Youth Employment Hub Receives Highly Commended Status

 

Congratulations to The Youth Employment Hub Brighton & Hove team for being awarded Highly Commended in the Public/Public Partnership category at the Local Government Chronicle (LGC) Awards 2024. After progressing through the application stage with over 900 entrants, the next step was delivering a presentation to and answering questions from a panel of local authority senior leaders. The judges fed back positively praising “the impact now but also for the futures of each and every young person being supported... that crosses the traditional boundaries of support schemes.” This is a recognition of the work Brighton & Hove City Council provide in partnership with the Department for Work and Pensions, Amaze, employers and education providers to ensure tailored, accessible support is available for young people. Well done to everyone involved!

English Schools’ Football Association Reward & Recognition Awards 

                         Matt Evans from Balfour Primary School receiving his award 

Congratulations to Matt Evans from Balfour Primary School and to Brighton & Hove Schools’ FA who won awards at the English Schools’ Football Association’s Reward & Recognition Awards in June. The event, which took place at Wolves’ Molineux Stadium and was attended by over 200 people, celebrated achievements of players and volunteers and saw 12 awards presented and the England U15 Schoolgirls and England U18 Schoolboys receive their international caps for the season. The largest award of the evening, in a tough category with 8 shortlisted nominees, was presented to Matt Evans for Teacher Dedication to schools’ football. Brighton & Hove Football District also won the Association success story award for their work across the city to increase access for school children to regular, district football. 

Apprentices Go On An Adventure

I was very pleased to learn more about the third annual ‘outward bound’ event at Adur Activity Centre in Shoreham which was hosted by the Apprenticeships team. Fifteen apprentices attended the event, which was funded through Department for Education apprenticeship grants. Over two days, the two teams - one called Brighton and the other called Hove - carried out various activities to challenge themselves and build on working as a team. They assailed the climbing wall, competed in archery, cross country bike ride and orienteering. Each day was finished with a competitive exercise. The activities visited the values and behaviours of the council – respect, collaboration, efficiency, openness, creativity and customer focus. Feedback included “it was such great fun and I would definitely recommend getting involved it’s amazing” and “I learnt about teamwork, I networked with other apprentices. If you have the opportunity to do it, take it!”  To see a video of the event, please click here. To find out more about how apprentices can support your school or service contact Gavin Graham at gavin.graham@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Ethnic Minority Achievement Service Nature Based Activity Day

It has been lovely to hear about how the Ethnic Minority Achievement Service (EMAS) team used a recent INSET day of training at Woods Mill in June to focus on staff wellbeing. Around 40 members of the team took part in mindfulness exercises and engaged in creative activities to experience play and risk taking and considered how important this is to the children EMAS support and how they can share this with communities in Brighton & Hove. By coming together as a team and acknowledging EMAS’ strength in support and relationships, it gave them the opportunity to step out from their normal roles, relax in the woods and learn about how they might helpfully work with their young people out in nature and take time to play.

Brighton & Hove City Council Legal Services Win Legal Team of the Year 2024

Brighton & Hove’s Legal Services team

Brighton & Hove City Council’s Legal Services team have recently won the 2024 Legal Team of the Year, Lawyers in Local Government (LLG) Award which took place in Leeds on 7 June. The LLG said of the team “Brighton & Hove City Council Legal Services secured the award for their outstanding work across their commercial and litigation teams and for promoting well-being, inclusivity and talent retention within their authority.” A huge congratulations to the team, who have been recognised for their dedication, innovation, and expertise on a national stage.

Royal Spa Nursery school was recently inspected and retained its ‘Outstanding’ judgement. Inspectors praised the expert staff who are well trained and have caring and supportive relationships with children and their families. The ‘rich learning environment’ helps the children make strong progress, and children with SEND thrive due to early identification and working with partners. The focus on communication, language and reading is also key in the development of all children, as is their personal, social and emotional development which prepares them well for the next stage of their education. 

 

Saltdean Primary School was also recently inspected and has retained its ‘Good’ judgement. Inspectors noted the high aspirations for pupils through an ‘inspiring’ curriculum that is delivered by skilled teachers, including an ‘expertly taught’ phonics curriculum. They were also impressed by the focus on pupils’ personal progress and the real sense of community in the school through the relationships with parents, staff and governors. 

