Refugee Week

Richard Williams and Angie Lynn from Sanctuary on Sea presenting the award to Teresa Owen, one of the managers at Roundabout Nursery

The theme of Refugee Week was ‘Different Pasts, Shared Futures’. Innovative lessons, projects and celebrations during last year’s Refugee Week were used by a number of schools as a springboard to start their work for a School of Sanctuary Award. Amongst them, Royal Spa Nursery School and Roundabout Nursery used Persona Dolls to teach pre-schoolers about refugees. Dorothy Stringer undertook Moving Stories workshops in collaboration with Blatchington Mill and the University of Brighton, in which they made and shared videos of pupil’s migrations. St Joseph’s has pupil-led Languages of the Month in every class. We celebrate that these all achieved a School of Sanctuary Award, with Blatchington Mill and St Luke’s Primary both winning their second Award. Stanford Infants, Hove Juniors, Sussex House Nursery, University of Brighton Nursery, St Peter’s Portslade and Brackenbury School are all engaged with the School of Sanctuary programme and hope to qualify for their awards in due course. And it’s great that both BHASVIC and Brighton MET are looking at working towards becoming Colleges of Sanctuary. Well done to all. 

Good news from Hove Park

Jim Roberts, Headteacher and Michelle Prentice, Deputy Headteacher, recently attended a reception at the House of Lords to be formally told they have made it into the EdTech50 schools in the UK. This is a recognition by the Education Foundation. There were lots of applications and the judges were hugely impressed with Hove Park! This follows on from Michelle’s work that she presented at the Education & Skills Committee.

John Gaston, exams officer at Hove Park School and creator of Examscreen

Also, a Hove Park teacher has won an award for his Exam app. Congratulations to John Gaston, the exams officer at the school, who invented Examscreen to meet the need for a clear and consistent way to display exam information. Mr Gaston hoped that it would be a way of improving student experience and reducing workload for exam officers and invigilators. His idea has now earned him a £5,000 prize and the app has been adopted by more than 600 schools. Mr Gaston said: ‘I decided to create Examscreen because I saw that there was a gap for a tool that would standardise and professionalise exams across the UK with many benefits to the individual schools and students.’ See examscreen.co.uk and www.coolinitiatives.com.

Congratulations Isabel Reid

Isabel Reid, Winner of the National RSE Teaching Award

Isabel is the Inclusion Co-ordinator at Carlton Hill Primary School, PSHE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) Lead Teacher for Brighton & Hove City Council and an SLE for Pavilion Downs Teaching School. Isabel was nominated for the award by Tamsen Beer, Headteacher, Carlton Hill Primary School. The judges were extremely impressed with the quality of Isabel’s work to improve the quality of teaching and learning in relationships and sex education (RSE) both in school and citywide. Here's a quote from the nomination which will resonate with anyone who has worked with her: ‘Isabel is passionate about ensuring that every child leaves Primary school with the skills and knowledge to support them through the complicated teenage years ahead of them.’ 

We are all very proud of Isabel and thank her for her hard work and commitment. We are lucky to have her and other PSHE Lead Teachers, Sarah Jackson and Hugh Garling, supporting schools in the city; particularly with statutory relationships, relationships and sex and health education on its way. Isabel said ‘I am really pleased to be recognised for the part I have played in promoting high quality RSE at my school and across the city's primary schools.’

See www.sexeducationforum.org.uk , www.ncb.org.uk and get involved, and access a range of resources about RSE DAY here.

The Power of Reading

Congratulations to Rudyard Kipling Primary School and Nursery, who have been invited by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) to become an Advocate School for the Power of Reading. This is a proven English curriculum which places high quality texts at the heart of teaching and learning, and impacts greatly on engagement, achievement and attainment in language, reading and writing. As an Advocate School, they will receive training, support and visits from Advisory Teachers at the CLPE, and be open to visits from other schools and settings to share their good practise and expertise. Rudyard Kipling are thrilled to have been given this opportunity by the CLPE and are lucky to have an ECAR teacher who is part of the CLPE. Congratulations to the school’s Headteacher Joanne Smith and all the teachers and pupils at Rudyard Kipling. 

