News from Education and Skills: April 2023

The team from Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary

Year 5/6 netball

The Sussex School Games Spring Finals took place just before the Easter break at the University of Brighton. Huge congratulations to Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary who won the Sussex School Games Year 5/6 Stinger Netball Finals! Well done also to Goldstone Primary who came 2nd in the Year 5/6 Indoor Athletics and Hertford Juniors who came 3rd in the Year 3 Multi Skills Finals!

In the secondary Indoor Athletics finals Dorothy Stringer Year 7 Boys came 5th, Year 7 Girls Blatchington Mill came 4th, Patcham High Year 8 Girls came 5th and Kings Year 8 Girls came 5th. Sports leaders from Patcham High, Dorothy Stringer and PACA also supported the event. Schools from around the county commented on how great the leaders were in supporting the primary school students. Congratulations to everyone who took part in such a brilliant day for Brighton and Hove Schools.

Youth Participation Team Arts Workers…another great success for young people!

Young woman sharing her Robe a la Anglaise at the Royal Pavilion

I was delighted to hear that 8 Bronze (level 1) and 1 Silver (level 2) Arts Awards national qualifications have recently been passed with flying colours by young people who are out of education due to mental or physical health needs. One young woman who focused on her passion for historical fashion for her Silver Arts Award found that the award has given her a focus, enabled her learning and confidence and encouraged her to think more positively about her future. She created an 18th Century Robe a la Anglaise from scratch and felt confident enough to share it at the Royal Pavilion! The Youth Participation Team also received excellent feedback from the Trinity College Moderator who said “it is clear that the young people have been well supported to undertake the award, explore their own creativity and express their individuality.” Well done to everyone who has been involved with this excellent achievement.

National Supported Internship Day

Attendees at the event

National Supported Internship Day took place on Monday 27th March. A networking event was held at Jubilee Library where interns from Team Domenica served refreshments. Presentations were given by Team Domenica and DFN Project Search celebrating the achievements of the supported internship programme in Brighton and Hove and beyond.

Discussions took place around the challenges faced by young people with additional needs and how support can be given to overcome these challenges. The aim is to double the number of supported interns in the city and I look forward to celebrating the progress made to achieve this at next year’s NSID events. Many thanks to representatives from supported employment, the employability service, Downs Link college, Team Domenica and DFN Project Search.

Free Swimming for under 18s in Brighton and Hove

I’m very pleased to let you know that from 1st April 2023, the Free Swimming Scheme which is operated in partnership with Freedom Leisure will include children and young people aged 18 and under in Brighton & Hove. More information can be found on the Free Swimming Scheme and how to register on the Freedom Leisure website: www.freedom-leisure.co.uk/freeswimmingbh. You can also ask at reception in your nearest pool.

'Positive Masculinity' Workshop Pilot Project

The Secondary PSHE team have been working with Groundswell Project UK to run a pilot project of classroom based workshops on 'Positive Masculinity'. The pilot will involve mixed gender PSHE classes of year 9 and 10 students at Blatchington Mill, King's School, Cardinal Newman Catholic School and Patcham High. The focus of the workshop will be on positive masculinity from the male perspective in order to highlight misogyny as an extremism issue, not just violence against women and girls. It is hoped that this opportunity for some of the young people in the city to hear from experts in the field will help open up the much needed discussion surrounding this issue and enable the good work already being done in PSHE on gender, consent, relationships and extremism to continue with confidence.

Patcham High has received an inspection this month. We are awaiting the outcome and look forward to hearing the results once ready.

Congratulations to Coombe Road Primary School who continue to be a Good school. The report was particularly positive and Ofsted said that “Pupils happily attend this inclusive school. They show joy in their lessons and talk about what they know with enthusiasm. Leaders and those responsible for governance have an ambitious vision for the school. Leaders prioritise staff well-being and are effective in making sure that workload for staff is appropriate and manageable.”

Also well done to St Martin’s C of E Primary who also continue to be Good. Ofsted reported that “The school has a clear Christian ethos that underpins the personal development programme. Leaders want all pupils to understand the Christian faith and to learn how to take care of each other, their community and the wider world. Leaders engage with staff very well. Staff say they would not want to work anywhere else. Senior leaders, and governors, are highly committed to the school and its pupils.”

Welcome and Congratulations

I am very pleased to welcome Helen Emerson who has recently taken up the position of Education Adviser: PSHE, Anti-bullying and Equalities. We all look forward to working with Helen over the coming months.

Helen Emerson

I would also like to congratulate several acting head teachers across the city who have recently been appointed as substantive head teachers. We look forward to continuing to work with them closely and supporting them in their roles.