 

City Academy Whitehawk also retained its ‘Good’ judgement. Strengths were highlighted in many areas, including behaviour and attendance, with inspectors recognising ‘impeccable classroom behaviour’. The inclusive nature of the school was also highlighted, with pupil disadvantage described as ‘a motivation, not an excuse’. Another strength was early years provision, and the curriculum design throughout the school that is leading to improved outcomes. 

 

Well done to the staff, pupils and governors of all schools for their hard work. 

Fairlight Primary, St Martin’s Primary, Middle Street Primary and Brunswick Primary have all received inspections this month and we await their reports.

University of Brighton Initial Teacher Education provision 

The University of Brighton Initial Teacher Education provision has recently been inspected by Ofsted and the report can be found here. The glowing reports are testament to the dedication and hard work of not only staff based at the university, but across the partnership in schools across Brighton & Hove and beyond. The DfE has also confirmed that they have been signed off as ‘ready to deliver the quality requirements’ for Initial Teacher Education, meaning they continue to accredit their own provision and have again been commended for the high quality of curriculum design. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Children’s Parade Kicks Off the Brighton Festival

 

I was very pleased to be able to watch this year’s Children’s Parade earlier this month and to see so many of our city’s schools celebrating the start of the Brighton Festival in such a colourful and creative way. The theme of this year’s parade, which took place in collaboration with award winning community arts organisation Same Sky, was “Dream Again” and the displays and costumes created a wonderful atmosphere with amazing decorative costumes and floats on display. Well done to all of the Heads, teachers, children and families from Brighton and Hove schools who helped to create such a special event.

It’s Official - We are Outstanding!! 

Care Leavers and their Personal Advisors celebrating the Ofsted judgement

I am delighted to announce that we have been awarded an ‘Outstanding’ overall grade following our March 2024 Ofsted Inspection of Children’s Services. This is a tremendous achievement and a reflection of all the amazing work that is done across Families, Children and Learning Services to support our city’s children and their families. 

 

We have received ‘Outstanding’ sub judgements for our work with children in care; care leavers; and for the impact of leadership and management. Our sub judgement for children in need of help and protection has been raised to Good. This new judgement means that Brighton & Hove City Council now has the highest rating across 3 key areas of Children’s Services: Children’s Social Care Services; Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision and Youth Justice Service. Congratulations to everyone involved in this fantastic achievement. The link to the inspection report can be found here.

Ed Sheeran Visits Fairlight Primary School

All photos were taken by Sadie www.sadie-avard.com

It has been wonderful to hear more about Ed Sheeran’s surprise visit to Fairlight Primary School earlier this month. Ed visited the school to see the amazing work they do in music education and in the creative arts with Create Music - the local Music Hub in Brighton and Hove. Ed runs a music foundation and is interested in music in schools and how it can be accessible for everyone. He arrived and spoke to the Director of Create Music, Peter Chivers, Deputy Director, Emma Collins who is the Strategic Lead for Quality and Inclusion and Damien Jordan, Headteacher about music tuition, music education in schools and about what he is doing with his foundation. 

Around 60 children at Fairlight take individual music lessons every week during the school day in guitar, drums, keyboard and violin. During his time at the school, Ed visited some music lessons, including one where he learned how to play We Will Rock You on the Glokenspiel, and joined a newly formed band in the school to listen to and play a song they had created for the visit. Ed then gave a performance of three of his most famous songs for the children and staff and finished his visit by donating five of his Ed Sheeran Lowden Guitars to the school for children to use and practise with.

Apprenticeship Award Winner from Longhill High School

Layla and Nathan

Well done to Layla Williams, Data and Exams Manager at Longhill High School for winning the Brighton & Hove City Council Apprenticeship award for manager of the year! Layla was nominated by her apprentice, Nathan Kinny, the Exams and Data Apprentice, who is on a Data Analyst level 4 Apprenticeship with Chichester College Group. Layla also completed her Data Analyst apprenticeship in March.  Nathan said in his nomination: “Layla has always been an incredible mentor and teacher… Layla has been committed to the apprenticeship scheme and continues to discuss how more apprenticeships could be introduced within the school environment.” If you would like to know more about how apprenticeships can help you and your staff develop in their role please contact Gavin Graham, gavin.graham@apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk

