News from Education and Skills

Friday, 30 September 2022

Brighton and Hove City Council Apprenticeship Awards 2022

Matthew Fleming , Ewan Brown, Sam Gathern, Geoff Raw, Rehanon Mackenzie,

Lynne Rimmer, Aaron Burns

The academic year started positively with the Brighton and Hove City Council 2022 Apprenticeship Awards ceremony. The event which took place on 1 September was hosted by the Apprenticeship and Pre-employment Team to acknowledge the talent and dedication of our apprentices. The apprentices were invited to join Geoff Raw, Chief Executive, to a celebratory brunch and were able to discuss their experience of undertaking an apprenticeship, their life after completing it and how the apprenticeship has improved their performance in the workplace.

Congratulations to all the winners - Sam Gathern (Intermediate Category Winner); Harry Wilson (Intermediate Category Winner) and Rehanon Mackenzie (Advanced/Higher Category Winner). See more about what our apprentices have to say by watching what the Council think of our Apprentices. For questions about apprenticeships, please contact apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Fourteen schools came together in September to participate in the second cohort of local authority funded Power of Reading training led by the Centre of Literacy for Primary Education (CLPE). The training was delivered CPLE’s Primary Adviser Teacher, Darren Matthews, who left teachers inspired and raring to go. Associate Power of Reading School, Rudyard Kipling, hosted the event with their lead teacher, Lindsay Vaughan sharing how this approach has transformed how teachers teach English and how pupils now engage with literacy in school and at home. John Bond, author and illustrator of the Mini Rabbit collection, also gave an interesting insight on his journey to becoming a children’s author. If you would like to find out more about Power of Reading, please contact Joyti.Azad@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Darren Matthews delivering a whole school approach to literacy teaching

Teachers enjoy the opportunity to discuss ideas and share practice with colleagues

John Bond shares his journey with teachers

Arts Award Success

Examples of artwork for Part A of the Bronze Arts Award presented for moderation

I was delighted to hear about the success of the portfolios submitted earlier this year by the Arts Award Youth workers. All 9 of the portfolios submitted passed the Bronze Arts Award and were given extremely positive written feedback.

The Arts Award Youth Workers from the Youth Participation Team work 1:1 with young people who have been referred by another professional such as a family coach, social worker or educational psychologist. The work takes place both online and in person with participants using a mixture of online resources and platforms and actual physical diaries/scrapbooks. For more information, please contact Julia Box (julia.box@brighton-hove.gov.uk) or Sarah Pain (sarah.pain@brighton-hove.gov.uk)

The Nursery World Awards 2022

Congratulations to Bee in the Woods Kindergarten in Portslade who have been shortlisted for Nursery of the Year at the Nursery World Awards 2022. Bee in the Woods was set up four years ago on a restored and rejuvenated disused area of woodland which they turned into a magical learning environment for Early Years. Lucy, Director & Head of Adventures said “We are all over the moon to be shortlisted for this prestigious award! It is such an honour and I am so proud of the team for their dedication, determination and passion for children, families, community and the natural world.” Good luck to everyone at Bee in the Woods!

Children in Care Art Exhibition

A.C’s winning piece from KS4

The Virtual School’s art exhibition for children in care and children previously in care took place this month at the Phoenix Art Space in Brighton. The exhibition featured work resulting from the Virtual School’s recent art competition, with the winners having their work framed or put on plinths and all entrants having their work included in the show. A private view was held where the young artists as well as their friends, families and teachers could celebrate their wonderful and inspirational pieces of work. Well done to everyone who took part.

We Move – A Race Equality and Migrant Rights Summit

The We Move summit took place this month. Organised by the Runnymede Trust, this was the largest race equality and migrant rights gathering in decades. Brighton and Hove was represented by three of our newly recruited Lead Teachers for anti-racism, Dulani Kulasinghe (Patcham Infants), Elohor Peddy Knowles (Middle Street) and Flo Sparham (Goldstone Primary) who delivered a critical workshop on anti-racist education, sharing the Brighton and Hove journey and pushing participants to imagine a liberated education system. Sharing their personal reflections and key learnings from our city, the educators left participants with a sense of hope and possibility for the future. For more information on anti-racist education, please contact Camille Kumar (Camille.kumar@brighton-hove.gov.uk)

Home to School Transport VPAs

The Home to School Transport Vehicle Passenger Assistant team

I am pleased to say that the Home to School Transport VPAs (vehicle passenger assistants) are now a team of seven! The team meet every 6 weeks for themed coffee mornings to talk about the job, the children and young people, its rewards and any challenges they are facing. The team are really enjoying the work. The team recently received some great feedback from parents who felt the VPAs had gone the extra mile, supporting a child to attend who had previously been refusing.

