working with parents, advising and training teachers on how to support students in the classroom or delivering therapeutic intervention in school. Feedback from students and their families is showing that a whole school approach to wellbeing is making a real difference. Further mental health resources and guidance can be found here.
Anti Racist Education
Work under the strategy is gaining momentum and I am proud to announce that we have recently recruited a brilliant team of seconded teachers and support staff who will be working alongside our Education Advisor, Camille Kumar, to progress this work. Congratulations to Angela Simmonds (Varndean School), Anoushka Visvalingham (St Luke’s), Dulani Kulasinghe (Patcham Infants), Flo Sparham (Goldstone), Peddy Knowles (Middle Street) and Shareen Hone (Cardinal Newman) who will be supporting the strategy and ensuring schools and colleges across the city are provided with guidance and support to take this vital work forward. A special event will be taking place on Saturday 15 October bringing together everyone who can contribute to anti-racist education in Brighton and Hove. For more on this event, please contact camille.kumar@brighton-hove.gov.uk
Congratulations to Hill Park School on retaining their Outstanding Ofsted grade at their inspection in June. The report noted “The school’s curriculum is highly distinctive. Based on the national curriculum, it has been tailored to meet the very specific needs of the pupils it serves. All pupils follow bespoke pathways of learning” and “staff are skilled at designing learning that engages children well.” Well done to Hill Park staff, governors and pupils - what a lovely way to end the academic year.
Goodbye and Thank You
We have reached the time of year when some of our headteachers and principals across the partnership retire or move on to other exciting things. We would like to thank them all for their commitment to the children, young people and families across the city and wish them all the best for the future. We will miss them all and hope they will keep in touch.
Andie Wilson, Head at St Mary Magdalen’s Catholic Primary School
Kate Schofield, Co-Head at the Connected Hub and PRU
Simon Davies, Head at Balfour Primary School
Wendy Harkness, Head at West Hove Infant School
Vicky Phillips, Head at Coombe Road Primary School
Chris Pearson, Head at Goldstone Primary School
Martyn Giddens, Head at Bevendean Primary School
We also say goodbye this month to Shiromi Cabraal, our Post 16 Education & Skills Officer. Shiromi has been a dedicated public sector employee for many years and has spent the last 12 years at the council in Education and Skills. I would like to thank Shiromi for all of her hard work, including being instrumental in achieving a good Ofsted result for Adult Learning provision and driving the Post 16 Standards and Curriculum Partnership. We wish her all the best for the future.
Our next news will be in September when we will welcome new faces to the Brighton & Hove education partnership.
Best wishes,
Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
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