May - Festival Time!

The Children’s Parade

May, the month when the festival begins, is one of my favourite times of the year. It is a reminder to me what an amazing place the City is to live and work and for our children and young people to grow up in.

The festival began as usual with the children's parade, a magnificent display of creativity and talent from our schools showing the coming together of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership at its very best. Our headteachers showed an amazing display of visible leadership, dressed in an array of colourful costumes alongside teachers, parents and families.

Solidarity with Manchester

We have all been shocked and appalled by the terrorist attack in Manchester this week. Our deepest sympathy goes to all affected by this horrendous attack, and in particularly the families and friends of those that have died or been injured. I am sure colleagues are already making appropriate responses to support pupils and students. Just a quick reminder that on this page of Pier2Peer you will find a range of resources for schools, parents and carers related to supporting those worried about terrorism: school portal link.

In the case of any racist or religiously motivated incidents reported inside or outside school, contact the Community Safety Casework Team on 01273 292735 or by e-mail at communitysafety.casework@brighton-hove.gov.uk A duty officer is available Mon to Fri 09:00 – 17:00 to provide advice and guidance. The Police can be called on 101 or 999 if a hate crime has been committed.

Partnership Events

This month a range of partners came together for a number of important strategic discussions and planning for further improvement across the city. At Primary heads we looked carefully at school organisation and place numbers in our primary schools now and into the future. Looking together at how we can ensure ‘no school is left behind’ to face challenges alone. 
Our Special schools heads met and debated the next steps in the SEND review with Regan Delf, Assistant Director - Health SEN & Disabilities, and the model of school improvement and school to school support for SEND going forward.

The B&H Education Board met for the first time with representatives from all phases of education, our universities and both dioceses. There was a real commitment to work together across the city partnership and lead education in a time of much national change. As a group we began to identify the priorities for our city that would become the focus of our collaborative work into the future.

Our Children's Services Forum met and was attended by a wide range of partners from across the city. Young people were at the centre of the event passionately sharing their views about what a 'Child Friendly City' means to them. The event was opened by two fantastic musicians, Alfie Jukes and George Cooper from Hove Park Secondary school with their band Homebound. Before leaving everyone pledged something they would do to contribute to creating a truly ‘child friendly city’ for all.   

Safe and Well at School Survey

Thanks to all schools who participated in the Safe and Well at School Survey. There has been a significant fall in reported bullying with six primary schools now having data showing less than 10% of pupils reporting bullying. It is also positive that there has been a 13% decrease in lesbian, gay and bisexual students reporting they have been bullied in the secondary school data. However, pupils reporting they get extra help, young carers and those who are adopted or in care report higher levels of bullying. We look forward to working closely with you to begin to address this.

Our Equalities Work

Schools are reminded of the Disability Equality - Training of the Trainers on Thursday 15 June. For further information and to sign up go to BEEM.  

Additionally, the Anti-Bullying Alliance is launching an online programme called All Together, aimed at reducing the bullying of disabled pupils. Further information is on their website. 

Schools of Sanctuary - congratulations to Coldean Primary, Fairlight Primary, St John the Baptist Primary, Benfield Primary and Patcham Junior for receiving certificates over the last year for making their schools places of welcome. The case studies for the work that has taken place at these schools can be found on Pier2Peer.

Take a look at a write-up on one of the projects undertaken at Fairlight Primary: The World at Fairlight Blog.

Fairlight Primary pupils at Brighton Museum

I am looking forward to hearing about how we can build on this good practice at the Schools of Sanctuary and Eid Celebration event on Thursday 29 June. Sign up on BEEM. 

I was interested to read the recent NUT and Runnymede Trust report Barriers report: the impact of racism on BMEteachers. Developing city wide approaches to increasing the numbers of BME staff in schools and colleges will be one of the agenda items discussed at the School and College Business Leaders meeting on Friday 16 June. Sign up for this event on BEEM.

Best practice in our schools

This picture embodies the Year 4 work over the term, as we moved it from the classroom into the hall

I'm always blown away by the amazing practice we have in our schools. This month I had the pleasure to visit Hove Juniors (the Portland Road site) to meet with their leadership team and go on a learning walk across the school. It was so good to see the progression evident in the displays, the consistent high standards and the vibrant and creative learning environment. Great also to hear the head and senior leadership team’s passion to look outside their school to continue to improve and make a difference.