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

Silver Arts Award Leadership session where a trans young person with autism 

taught how to draw a manga-style eye

Congratulations to the young people who recently took part in the Arts Award moderation and passed with flying colours, receiving 3 Silver (Level 2) and 5 Bronze (Level 1) awards. The young people are all out of education due to mental or physical health needs and for many this is the only formal qualification they have. Two of the young people completed their Silver Arts Award (a national Level 2 qualification – equivalent to GCSE grades 9-4) together, supporting each other emotionally to attend the sessions. Neither had attended mainstream education for many years, as alongside their autism diagnoses and sensory needs, they struggled with significant mental health issues. Both completed an Arts Leadership Project, planning, delivering and reviewing a series of digital art workshops and choosing to work on developing confidence and communication skills. One said: “My confidence improved with each session... I guess I have developed communication skills and confidence because of the arts leadership.” Well done to everyone involved in this fantastic achievement.

Leading for Sustainability day

This week, the 4th and final cohort of schools started working together on the Our City Our World programme. This involves a ‘Leading for Sustainability’ day for headteachers, governors and senior programme leads with follow up training on curriculum development, eco-anxiety and the programme framework.  There was a buzz of excitement and urgency in the air as schools began planning how to ensure their pupils were well equipped to live in a changing climate and schools both mitigated against and adapted to climate change. 90% of the city’s primary schools, and over half of the city’s secondary schools are now involved in this transformative work which has been recognised nationally as a best practice approach. The programme has recently received £100k from a national charity to share the framework with 4 other local authorities in a programme named ‘Our Schools, Our World’. 

Trip to Hindleap Warren

Outdoor activities at Hindleap Warren

It’s been lovely to hear about the trip that young people from both the older and younger children in care councils took to Hindleap Warren at Easter. They spent the day taking part in outdoor activities including a high ropes obstacle course called ‘the Pentagon’, and problem solving team challenges including the favourite ‘crate stack’. Young people had a brilliant time and it was a fantastic way for them to meet other children in care, build friendships and confidence in their own abilities. When asked about the day, young people said: “I enjoyed the pentagon -it was such fun but quite scary at first…and I loved the crate stack”; “Doing the high ropes backwards and blindfolded was the best bit – I didn’t know I could do that” and “I wasn’t sure about coming today but I’ve had loads of fun and have made new friends”.

The Youth Participation Team provides groups for young people in care and those with care experience. For more information please contact Debbie Garrett (07880 043396) or Debbie Tabis (07827 880771) for enquiries about the younger group.

Central Hub Brighton was recently inspected and was judged to be good. Many strengths were outlined in the report, and inspectors were very impressed with how the expert staff understand the barriers to each child’s learning so they can make good progress. They remarked “Individual pupils really matter here, and the school knows each pupil well.”  We are delighted that the strengths of this provision have been recognised. They provide education for some of our most complex young people with Social Emotional Mental Health needs in the city. Well done to all involved.

 

Longhill High School’s recent inspection has recognised the significant positive developments at the school led by the new head and the school’s leadership. Although the school’s overall judgement is requires improvement, the many strengths of the school are recognised. The ambitious curriculum and developments in areas such as reading and PSHE were all highlighted, and staff say they feel valued and supported to make improvements to ensure consistency across the school. It was also noted that there is an “impressively wide range of extra-curricular activities” and older pupils are “ambitious for their future”. Well done to everyone at the school and we look forward to continually working in partnership with you going forward. 

 

The Royal Spa Nursery School and City Academy Whitehawk have both received inspections this month and we await their reports.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Anti Racist Schools Conference

 

I was delighted to open the 2nd Anti Racist Schools conference, Shifting Cultures which was hosted by the Anti-Racist Education Strategy team. This year's theme was decolonising and diversifying the curriculum. The conference was held at the beautifully refurbished Corn Exchange which created a wonderfully atmospheric backdrop looking in large part at how we teach history and how to give a broader perspective on the complex stories of our shared humanity. With over 120 delegates including teachers, senior leaders, community activists and others working across all stages of teaching and learning, it was a day to share practice and renew a commitment to the city's pledge to develop its anti-racist approach and embed anti-racist education in all our schools.