“The VPAs kept in touch with us over the summer holidays in a variety of ways, [which] has been such a godsend to ensure that on return [my daughter] hasn’t felt like a gap of 7 1/2 weeks. She’s felt ‘kept in mind’ and that’s so important. It’s made all the difference to be able to feel that [my daughter] is in safe hands, and that she feels safe too.”

It is always great to hear comments like these. Well done to all of the team for their hard work.

Welcomes

I would like to welcome a number of colleagues to the local authority this month. Hannah Kinchin-Frost is a teacher at Patcham High School and has taken on the role of lead PSHE teacher for the local authority. Angela Simmonds is a teacher at Varndean School and is working as a lead teacher for equality and anti-bullying. Alex Graham has taken up the role of Education Safeguarding Officer. I look forward to working with all of our new colleagues over the coming months.

Alex Graham

It was a pleasure to also welcome our new and acting headteachers and heads of school to our annual council induction to welcome them to the city and support them all in their new roles.

Scott Haywood, Head of School, St Peter’s Primary

Mark Dally, Head, Bevendean Primary

Stuart Scrase, Head, Coombe Road Primary

Amanda Meier, Co-Head Teacher, The Connected Hub

Nicola Ryan, Head of School, St Mary’s Catholic Primary

Russell Brentnall, Head, West Blatchington Primary

Alan Gunn, Head, Balfour Primary

Anne Gibbs, Head, Goldstone Primary

and

Gemma Nunes, Head of School, St Mary Magdalen Primary

Best wishes,

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Tuesday, 19 July 2022

End of Another Academic Year

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

Alfie introducing himself to the finalists and audience

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.

Children at Hill Park School

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

Michele Lawrie, Head at St Peter’s Community Primary School

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

Louise Smith, Head of School at West Hove Infant 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.

Shiromi Cabraal

Our next news will be in September when we will welcome new faces to the Brighton & Hove education partnership.

Best wishes,

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Thursday, 30 June 2022

Youth Employment Hub 1st Birthday

Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty and Elle Dyson

Elena Watkiss

Trish Callaghan, Holly Stockley, Allan Hancock, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty,

Elle Dyson, Tristan Court

On 1 June 2022 staff, partners and young people gathered at the Youth Employment Hub to celebrate the Hub’s first birthday. The event offered an opportunity to reflect on the year and thank everyone who has been part of establishing the space, services within it and those who have helped provide better services to our city’s young people. In its first year, the Hub has worked with 683 young people; supported 345 young people into employment and training and issued 160 certificates through the AQA Unit Award Scheme. Cierra, a Hub member has written a poem about her experience of the Hub:-

'This place will make you feel less lonely,

With those you can depend on,

People who won’t give up on you even when you lose hope,

To help you find the strength within you,

To believe in yourself again,

And support you with any challenges along the way too,

Where you will be treated with care and kindness,

Which you may not always receive,

And a sense of safety you may not always feel.

In this place there is ‘no wrong door’,

Meaning they will support you no matter what,

And that says it all really,

About how amazing this place truly is,

This place I’m talking about is the Youth Employment Hub,

Where every time I leave,

Things just feel a little lighter.'

I really enjoyed attending the Primary School Athletics competition at Withdean earlier this month. The event saw 1,300 Year 4, 5 and 6 students from 42 schools across Brighton and Hove compete in a number of track and field events across two days. Congratulations to the Day 1 winning teams from Hertford Juniors, Bilingual Primary and St Paul’s Primary and Day 2 winning teams from Goldstone Primary, Aldrington Primary and St Nicolas Primary.

It was also great to have over 60 sports leaders from Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer, Patcham High and Varndean College all supporting the event as well. Without them it couldn’t happen! They were all outstanding and great ambassadors for their schools/college.