Examinations and SATs

It's the examinations and SATs season and our children and young people have been, and for many will continue to be, sitting tests. It's a time for us all to give them maximum support and encouragement. It's also important to appreciate the pressures this can bring for pupils and the need to build resilience and support their positive wellbeing.

We wish all the children and young people the very best and look forward to hearing about their achievements and progress they have made.

Rudyard Kipling had a one-day inspection this month. I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once the report is out. The Ofsted report for Moulsecoomb Primary School was released and although the overall judgement was Requires Improvement, we are absolutely delighted that Leadership and Management were rightly graded as Good and that the Lead Inspector recognised that the school is ‘rapidly improving’. Well done to Adam and his team in continuing to improve outcomes for children and their families in a vulnerable area of the city.

Daily Mile

1,984 children took part in the Daily Mile (DM) Brighton Pilot. DM is a great way to help children meet the recommended 60 minutes of sport and physical activity a day. No training or equipment is required, there are proven benefits for children and schools, pupils and parents love it and it helps with concentration and behaviour. It can be done in 10-15 minutes within lesson time or breaks. Cottesmore St Mary's, Elm Grove, Hertford Junior, Peter Gladwin, City Academy Whitehawk, Coombe Road, Stanford Junior and Balfour all took part, and many of the schools made the DM part of their school day. Well done to all.

See the this link for more information.

Balfour Primary children running as part of Daily Mile

Events Coming Up

Developing Reading Communities Conference, 3 July 2017, Sussex University. Come and discover new and relevant approaches for developing positive and current reading strategies, creating a reading community for all. The event is for primary and secondary heads, English leads, teachers, librarians and students. Our keynote speakers are Children’s Laureate Chris Riddell and Pie Corbett. There will be workshops with Nick Sharratt, Dan Freeman, Abie Longstaff, Prue Goodwin, Professor Jane Oakhill plus other key practitioners

Please book via BEEM. Code: ECaR-0717-T002 or email: louise.zahra@brighton-hove.gov.uk 

Welcome and Goodbye

We are delighted to welcome a number of new headteachers this term and look forward to working with them and supporting them in their new and substantive roles. Although they will face challenges ahead, they have one of the best and most rewarding jobs anyone could have. 

             Katie Blood                              Jim Roberts                      Alex Wingham             Vicky Philips                             St. Bartholomew’s                       Hove Park                          St. Martin’s                  Coombe Road

We are saying goodbye this month to Lucy Roberts (Primary School Teaching and Learning Assessment Consultant), who has provided clarity and stability in primary assessment and moderation processes across the city. Lucy is well known in Education and Skills for her professionalism and her credibility and respect with schools. She has had a significant impact on the quality of teaching in the city. In her new role as Inclusion Coordinator at Elm Grove Primary, Lucy will continue to drive to improve standards for our children. We look forward to continued collaborative work with her.

We also said goodbye to Clare Johansen, our Education & Skills Office Manager. This is an opportunity to thank her for all the hard work she has put in to setting up our systems and getting us settled into Hove Town Hall. We wish her well in her new role closer to home.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Jump Start Nursery is Outstanding!

Messy play with nursery worker Ruby Jones

I am delighted that Jump Start Nursery in Moulsecoomb Children’s Centre has been awarded Outstanding in all areas by Ofsted. The nursery works with some of most vulnerable families in the city, and a high percentage of the children have complex additional educational and social needs. Congratulations to Laura Howe, the nursery manager, and her team. On my recent visit I saw first-hand the positive practice and interactions between staff and children, so I’m not at all surprised to read the outstanding comments in the report.

‘The extremely ambitious managers and staff have worked tirelessly to raise the quality of the provision to an outstanding level.’

‘All children are extremely happy, settled and secure. They behave exceptionally well. Children are consistently kind, polite and considerate towards each other and make friends easily.’

‘Children are extremely confident, enthusiastic and motivated learners. ……They rapidly gain the skills needed for their next stages in learning and school.’

Music in Mind

We all remain concerned about our children and young people’s mental health and wellbeing. In 5 to 16 year olds nationally, one in ten have a diagnosed mental health problem. We are therefore proud to launch Dr. Ally Daubney and Greg Daubney’s independent evaluation of the Music in Mind report. The report details the process and effectiveness of our pioneering music for child and adolescent mental health programme. Tom, aged 15, said: ‘music is literally the thing that keeps me going’.