Guest speaker David Olusoga was a highlight of the day giving an insightful talk on the part history plays in education and the creation of national identity. There was a variety of workshops and presentations on the theme of diversifying and decolonising the curriculum including talks on local Black history, global citizenship, using Personna dolls and an introduction to the beautiful, engaging and free resources of Cargo Classroom. Special thanks go to our talented young BRM pupils who performed at the conference. The equalities ambassadors of Cardinal Newman Secondary performed a specially commissioned dance piece and we were treated to an original rap from a Dorothy Stringer pupil. It was an inspiring day and a bold start for our newly appointed anti-racist education advisers Flo Sparham and Wafa Paton who organised the conference.

Youth Council School Transport Forum

On Thursday 18 April, the Youth Council Transport Campaign held the first ever Youth Council Bus School Transport Forum. Working in partnership with Brighton & Hove Citizens Alliance, they brought together bus company leaders, school leaders, council leaders and young people to discuss issues around bus transport impacting young people’s journeys to and from school and education. 

The first meeting was well received by all and allowed those present to outline current problems and successes, how they can support each other with sharing knowledge and information and how the meetings should run in the future. The hope is this will become a regular forum meeting several times throughout the year to enable learning from everyone involved around making bus transport better for young people. For more information on the Youth Council Transport Campaign or the Bus School Transport Forum please contact john.lewry@brighton-hove.gov.uk 

Portslade Poetry Festival

Schools in Portslade recently celebrated the finals of the Portslade Poetry Festival at Brackenbury Primary School. Children in Years 3-6, from seven local primary schools, represented their school by learning and reciting poems. The idea of a Portslade Poetry ‘Slam’ originated from Brackenbury Primary Assistant Headteacher, Charlie O’Hagan, who took pupils to a national poetry event last year and together with Headteacher, Lizzie Mullarky, decided that this was an experience that pupils in their partnership should have the opportunity to enjoy. It is hoped this will become an annual event with more schools from across the city taking part.

After much deliberation, the winners from each year group were announced as Habeeb from Hangleton Primary (Year 3); Ed from Hangleton Primary (Year 4); Soren from St Mary’s (Year 5) and Jo from Peter Gladwin (Year 6). The overall winner’s trophy went to Ed from Hangleton Primary for his breathtaking performance of Joseph Coelho’s Take a Deep Breath. Congratulations to everyone involved in this wonderful event.

Young Carers Festival 

A group of 20 young people from KS2 at City Academy Whitehawk, St Martin’s Primary, St Mark’s Primary and Fairlight Primary came together recently to take part in an action packed day involving climbing, tennis and squash at the Withdean Sports Complex. The students had a great time and all worked together as a group to encourage each other to take part. One of the students from St Mark’s commented that they had “really enjoyed climbing as it was a real challenge”. All of the students left with a goodie bag containing information about the activities and free swimming in the city. We hope to work with the Young Carers Project to make this into an annual event and also support the project with links and opportunities to local physical activity providers.  The day was funded by the School Games programme which is national programme working with schools to encourage young people to be active and create that active habit for life! 

Youth Council Mental Health Summit

Last month the Youth Council Health and Wellbeing Campaign Group delivered the Youth Council’s first Mental Health Summit to support young people to better access the right mental health support at the right time in Brighton & Hove.  Over 80 young people attended from 8 different schools and participated in workshops on Mental Health Pathways; Mental Health Services and Mental Health Self Awareness. 

92% left with an improved understanding of structures and pathways, 80% gained a better understanding of recognising signs and symptoms relating to their own mental health and how to respond to them and 98% left with more understanding of services that support mental health for young people in the city. The day included wonderful food from Gem’s Wholesome Kitchen and guest speakers from NHS Sussex, as well as special guest speaker Eve Silverstone - an ex-Youth Council member who came back to talk about her lived experience around mental health which was a powerful part of the day.  The event was delivered in collaboration and partnership with services and organisations across the city and a special thanks goes to those that made the event possible.

Sussex School Games Finals 

                                                        

At the Primary Schools Cross Country Final which recently took place in Crawley, the Brighton & Hove year 5 and 6 primary team performed very well finishing 2nd and 3rd in both the year 5 and 6 team events boys and girls. We also had some great individual performances with Brighton & Hove runners finishing in the top 3 in the year 6 girls and year 5 boys event. 