Withdean Athletics 

Pupils taking part in a relay race at Withdean Athletics

It was great to see so many children taking part and enjoying Athletics this month at Withdean. We were so fortunate with the weather! 840 children from 24 schools took part! A big thank you again to all of the Sports Leaders from Blatchington Mill, Dorothy Stringer and PACA, who all did a great job in officiating at the competition. The day couldn’t have happened without them.  We would also like to say a big thank you to the team of volunteers and staff from the Active for Life Team. Hopefully lots of our children have been bitten by the running bug and would like to do more after school! 

Cottesmore Quad pupils with their Spirit of the Games and 1st place awards

This week we also had the Sussex School Games finals. Some highlights from the day: 
·         Cottesmore winning the year 5/6 Quadkids Athletics and the 
          Spirit of the Games award! 
·         Newman Year 7 Girls finishing 2nd in the Netball
·         Patcham High Year 7/8 Mixed Table Tennis team finishing 
          3rd in the Table Tennis 
·         And Cottesmore’s Year 5/6 Quadkids team winning the Spirit of the                       Games award.

PACA and Patcham High’s Sports Leaders also officiated at the Netball and Table Tennis finals. All of the leaders did an outstanding job, and many of the schools commented how knowledgeable and efficient the leaders were at umpiring and scoring. They were all a real credit to their schools and Brighton & Hove! 

Congratulations to the Supported Employment Team 

Suzette Attwood from SET, and Paul Turk from Southdown Housing attending a workshop in London where they met Justin Tomlinson, the new Minister of State for Disabled People

Brighton & Hove Council’s Supported Employment Team (SET), who recently received a Kitemark from the British Association for Supported Employment, have been taking part in a DWP ‘Proof of Concept’ project. The project involves 11 Local Authorities using the Supported Employment model to help people with Learning disabilities, Autism and Mental Health difficulties who are furthest from the labour market to access employment opportunities. This work is done through a partnership between SET and Southdown Housing’s Employment Support team.

3 of PGTA and their mentors from Downs View School attending induction

Twelve new Post Graduate Teaching Apprentices (PGTA) have started their training with University of Brighton, with five of the apprentices from within Brighton & Hove maintained schools.  The PGTA is a great opportunity for you to grow your own teachers supporting new or existing staff from a pool of fresh talented people. The apprenticeship takes 14 months, starting in June and completing the end of the summer term when the apprentice will be ready to start in September as a newly qualified teacher (NQT). Grants are available through DFE to support the apprentices and vary from £4,500 to £14,500, dependant on subject area. These grants can be used to support the apprentice’s salary making the journey from TA to PGTA more affordable option for the school.

Deputy Headteacher Rachel McDonald-Taylor said: 

‘We're very pleased to say that the four apprentices have started and are already proving to be valuable members of the team. We are looking forward to seeing them grow and becoming fully fledged teachers, passionate about pupils with SEND. The programme is going smoothly: the work based learning coupled with the theoretical input from the University of Brighton is a very holistic combination that is working well for the school.’

For more information on apprenticeships, please contact Gavin Graham gavin.graham@brighton-hove.gov.uk , 01273 293320 or 07510 585701. Click on me to find out first hand from a PGTA apprentice

St. Paul’s links with Zaragoza

St Paul’s children playing Spanish games with their link school

Way back in 2011, the school began a bilingual project to incorporate Spanish into other areas of the curriculum. From then they taught Spanish from reception and in all classes in key stage one and two. This work has led to exceptional results and has grown every year. St Paul’s arranged training so all their teachers could use every day basic Spanish vocabulary with the children and learn new words. As the pupils move up through the school, their Spanish vocabulary becomes increasingly complex. St Paul’s wanted the children to use their Spanish in its natural environment. Every year since 2015, St Paul’s have visited a link school in Zaragoza, Spain, and welcomed children from the Spanish school. It is such a rich experience to use language, explore our cultures and learn about each other’s education systems, as well as making friends. See link http://www.ripl.uk/school-focus/st-pauls-cofe-brighton/ Well done to the Headteacher, all the staff and pupils at St Paul’s!