Ben, aged 15, said: ‘Music for me can really help with my anxiety, because when I’m playing and singing I don’t feel anxious or paranoid…I’m in a band when I’m not here so it’s really good to be able to play with a music professional and record my stuff when I’m here.’ Please take a read of the report.

Brighton & Hove Celebrates World Book Day

Always a highlight of the year for me and the schools in our ‘B&H Education Partnership’ didn’t let us down with thousands of young people dressing up and celebrating their favourite stories and authors.

Carlton Hill school children dressed up as Fantastic Mr Fox for World Book Day

Lots of fun was had by pupils, staff, families and carers. Pupils dressed as their favourite book characters and shared stories with friends, families and visiting authors and story tellers. Some schools this year took a favourite author theme including celebrating Roald Dahl’s 100 year anniversary, Rudyard Kipling as author and a whole-school recreation of Where’s Wally? Staff and volunteers supported bedtime reads, book swap shops and whole-school reading events such as regular ‘Drop Everything and Read’ sessions. Thanks for sending in your photos. I’m looking forward to next year. http://www.worldbookday.com/

World Book Day teachers dressed up as literary characters at Saltdean Primary School

Let’s Dance

Every year just gets better and better. 74 schools and colleges performed in Let’s Dance over four days, in a great example of the ‘B&H Education Partnership’ in action. I saw some wonderful performances of dancers of all ages. Well done and thanks to Dorothy Stringer school for yet again organising an amazing citywide event.

Brilliant ‘Let’s Dance’ performers. Photos by Charles Mansfield-Osborne.

The reports for Blatchington Mill and Hove Park’s recent Ofsted inspections are out. Both confirmed that they are ‘Good’ schools. This is a very positive outcome with a recognition that both schools are taking effective action, well done to all teachers, young people and parents at Blatchington Mill and Hove Park.
Ofsted have also inspected Moulsecoomb Primary this month. I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once the report is out.

Balfour Primary School Music Concert

Thank you to Marcelo Staricoff for inviting me to join him and parents for one of their amazing music concerts where children of all ages were able to perform in Dorothy Stringer’s theatre. With four performances and 400 pupils involved, it was a great opportunity for the children to show their talents and perform on the big stage. Well done to the children and their music teachers.

School visits and best practice

This month I've spent a lot of my time out there across the 'B&H Education Partnership' seeing some of the very best education practice. I've been blown away by the creativity across the curriculum in the schools and education provision I have visited, with so many positive and vibrant learning environments. I have been particularly impressed with the positive interactions and relationships I've seen between children and their teachers and support assistants with happy, engaged and focused children. It is also clear from discussions with our headteachers how schools are working together much more effectively, challenging and supporting each other leading to even better practice. Likewise, it has been positive to hear how clusters and phase partnerships are looking beyond Brighton & Hove to learn from others to develop the very best practice.

Wonderful planets display at Coombe Road

Thank you to Coombe Road for welcoming me to the school and to Vicky Philips, the Interim Headteacher, for talking through the positive journey she has led the school on. It was good to meet so many of the children and see how engaged they are in learning across the school. It was a pleasure to look with the children in Year 2 at the science posters and hear about their excitement for science.

Brilliant Coombe Road science display

Shaun Collins, the Headteacher of Brunswick, shared with me how he has positively led the amalgamation of Davigdor Infants and Somerhill Juniors to create Brunswick Primary over the past 18 months. It was excellent to hear the benefits with Continuing Professional Development opportunities for staff, sharing of best practice across key stages, as well as the continuity of learning for the children as they move up the school, all helping to raise standards.

Fabulous displays of Key Stage 1 children’s work at Brunswick

Mark Helstrip welcomed me to Homewood College and passionately shared with me the journey of improvement the school is on. The school educates some of our most vulnerable young people. I was especially impressed with the art work the young people have produced and the positive feedback the teacher has given students on their work. One student shared with me what he would like to see at Homewood in the future, including picnic benches in the outdoor area and an all-weather pitch to play football and basketball on at break.

Homewood pupils’ fantastic artwork

On my visit to Hangleton, Emma Lake (Executive Headteacher) was able to share with me the school improvement benefits of the federation with the infant school to form a new all-through primary and the recent governors’ decision to federate with Benfield Primary and their exciting plans to work together, learning from each other to improve teaching and learning into the future.