The Spring Finals at the Triangle took place on Thursday 18 April with the following teams qualifying to represent Brighton & Hove at the School Games Sussex Finals; Cottesmore Year 3 multi skills; Downs Juniors Year 5/6 indoor athletics; Dorothy Stringer Year 7 boys indoor athletics; Blatchington Mill Year 8 boys indoor athletics; Blatchington Mill Year 7 girls indoor athletics; Cardinal Newman Year 8 Girls indoor athletics and Peter Gladwin Year 5/6 stinger netball. Congratulations to everyone who has taken part, you have all done so well! 

Make Your Mark – Results

Make Your Mark is the UK’s largest Youth Consultation, hearing the voices of over 8 million young people since it started. The Youth Council facilitate this consultation on a local level. The consultation ran between the beginning of February and 8 March and 3638 young people in Brighton & Hove took part. The results are now in and the top 3 issues are as follows: 1. Health and Wellbeing; 2. Education and Learning; 3. Jobs, the Economy and Benefits. You can see more information from the results in the images. If you’d like a copy of the report or to know what the next steps are please contact john.lewry@brighton-hove.gov.uk 

Reflecting on the success of our first industrial placements for T level students

      Holly, Education and Childcare T Level Student and Becky, Acorn Nursery Manager 

Following a successful pilot in our Early Years sector, we are looking for teams to host industrial placements for students on the T-Level Digital Business Services pathway from October 2024. T Levels, or Technical Levels, are new two-year qualifications which are equivalent to three A Levels. Developed as an alternative to A-Levels, they give real experience of the workplace by combining classroom study, practical learning and an industry placement in areas ranging from Accounting to Construction. 

Education and Childcare T Level Student Holly joined Acorn Nursery in September. Nursery Manager Becky says of the experience “Holly demonstrates her learning from her T Level course and brings this into the workplace. When Holly leaves, she will have gained knowledge and practical skills that will make her very sought after in the childcare field. She will have no problem finding a job and I hope she would consider joining one of the council’s nurseries”. An information session will take place on Wednesday 8 May. Places can be booked here. If you have any questions about this session or are unable to attend but would like to learn more, please contact nicola.gardner@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Youth Council Leadership Elections

On Friday 8 March the Youth Council hosted its inaugural Leadership elections. These are peer led elections where the whole youth council get to elect their peers to leadership positions, such as Chair, Deputy Chair, Members of Youth Parliament and committee reps. The election was held in two parts: a vote carrying 50% of the weight was based on anonymised written submissions, whilst a further 50% was weighted on public presentations. Youth Council members had agreed they’d like to make the elections formal, so members turned out in their smart attire and gave presentations to the room. In total there were 9 positions elected and this group will go on to take a more senior role in running and facilitating the Youth Council in the next two years. I look forward to hearing more about their work in the coming months.

 

Saltdean Primary School received an inspection this month and we await the result. Stanford Junior School and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School have recently been inspected and both have retained their ‘good’ rating by Ofsted. 

At Stanford Junior, the inspector highlighted the school’s broad, balanced and ‘vibrant’ curriculum, with sport, music and the arts having a high priority and the art curriculum being ‘exceptionally strong’. Reading is also particular strength, with high achievement in this area. There is also a strong sense of community in the school, with many interesting opportunities for the children.

 

At Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary, the inspector recognised that pupils have ‘excellent attitudes to learning’ and behave ‘exceptionally well’. Children with SEND are also well-supported and they achieve well. Teachers have strong subject knowledge and high expectations, with their expertise being evident in the well-sequenced learning and knowing what skills and knowledge children need. Congratulations to everyone in both school communities for their hard work.

Welcomes

Welcome to Jenny Stratton who has taken up the position of Acting Head at Westdene Primary this month.  We look forward to working with Jenny over the coming months and to supporting her in her new role.

We also welcome Amanda Meier (Senior Manager: SEND & AP Change Programme), Jacqui Parfitt (Head of Families, Children and Learning Services Commissioning) and Katie Rowe (SEN & Alternative Provision Commissioning Officer) who have all recently joined Health, SEND & Disabilities. Finally, I am delighted to announce that Jim Hynes has been appointed as our new Adult Learning Manager for the Council’s Adult Education Hub. We look forward to working with them and welcoming them to the Families, Children and Learning Services team.