Congratulations to St John the Baptist for retaining their Good judgement from Ofsted. 

‘The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. You have a clear vision for the school. You aim for your pupils to have the best opportunities in education, so they are well prepared for the future.’

St Mark’s CE Primary School received a Requires Improvement judgement from Ofsted. They will continue to receive support from the local authority and the wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership on their improvement journey. There were many positive elements in the report and it was good to read the many strengths of the school being recognised.

Many of our schools in Brighton & Hove have been celebrating Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month.  This has been a great opportunity to celebrate the many successes and positive contributions of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people to our society.  

     

The schools have run a competition with the theme ‘My Roots, My Routes’.  This has been a fabulous way of allowing all children to discuss and celebrate their diverse heritage, and for children to ask questions of people with Gypsy, Roma and Traveller heritage and find out more.

Children have been writing, drawing and talking about their heritage and celebrating the many contributions made by Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people to our society.   There have been assemblies and lessons led by our Traveller Education Support Unit which have explored identity, stereotypes and the media portrayal of Gypsy, Roma and Traveller people.

Richard O’Neill, author

Patcham Junior School also invited Roma author Richard O’Neill along. Richard has produced a beautiful new book and teaching resources - Polonius the Pit Pony.  The presentation is great and the book has wonderful reviews. The Book Nook in Hove stock (or can order) Richard's books. This would be a great project for Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month.  

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Another Amazing Children’s Parade

Children’s Parade. Photo Xavier Clarke 

Jointly produced with award-winning community arts organisation Same Sky and sponsored by the University of Brighton, the 2019 Children’s Parade took place on Saturday the 4th of May. It was fabulous to watch with a spectacular view from above on the Balcony of the Theatre Royal. The theme of this year’s parade was ‘Folk Tales from Around the World’, focusing on tales from Africa, Europe, the Arctic the Americas, Asia and Oceania. This year, 58 schools and 3,473 children took part with the help of over 1,000 parents and carers. It was great to see so many of our Brighton & Hove headteachers leading their schools dressed up for the occasion, an example of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership at its best.

Early Years Nursery Conference

It was a pleasure to open this year’s annual nursery conference held at Sussex University and meet the team. 110 nursery staff attended the event, which focused in the morning on supporting children’s early literacy and language skills with a focus on closing the word gap. The theme for the afternoon was safeguarding. Speakers included Darrel Clews, LADO for Brighton & Hove, Anna Wharf, who spoke about the PREVENT duty, and the final presentation of the day looked at parental conflict and the impact this can have on young children. Throughout the day staff were also able to book onto smaller workshops to develop their skills in Makaton, Music Making, Engaging Fathers in Early Years, and Child Led Play. The importance of the wellbeing of staff was a priority for the day, with information stands from Albion in The Community, My Staff Shop and a bespoke workshop to support staff with questions around the menopause. It was such an important day for our early years workforce who do such a fantastic job ensuring our youngest children make the best start in their education.

Young City Reads

Author of The Boy at the Back of the Class, Onjali Q.Raúf 

I was privileged to join over 1,400 school children for the Young City Reads project finale at Brighton Dome, to see the inspirational author Onjali Q. Raúf live on stage for this special celebration of her award winning book: The Boy at the Back of the Class. I am currently reading this book to my own daughter and it’s amazing. The book tells the story of a young Syrian refugee, Ahmet, and describes refugee crises through the eyes of a child. It is written with heart and humour and highlights the importance of friendship and kindness in a world that doesn’t always make sense. It was very emotional to see so many year 4 and 5 children engaged, listening and then cheering for Onjali. What a fabulous celebration of reading in our city.