Hangleton Year 4 pupil’s marvellous Viking display

Congratulations to our Apprentices

We are extremely proud of FiFi Bula, Apprentice Business Support Administration for Customer Service, who was invited to meet the Minister of State for Apprenticeships and Skills at the House of Commons on 9 March to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week.
Fifi’s case study is on the Ambassador blog 

Fifi at the Launch of the Diversity Network, pictured with Sue Husband Director of the National Apprenticeship Service and the other apprentices

Fifi with Saj Rahman (Environmental Health Apprentice), at the House of Commons reception to celebrate National Apprenticeship Week

Our Chief Executive Geoff Raw also hosted a Graduation Ceremony in our Atrium at Hove Town Hall to celebrate the amazing achievements of our apprentices. It was a pleasure to join them to celebrate and listen to their learning and skills journeys. Well done to all of the apprentices for their successes and achievements. See Twitter link:

Apprentices with Geoff Raw, B&H Council Chief Executive, at the Apprentice Graduation Ceremony

Those strings are gonna swing! - Music and Arts Service - String Festival 2017

Aspiring young orchestra maestros enjoyed a free-to-attend String Festival this month. It was the first festival of its kind ever held in the city aimed specifically at young string instrument specialists. It was organised by the Brighton & Hove Music & Arts Service. Each day provided an exciting set of workshops and performance opportunities, from solos to quartets to full orchestra works as well as expert tuition from some of the city’s top string players.

Talented young string festival performers

Saltdean’s New School Building

New building at Saltdean Primary

Assistant Headteacher Katy Reeve took Pinaki and me on a tour of the school, to celebrate the opening of the Saltdean Primary Expansion. We were extremely impressed with the new build and the internal refurbishment, and also the creative way in which they have used the space and Headteacher Suzanne Morgan and her team have used displays to show the children's learning journey and their progress.
                           

Marvellous new classroom at Saltdean Primary

Events coming up

A heads up its Autism Awareness Week: 27 March – 2 April

Please follow the link for assembly ideas, powerpoints and lesson plan resources from National Autism Society to help your school raise awareness about Autism this week. 

Children’s Parade
Brighton Festival is delighted to announce that the theme for the 2017 Children’s Parade is ‘Poetry in Motion’. The festival will take place on Saturday 6 May.


School and College Leaders Business Meeting
The next School and College Leaders Business Meeting will be on 16 June and the theme is Black and Minority Ethnic achievement and Equality. I look forward to seeing our headteachers and senior leaders then.

Welcome and goodbye

This term we have several headteachers starting new roles and moving on. Congratulations to Alex Wingham who has been appointed Headteacher at St. Martin's CE Primary and Nursery School. Alex has been doing a fantastic job leading St. Martin's as Acting Headteacher and I am delighted that he has been appointed to the substantive post. I would also like to welcome Katie Blood, the new Headteacher at St. Bartholomew's CE Primary. My thanks to Mike Jee from Aldrington who has done such an amazing job leading St. Bartholomew's for the last two terms. Mike is leaving the city at the end of the summer term to take up a headship in West Sussex, I’m looking forward to saying a proper goodbye later in the year. Dawn Oliver has left Brackenbury Primary and we wish her all the best for the future and my thanks to Cassie Palmer from Coldean who looked after the school for a short while and to Lizzie Mullarky from Hangleton, who has now taken over as Acting Headteacher. Congratulations to Rob Reed who is leaving Hove Park to become the Executive Principal at Aldridge Education. Finally, huge congratulations to Jim Roberts, who will be the new Headteacher at Hove Park. We are lucky to have so much talent across the ‘B&H Education Partnership’ to lead our schools.

Twitter

I’d like to encourage more schools and partnerships to join us on twitter. Welcome to @PortsladeLeaders who have recently joined up. A great way for our ‘B&H Education Partnership’ to share best practice and keep in touch.
Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Maths Mastery

I was overjoyed that maths was the agreed theme of our headteacher and senior leaders event this month. Maths has always been a passion of mine as a learner and as a teacher, my partner began her career as a programmer and my girls love anything to do with maths. We have lots of fun at home playing maths games and doing anything with numbers!

Although we have good practice in Brighton & Hove and some schools are doing exceptionally well with outcomes in maths, overall as a city outcomes are not as good as we would like.

At the end of primary school, maths attainment at the expected standard is in line with national, but progress is below. At the end of secondary school, maths attainment and progress are above national. For disadvantaged pupils, attainment and progress is below national at both the end of primary and secondary school.