                                                              Amanda Meier

Jacqui Parfitt

Jim Hynes

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Let’s Dance

It was wonderful to attend Let’s Dance last week when it returned to Brighton Dome in a week-long festival celebrating and showcasing dance from the children within our city. Let’s Dance, which is organised and managed by Dorothy Stringer School with the help of Varndean College dance leaders, is the largest celebration of school dance in the whole of the UK. With over 2000 performers involved each year, it plays a major role, not only in encouraging our young people to be active, but also in ensuring that dance and physical activity remains a high priority in educational establishments across the city.  Congratulations to all those who took part in Let’s Dance and to everyone involved who has worked so hard to create such a fabulous series of performances. For more information please follow this link. 

Women in Leadership Conference

The theme for this year’s conference for aspiring and existing deputy and assistant headteachers was Women in Leadership. The conference looked at what we can do to inspire girls to aim high and develop leadership skills and ask how we can remove the barriers for female leaders to move into senior positions. Keynote speaker Vivienne Porritt gave an engaging and thought-provoking talk on the gender pay gap for women working in education; flexible working; diversity of women in education, and representation of women leaders in education.  There was input from our anti-racist lead teachers and a wide choice of workshops including: handling difficult conversations; a panel of female senior leaders sharing their experiences, and workplace wellbeing given by Public Health.  We were also joined by an inspiring group of young female student leaders from BHASVIC who shared their experience of school openly and honestly. Feedback from the event has been really positive and some schools have already created groups for girls to share their voice. Well done to everyone involved.

National Careers Week

Our ‘Local Authority Careers at BHCC’ virtual work experience (VWEX) programme has been chosen to be spotlighted on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) careers platform, following a new partnership with Springpod, our VWEX partner, bringing our VWEX programme to a national audience this spring. Over 1000 local students and residents have enrolled in the programmes with more than 200 digital badges awarded for completion. Offering a diverse range of activities, including interactive projects, case studies, and the opportunity to reach out to our staff working in those sectors, our programmes provide a unique glimpse into the inner workings of local government and social care. These programmes are free to use and open to anyone. They are also OnDemand, so you can choose when you want to learn. Please see below for online enrolment and take a look at our trailer video here for our local authority work experience programme. 

 

• Local Authority

• Social Care

Foster Carer Conference

The Virtual School held its annual Foster Carer Conference at Sussex University at the end of the spring term, and it was fantastic to see so many carers. Children from our “Care to Dance” club performed an amazing routine, and we also heard an inspiring talk from one of our own care leavers. Our keynote speaker Ashley John Baptise shared his inspiring story of growing up in care; his journey to Cambridge and his amazing resilience in the face of challenges, that no child should have to face. Sussex University shared practical support for applications to higher education and we had uplifting presentations from Happy Home Learning, Audio Active and Al Start. The day was a wonderful celebration of the work our carers do and an opportunity to share the high aspirations we all have for our children in care.

Outdoor Play and Learning (OPAL) in Brighton & Hove Schools

It is very exciting to hear that a number of schools in Brighton & Hove have engaged in the OPAL programme, including Fairlight Primary and Nursery School, who have achieved the Platinum Award on several occasions, which has resulted in them being invited to be part of the OPAL college and offering open days for schools interested in following this approach to great play for children. 

On a rainy lunchtime, Primary Teaching & Learning Consultant, Joyti Azad went to visit Brackenbury Primary, who were inspired by what they saw at Fairlight, to see what this looks like in action. On her visit, the school was sharing their work with colleagues from West Sussex who were also considering this approach. Joyti said “Whether the children were ‘cooking’ in the mud kitchen, scooting around the playground or dancing to the beats of the outside sound system, they were all enjoying the experiences of playing outside creatively with big smiles on their faces. Staff at the school report fewer behaviour incidents during playtime and pupils who had previously avoided outdoor play are now more prepared to embrace the experience.” If this sounds like something your school would be interested in, don’t just take Joyti’s word for it, why not arrange a visit to one of the schools to see it for yourself.

Brighton Hope Hack

It has been great to hear more about the youth led Hope Hack workshop which took place this month at the i360, organised by Hope Collective. The aim was to involve younger residents around issues such as racism and division, education, housing, transport and employment and mental health and give them an opportunity to share experiences and look at solutions for their assigned topic. The Racism and Division group opted to develop a literary contribution in the form of a children's book named "Alex’s Amazing Adventures” about a non-binary child named Alex. The narrative explores the involvement of different family structures, including those with same-sex parents, adopted families, and families affected by disabilities. "Alex’s Amazing Adventures," is to be a mandatory reading material for children aged 7 to 13.