In Brighton & Hove there are some incredible projects working to ease the plight of the refugees and to ensure that some of the most vulnerable people in society feel welcome and safe in our lovely city.

Primary children at the Young City Reads event at the Dome. Photographer credit: Sam Luck

Watch Onjali introduce the project and her book here.

Supporting Transition for Children and Young People in Care and Previously in Care

The Virtual School has recently published a transitions resource based on learning from parents and carers of children previously in care. Parents and carers spoke about what they have found helpful for their children in supporting them to deal with change, as well as suggesting what would be even better practice. This short resource is designed to add to the transition toolkit that schools already have in place. It covers why children in care and previously in care may benefit from an enhanced planning and transition process and includes whole school approaches and support for individuals. It includes ideas, suggestions and examples from local primary and secondary schools, as well as links to additional materials. I’d recommend all schools to take a look. Please contact virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk for a copy, and if you have access to the wave and school bulletins, please click here .

Ramadan Mubarak

Ramadan this year began on Monday 6th May. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting to commemorate the first revelation of the Quran to Muhammad according to Islamic. Fasting takes place from dawn to sunset during this period. It is a time in which Muslims dedicate to refocus on purifying their souls and conduct through self-reflection, self-sacrifice and prayer. It was good to hear that so many of our schools were learning about Ramadan and supporting and respecting colleagues and families who were observing Ramadan this month. We are now looking forward to Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Learn about this important religious holiday.

City Mathematics Strategy across the City

Maths poster

It was a real pleasure to attend the celebration event for the schools involved in the very successful maths (Strategic School Improvement Fund) project. There was so much enthusiasm in the room for maths and we could tell from the presentations just how far schools have progressed in their thinking. It was also good to hear about the times it didn’t go so well and the great learning that it brought.

The schools presented their maths projects

Brighton & Hove City Council is pleased to be able to support the further development of maths through a new project ‘it all adds up’. We are delighted that together with the Sussex Coast Teaching School Alliance, Stuart Mcconnachie, Headteacher and National Leader of Education from Coldean Primary, the fantastic SLE (Specialist Leaders Education) from the maths hub, and our local schools, we can use the learning from the project to further develop our approach to maths across the city. If any other schools would like to take part, please contact Hilary Ferries by e-mail: hilary.ferries@brighton-hove.gov.uk or telephone: 01273 293738.

Foster Care Fortnight

Foster Care Fortnight took place this month – the UK’s biggest annual fostering awareness campaign, developed and delivered by The Fostering Network. The campaign this year highlights the power of fostering to change futures and celebrates the transformational effect of foster care and the achievements of everyone involved. We are continuing to work hard to increase our number of in-house Foster Carers. We have a growing Foster Carer community who are changing the futures of fostered children and young people every day. They do what they do because of the significant, positive impact the children and young people in their care can have on them as a fostering family. If you or someone you know could become a Foster Carer and can make a difference to the lives of children who need support, then the Recruitment Team would love to hear from you. To find out more call 01273 295444, visit the website, complete the enquiry link or e-mail fosteringrecruitment@brighton-hove.gov.uk

A New Special Educational Needs and Disability Strategy

Work is underway across the city partnerships to develop a new SEND Strategy 2020-2025. A wide range of partners including health and social care colleagues, parents and carers and school staff are working together on agreeing a new set of priorities for the city around SEND. They are identifying what actions will need to take place across the next 5 years and looking at how progress can be meaningfully measured. The SEND Partnership Board will oversee this work and will be monitoring progress in the future. If you are not yet involved and would like to have your say please contact sen.team@brighton-hove.gov.uk .

Welcome to our Newly Elected Members

Following the local elections, the city council held an event on Tuesday the 7th May to welcome newly elected Members and give them a flavour of the range of services provided by the council directorates. The event was set out as a market place, each directorate having a stall to display information about the services they provide. The event was well attended by new councillors who were very interested to hear about the range of services delivered by Families, Children and Learning and work with schools and our wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership and our plans for the year ahead. Our new lead member for FCL is Nick Childs and he will be the chair of the Children, Young People and Skills Committee.