It’s for this reason we agreed to lead an event looking at ways in which we can collectively as a city raise standards. The event was a great example of our B&H Education Partnership coming together to work collaboratively, share ideas, learning and best practice, and offer school to school support across the phases of education.

Kate Williams from Longhill High School speaking at the School and College Leaders Business Meeting, focusing on Maths

Heads and senior leaders shared passionately the journeys they had been on in their own schools to improve maths. We heard about the impact of Every Child Counts, Shanghai and Singapore maths, maths mastery, deep learning, and the work of the Maths Hub regionally and locally. We challenged headteachers and senior leaders to take the learning from the event back to schools to improve practice and take up the offers of school to school support available across the partnership.

Suzanne Morgan and Katy Reeves from Saltdean Primary speaking at the School and College Leaders Business Meeting

Use of ICT across the curriculum at Hove Park

I joined young people, governors, teachers and local businesses to celebrate Hove Park’s digital journey to become designated as a distinguished school by Apple, one of only 24 in the country. Joining two young people and a teacher from Hangleton Primary on a learning walk, we were able to see in practice the students using their ipads and a range of software as tools to support their learning. Take a look at the Hove Park story: Hove Park School - #iBooks

We have had another unusually quiet month with only one Ofsted Inspection: Blatchington Mill Secondary School & 6th Form has had a Section 8 Ofsted Inspection. I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once they have the outcome report.

Cardinal Newman also had a one day monitoring visit from HMI. It was a very positive outcome with a recognition they are taking effective action, well done to Cardinal Newman.

For primary we now have 94.2% of schools that are good and outstanding and the national average is 90%. For secondary we have 80% that are judged good and outstanding, and the national is 78%. We are therefore above the national average overall with 93.1% of all schools that are good and outstanding, and a credit to our strong Brighton & Hove Education Partnership.

Guys and Dolls Production at Varndean School

I was delighted to attend this fabulous performance just before half term. The Drama and Music departments worked incredibly hard for months to bring it all together. It was a truly amazing performance by young people, well done to all the staff and young people involved.

I’m aware there have also been fabulous performances at other schools across the city that I didn’t manage to get to, but it’s been great to see successes shared on social media. Please take a look.

Success of the Youth Employability Service (YES)

The Matrix Standard is a unique quality standard for organisations to assess and measure their information, advice and support services, which ultimately supports individuals in their choice of career, learning, work and life goals. The Matrix Standard is looking for excellence in provision. I’m delighted to share with you that a recent review of YES highlighted that they are a quality deliverer of IAG (Information, Advice and/or Guidance) that is managed with clear leadership and direction and is highly valued by young people and partners. As an innovative organisation, YES has developed service delivery approaches over the last three years particularly in relation to technology.

The organisation has achieved all agreed targets and received much positive feedback for the implementation of NEET strategies. Staff feel very supported and frequently cited the leadership approach as ‘key to our success and making YES a great place to work’. At the core of YES is a team of highly skilled advisers, who are equipped with the skillset to link with, engage and motivate the full range of young people. YES has been identified as an 'expert authority' in NEET data management and is sharing this good practice through dissemination activities with neighbouring boroughs and the wider South East region.

Well done to the YES team, keep up the good work!

The YES Matrix Certificate

Visit to Cardinal Newman

Pinaki and I enjoyed a visit to Cardinal Newman to meet with Dr. James Kilmartin (Headteacher) and Claire Jarman (Deputy Headteacher). It was positive to discuss the school’s impressive set of results in 2016. The school's Progress 8 score was above the national average and all schools in Brighton & Hove, and in the top 20% of schools nationally. Their overall Attainment 8 score was above national and amongst the top schools in the city, as were their results for disadvantaged pupils.

It was good to hear from James and Claire what they are doing to ensure that these positive outcomes continue. Claire shared with us how they are using early morning teaching and learning briefings to support the improvement of outcomes for disadvantaged learners. This week’s one was delivered by the drama department and had standing room only. They shared drama techniques used to create a community in the classroom, supporting the school’s aim that every student is known and loved.