Aflo the Poet, an influential activist who protests via poetry, spoke about her work and encouraged the attendees to use their voices.  The question “Do you feel like a hero?” was asked to the audience at the beginning of the day, with very few people raising their hands in agreement. The reaction at the end of the day was a sharp contrast, with everyone raising their hands and cheering, proud of their achievements that day. 

Brighton & Hove Students Inspired By This Girl Can Be Event

 

The This Girl Can Be Inspired By event, which took place recently at the Sussex Cricket County Ground, was attended by over 60 pupils from 7 secondary schools across the city. The event aimed to inspire girls to participate in sport and physical activity and was also a chance for them to hear from inspirational women who have forged careers in the sport and leisure field and to think about a career in the sector. 

The day involved panel discussions from some brilliant women, including a rugby coach, about to support the women’s six nations competition, a sports nutritionist, a wellbeing coach and a cricket coach, now in charge of the BACA cricket academy. Students participated in small group sessions with two of the women and asked some insightful questions about their jobs, what drew them to the jobs, what sports they love and what they might have done if they hadn’t gone down their current path. Following a yoga and mindfulness session, the girls took part in workshops around being active and finding the right sports bra and period health, and a student voice session designed to find out more about why some girls are inactive. I look forward to hearing more about this important work.

The Local Employment Scheme for Construction

The Local Employment Scheme for Construction, funded by S106 contributions, recently hosted an event in collaboration with local construction colleges Brighton MET and Brighton Aldridge Community Academy to attract local tradespeople into a teaching career in further education. Participants had a tour of the MET Construction Campus and an informal discussion with teaching staff from both colleges. We had very positive feedback from the trades that attended and as a next step they will be invited to shadow a teaching session at the colleges. The Local Employment Scheme for Construction supports the upskilling of local construction workers. Find out how the Local Employment Scheme funded training and development on the Coldean Lane development in our video here.

Annual Conference For School Governors

Last weekend I was very pleased to open the annual conference for school governors, hosted by the School & Governance Development Team. This is always such a good opportunity for governors to have some thinking space and be challenged on an important aspect of school leadership and governance. The focus of the conference this year was ‘Exploring the Intersectionality between Race and SEND’, and we were very fortunate to hear from keynote speaker Frances Akinde, who really challenged our thinking and gave us lots of food for thought about how to support some of our most vulnerable children and young people. Also supporting the conference were officers from the council’s Anti-Racist Education Team and representatives from the Governors of Colour Network. I was really encouraged by all the work that council colleagues, governors and school staff are doing in this important area of work, and I look forward to hearing how the work develops.

The recent short Inspection of Local Authority Children’s Services (ILACS) in Brighton & Hove came to a close on Friday 15 March, following a week of preparation and a week with the Inspection Team onsite to visit teams, interview staff and meet with our service users and partners in the city. The Inspection Team met with the Families Children & Learning Directorate Management Team, the Leader of the Council, Cllr Bella Sankey, our Lead Member for Children’s Services, Cllr Lucy Helliwell, and our new Chief Executive, Jess Gibbons, to give their verbal feedback on their inspection findings. The feedback is now subject to a QA and moderation process in Ofsted, so cannot be shared until we are in receipt of their formal outcome letter, expected in a few weeks. 

Longhill High School, Stanford Junior School and Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School have all been inspected this month and we await the results.

Welcomes

                                                                 Jess Gibbons

We are delighted to welcome our new Chief Executive Jess Gibbons this month who has come to Brighton & Hove City Council from her role as Chief Operations Officer at Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council. We look forward to working with Jess over the coming months.

Goodbyes

We say goodbye and good luck to Debbie Crossingham at the end of this term, who is retiring as headteacher of Westdene Primary School. Debbie is one of the city’s longest serving headteachers, and will be hugely missed. Under Debbie’s leadership, Westdene was the first primary school in the city to be awarded Teaching School status and the school continues to focus on collaboration and sharing practice across the city. Ofsted recently gave the school a glowing report in all areas, showing Debbie’s inspirational and strong leadership. We wish you all the best for a healthy and happy retirement Debbie!

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.