Patcham Junior School was inspected this month. Congratulations to Patcham Junior School for retaining their Good judgement from Ofsted.

‘Pupils’ attitudes to school are very positive. They [..] enjoy coming to school because teachers plan exciting things to do and make learning fun.’ 

Moulsecoomb Primary School received an inadequate judgement from Ofsted. They will continue to receive support from the Local Authority and the wider Brighton & Hove Education Partnership on their improvement journey. There were many positive elements in the report and it was good to read the many strengths of the school being recognised.

St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School and St Mark’s CE Primary School have also had an Ofsted Inspections and I look forward to sharing the results in the next blog.

After extensive consultation, Ofsted have now released the new Ofsted Inspection Framework for September 2019. Please look at the link through to this framework and the inspection handbook on the Ofsted website. 

Work of Youth Employability Service and the Supported Employment Team 

Dean Coussens, Employability Adviser providing advice to a young person

The Youth Employability Service and Supported Employment Team have been busy working in partnership on the Think Futures programme, supporting young people 19 -25 years not in education, employment and training. Since October 2018, 88 young people have received bespoke packages of support to access meaningful employment and education opportunities including the achievement of AQA unit awards and a range of vocational qualifications. We are delighted that participant feedback so far has been really positive.

Curriculum: Intent, Implementation and Impact

We are looking forward to seeing all headteachers or senior education leaders from across the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership on Friday 14 June at Brighton Racecourse for our termly cross phase event to share experiences and ideas on Curriculum. There will be opportunities to join in workshops and hear from a range of speakers. If you have not already booked your place, please sign up via BEEM (login required) or email schools.training@brighton-hove.gov.uk If you are unable to attend yourself, then please send another member of your leadership team. There is plenty of on-site parking at Brighton Racecourse and parking permits are not required.

Best wishes,

Jo

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

The Summer Term and Brighton Festival begins

I hope everyone across the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership managed to get a break from work over easter. We have an important term ahead of learning and creativity across the city with all the fun Brighton Festival brings, the fabulous Children’s Parade (on the 4th of May), numerous educational trips and the annual sports days. 

May and June is also tests and exam time and I’d like to wish all our children and young people well, but recognise it can be a stressful time for many. It’s important for us all to work together and ensure support is in place for all our children and young people’s emotional wellbeing.

Trans Day of Visibility

Pronoun stickers

In Brighton & Hove, four of our secondary schools and two colleges shared the work they did to mark ‘Trans Day of Visibility’. The International Trans Day of Visibility was a great success at Longhill this year. It provoked many comments from students and staff as to how interesting, thought provoking and uplifting the assemblies and activities were. Amongst comments made by staff who saw students after assemblies were: ‘They were buzzing with it and had loads of questions’, ‘The clips went down really well’

There was a great deal of excitement and interest over the Trans stickers, handed out to students through their Mentors (Tutors) at the start of the day; and the contents of the lunchtime stall kindly hosted by Liv from Allsorts Youth Project. Feedback from the day from our Trans community revealed that they felt the issues they wanted to be raised in our initial meeting had been addressed. It was a day of mutual support, warmth, kindness and focus on our diverse community celebrating its differences and valuing its solidarity.

Curriculum Revisited

A word cloud of the geography curriculum

The School and College Leaders Cross Phase Business meeting this term will focus on the creativity of the curriculum. This is very timely with the new Ofsted framework coming out in the autumn. A group of headteachers are planning with Hilary Ferries (Senior Adviser: Education Partnerships) and the teaching schools to create a positive morning, where we will hear from school leaders and have workshops to share strategies as we consider intent, implementation and impact of the curriculum offer. I look forward to seeing you on 14 June at the Racecourse (please note change of venue).