This month, Shiromi Cabraal (Post 16 Partnership Officer) and Georgia Easteal (Business Support Apprentice) organised an Employer Speed Dating Event at the AMEX Football Stadium for students who attend our Special Schools in Brighton (Patcham House, Downs Park and Cedar Centre). This event gave the students a chance to meet ‘real employers’ in an interview style setting. For the students, being out of their normal learning environment and attending their very first interview was a big challenge, but after the event the students left with a massive confidence boost and took away lots of practical advice from employers.

One student said ‘this day has made me more confident for interviews in the future’, another student said ‘the first interview is always going to be the scariest but you grow your confidence the more you do it.’ 

A wide variety of employers from various sectors attend this event, this included Churchill Square, Brighton & Hove Buses, Willmott Dixon to name a few. Northbrook College said ‘the event was a success and made an impact on all those involved’. 

Welcome to a new member of the team

Welcome to Lisa Mitchell, a new member to Rachel Carter's Employment and Skills team, employed as a project officer. Lisa will be coordinating the work of the City Employment and Skills Plan. We all look forward to working closely with her.

Lisa Mitchell

Congratulations 

Well done to Caitlin McGinley, Lead for Phoenix Centre at Hove Park School for winning the Autism Awareness Award for the school. Well deserved.

Mo Bham (Principal Educational Psychologist) presenting award to Caitlin McGinley

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons
Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

How to survive the most depressing month of the year!

I’m told that January is not always the happiest month of the year and contains the most depressing day of the year (16th Jan – two days before my own birthday!). For some of us January this year might feel a little more miserable with the inauguration of the new president of the US and the actions which have followed, to reflect on and consider the future implications for the world. However, locally in Brighton & Hove the month began for those of us in Families, Children and Learning with positivity and pace. I was delighted to be contacted early in the month by Katie Scott the Principal from PACA with some work (see below) they have been doing to lift spirits and promote performance in school, an area of positive practice we could all learn from. We also ended the month with some uplifting colourful and creative displays and events in schools and across the community to celebrate Chinese New Year, with the start of the year of the rooster. 

Shanghai Maths at Westdene Primary School

                                            

Maths is a citywide challenge for us where children in many of our schools do not do as well as we would like. As a Brighton & Hove Education Partnership we are continually looking at new approaches and interventions that will make a difference and boost progress and attainment. I was therefore interested to join staff at Westdene Primary School and leads from the regional maths hub to meet our visiting teachers from Shanghai as part of the DfE/ NCETM Primary Mathematics Teacher Exchange. The event launched this work and welcomed the teachers in advance of a series of events taking place across the city and beyond. As well as putting a spotlight on maths, the event showcased the fabulous work of Westdene school with children talking about their work and providing musical performances. I was particularly impressed by their boys choir who sang their hearts out to provide a warm welcome to our Chinese visitors. Thank you, Westdene and in particular to headteacher Debbie Crossingham and Deputy Head and Co-lead Teaching for Mastery (Sussex Maths Hub) Jenny Stratton for their city leadership in this area.

Maths will be the next focus of our School and College Business Leaders Meeting on 24 February at the University of Sussex, where there will be an opportunity to hear more about this and other practices as part of our strategy to improve our performance in Maths.

We have had a quiet month for a change with visits from Ofsted to carry out full Inspections. However, congratulations to Brighton Aldridge Community Academy who’s Ofsted report is now out and they have been awarded a grading of ‘Good’ following their previous Ofsted assessment of Requires Improvement. Well done to Dylan and his team at BACA. Cardinal Newman have had a one day monitoring visit from HMI and I look forward to reporting back on this in my next blog once they have the outcome. 

Please see this link for the Argus report on this story: http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/education/youthinaction/15045758.School_celebrates_league_table_high/ 

Holocaust Memorial Day - how can life go on?

Holocaust Memorial Day takes place on 27 January each year. It’s a time for everyone to pause to remember the millions of people who have been murdered or whose lives have been changed beyond recognition during the Holocaust, Nazi persecution and in subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur.  

I attended Blatchington Mill School, alongside MP Peter Kyle, the Mayor of Brighton, the police and other community and faith leaders for a moving event to mark the memory of the Holocaust. There were excellent performances from Hove Park, Blatchington Mill and Carden Primary, where they were able to share their learning and thoughts in a series of creative performances. The event highlighted the need for us all to continue to work together to prevent the past repeating itself. The behaviour and contributions of our young people throughout the event was outstanding and made me very proud of the work our schools and parents are doing to build a positive culture where difference is embraced and celebrated across Brighton & Hove.