Youth Led Grants Funding

Members of the Youth Council in the police cells at Brighton Town Hall

On Saturday 25th June, the Youth Council members helped to give out £80,000 to local youth projects in Brighton & Hove through the Youth Led Grants funding. Over 30 different projects applied for funding and the young people worked hard to decide which projects would receive funding. They assessed bids that offer positive activities for young people that include the following criteria:

• Improve young people’s health and wellbeing;

• Increase opportunities for young people to participate in new and challenging experiences;

• Increase volunteering and work experience opportunities;

• Support with recovering from the impact of Covid-19.

As a reward for all their efforts, they enjoyed a tour of the police cells at Brighton Town Hall.

UEFA Women’s Euros

Students taking part in workshops

Our city is getting ready to host three of the UEFA Women’s Euros matches this summer at the Brighton and Hove Community Stadium. It has been lovely to hear how pupils from Hove Juniors, Hill Park School, Patcham Juniors and Patcham High have been working with professional musicians from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to create lyrics and musical ideas for an anthem celebrating the history and culture of Brighton and Hove and women’s football in the area. The students took part in a workshop using a range of instruments to create anthems to form part of the celebrations in the run up to and during the tournament. I look forward to hearing the final anthems!

Supporting Families Programme

I am delighted to announce that Brighton and Hove supported 500 families as part of the Supporting Families programme in 2021-22, exceeding our target by 26%. This is a particularly impressive achievement given the additional challenges faced by families and services as a result of the pandemic. Well done to the teams involved for all of their hard work. We are now planning for the new Supporting Families programme which starts in October. For further information on the new national programme, please visit Supporting Families Programme 2022-25.

The end of the academic year is approaching fast, and primary and secondary colleagues are working hard to ensure that our Year 6 pupils are supported as they move to their next phase of learning. Primary schools are embarking on their units of the citywide literacy project which Brighton and Hove secondary schools will continue with in the Autumn term. A great example of working collaboratively!

Good luck to all Year 6 students across the city who are moving on to Year 7. I look forward to hearing how it has gone. For any feedback, please contact Joyti Azad at Joyti.Azad@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Making It REAL Project

The Making It REAL project

It is great to hear that Brighton & Hove City Council has invested in training for the Making it REAL (Raising Early Achievement in Literacy) project for around 80 children’s centres across the city. The project is an award-winning nationwide initiative developed by the National Children’s Bureau (NCB) to raise literacy skills in children under 5 years, focusing on nurturing children’s listening and attention skills. Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) has piloted ‘a Special approach to Making it Real’ working with families of children with additional needs, encouraging them to feel confident in a shared moment with their child.

Summer Self-Care Resources

The Anna Freud centre for children and families has released new self-care resources which may be particularly helpful for staff and students as we approach the end of the summer term. These packs feature a range of creative based activities on self-care strategies that other young people have found useful in helping them stay mentally healthy. Resources for Primary schools can be found here. Follow this link for resources for Secondary schools.

Resources for staff are available here. It is hoped these will encourage staff members to prioritise their self-care before and during the summer holidays. Resources include a staff toolkit as well as a poster that can be shared in a staff room or online to colleagues. Additional resources to help encourage self-help for parents and carers can be found on the website here.

Children in Care Council

The Children in Care Council recently took part in a graffiti session, exploring their views around mental health and the support they would like from social workers and teachers. This was then shared at the corporate parenting board in June.

Congratulations to Stanford Infant School on achieving a Good grade at their Ofsted inspection. Well done to everyone involved. The report said: “Parents, staff and pupils are rightfully proud to be part of the Stanford Infant School community” and “staff and governors are ambitious for all pupils and fully focused on ensuring that they receive a high-quality education.”

Rudyard Kipling Primary School has also received a Good outcome. Congratulations to all of the staff and governors for their great work. The Report stated that “the school's values of kindness, respect, equality, teamwork and positivity are at the heart of everything it does” and “leaders and teachers have designed an ambitious and engaging curriculum that grows pupils' knowledge”.

Hill Park School has received an Ofsted inspection this month and we are awaiting the outcome.

Welcomes

I am very pleased to welcome Jack Davies, who has taken over as Principal at Brighton Aldridge Community Academy this month. We look forward to working with Jack in his new position.