Brian Huberman telling the story of his father Alfred Huberman

Year 9 Students with The Mayor Peter West after giving a presentation in the Windmill Theatre

It was also good to see that our Traveller Communities were not forgotten with a presentation and displays acknowledging the losses from Gypsy Roma communities in the Holocaust.  

School Visit to Patcham High

The school headteacher John McKee gave Pinaki Ghoshal (Executive Director - Families Children & Learning) and I a warm welcome, with a tour of the school and an opportunity to see teaching and learning in action. It was good to hear about the strong partnership the school has with the University of Brighton and the positive use of teachers in training, and also how the school’s approach to coaching young people in lessons is having a positive impact. We spent some time in the art department,  where young people were engaged creatively in producing a range of masterpieces in a calm and stimulating environment. 

 

Patcham High art work with Vicky Drew, Head of Art

Following the tour of the school, we had the opportunity to meet a group of young people and hear first-hand their views of how the school has improved over time and how positively they are involved in the development of the school, providing feedback to the senior leadership team. It was interesting to hear the impact that the new approach to not using mobile phones around the school is having on learning, friendships and conversation.

Pinaki Ghoshal, Jo Lyons and Patcham High Students

Our Virtual School

Welcome to our new colleague Sarah Lindfield, who is a new Education Support Worker who will be helping us further develop our strategic approach to meeting the needs of those children who were once in care. This month I have been focusing on the work of our Virtual School, and I attended the Virtual School Team Meeting and Chaired the Virtual School Steering group.  The team were able to show encouraging progress statistics, for example last year Brighton & Hove year 6 Children in Care made progress in reading and writing in line with all children nationally. It was fascinating to hear about the examples of effective collaborative working with many schools and individual successes with a number of young people. The Virtual School has been praised for its leadership of our ‘Attachment Aware Brighton’ campaign and we are beginning to see the impact of this wider work with adopted children and those on special guardianship orders. However, in raw attainment there is still a significant attainment gap at all ages so for example at Key Stage 4, 33% achieved a C in English and 20.5% in Maths. There are clearly significant challenges for all Brighton & Hove schools and the Virtual School, which will form part of the focus of our overall approach to improve outcomes for the most disadvantaged children and young people. 

School Funding: Understanding the changes and planning for the future

Headteachers, bursars and business managers discuss the budget challenges they face

140 heads, bursars and business managers were joined by LA senior leaders and Peter Freeman, our chair of Schools Forum, for a session to look at school funding at the University of Sussex. It was challenging to hear the stark messages about the future financial challenges we all face, although an important opportunity to fully understand all the changes to schools’ budgets and the national funding formula, and to look together at the implications of this for our schools across the City. A number of strategic approaches that will help to address the difficulties schools will face were shared and discussed. It was good to hear from Pinaki Ghoshal, our Executive Director of Families Children and Learning, how the council and other partners have been working to address the financial issues they have been facing over the past couple of years. A number of our heads spoke honestly about the approaches they have had to take and how they have already begun to creatively look at financial management in their schools, whilst keeping the focus on performance. The session was a start of a conversation with schools that will continue with the LA offering strong support, working on partnership with heads and governors. We will be leading a similar session with governors at the Governor Strategic Partnership meeting on 8 February. 

Pinaki Ghoshal, Ellen Mulvihill and Richard Barker discuss the challenges at the school funding finance event

The successful #IAMWHOLE campaign set up by the NHS in partnership with the YMCA and Brighton & Hove City Council, an innovative anti-stigma mental health campaign, aimed at young people aged 13-25, continues to have a positive impact across the city.

Longhill High School students and popular YouTube vlogger Saffron Barker have put together a video to help combat stigma around mental health. Please watch the video https://youtu.be/9oWkPSqv2Y8 , then for further information go to #IAmWhole http://www.ymca.org.uk/i-am-whole 

Mini Mile

A heads up to all schools that the Cancer Research UK Mini Mile at Preston Park on Saturday 8 April is free this year for children and young people (7 – 17 years) of all abilities .  Please click the link below to apply. The entries are open now. We want as many of our young people as possible to get out there and run!

http://www.brightonmarathon.co.uk/home

Twitter

For those schools and services that are not using twitter, please give it a go. It’s a great way to share some of your best practice with others. If you are not convinced, then please at least take a look and follow the antics of Varndean Goats! @Varndeangoats @Varndeanschool 

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.