BAME School Staff 

BAMEed, a national organisation for BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) educators, are holding their third annual conference at the University of Brighton in June 2019. BAMEed connects, enables and showcases the talent of diverse educators so they may inspire future generations and open up the possibilities within education careers. We hope that all BAME school staff and interested parties are able to attend this event. As there is a low number of BAME staff in schools, this is an opportunity to be part of a support network, a forum for discussion and a group with shared experiences and interests. 

BAMEed would like to support a regional group for Brighton & Hove BAME teachers and school staff, and hold its first meeting at the conference in June. If you are interested in being part of this group, but can’t attend the conference, please contact John Lynch (Independent Consultant, working with Beth Thomas-Hancock of the University of Brighton to support BAME student mentoring programmes) at jk33lynch@btinternet.com You can book onto the BAMEed conference here . For more information, see the website here 

Syrian Flavoured Ice cream supports children’s Big Read 

Brighton artisan ice cream parlour Boho Gelato has created a new Syrian inspired flavour in honour of this year’s Young City Reads book, ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ by Onjali Q Raúf, winner of The Blue Peter Book Award and the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize. The book follows the compassionate story of Ahmet, a young Syrian refugee and a small group of determined nine-year-olds, who go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure their new classmate has a sense of belonging.

Andrew Comben, Chief Executive of Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival said: ‘Young City Reads is such an inspiring way to encourage more children to enjoy reading and express their ideas creatively. ‘The Boy at the Back of the Class’ is a perfect choice for Brighton Festival 2019, as we welcome Malian musician Rokia Traoré as our Guest Director. The book’s messages of friendship, kindness and celebrating difference should be shared now more than ever.'

Congratulations to Cardinal Newman – Rugby Champions 

Newman Rugby Academy have seen phenomenal success this season which culminated in the team winning the National AoC Final at Moseley, Birmingham. The team had worked their way up to the final where they played against Myerscough College who they beat in an exciting game winning 40-5 to crown them National Champions.

Newman Rugby Academy have been working extremely hard to get to National success. The Rugby Academy was created to allow students to develop themselves and play a high standard of rugby alongside their studies. 

Mr Neil Lester-Card, Rugby Academy Coach, said: ‘This is a fantastic result for Newman College and the players. It has been our goal for a number of years and to achieve it in such a convincing manner is a brilliant way to finish the season.’ Well done, Cardinal Newman!

Queen's Park Primary School at the Theatre Royal 

Queen's Park Pupils in ‘Emil and the Detectives’

Mark Storey (Head of Education Standards & Achievement) had the absolute pleasure of attending ‘Emil and the Detectives’ at the Theatre Royal. It was great to see the whole year 5 group getting involved and all were included. They were involved in every aspect of planning and creating this year's end-of-term play, including set design, costumes, lighting, sound, special effects, make-up and designing programmes for the audience - complete with word searches and cast lists. The children also stage managed and operated sound and light for the performances under the guidance of the theatre’s tech team. This is the first time a Brighton school has performed its end-of-term play in their local theatre. Well done Queen’s Park. 

Queen's Park Pupils in ‘Emil and the Detectives’

‘I saw children looking happy; having high expectations of what can be achieved and having an experience they will always remember. It was also great to see children from other schools enjoying the performance too. Thanks to all the staff and children who have been involved, great work and well done’ (Mark Storey) 

Governance Conference: Education Trends 2019: What’s coming now and next?

 Some of the school governors going up the i360

Our Annual Governance Conference was a great success and we were lucky to have glorious weather for the day at the i360 and we have received overwhelmingly positive evaluations . I welcomed the opportunity to attend and contribute to the debate with Pinaki Ghoshal (Director of Children’s Services), Mark Storey (Head of Education Standards & Achievement) and Hilary Ferries (Senior Adviser - Education Partnerships). Governors particularly appreciated how informative and thought provoking Laura McInerney was (Education Journalist & Co-Founder of Teacher Tapp). Laura gave us lots of food for thought and talked about the trends in education that will affect us over the next few years. However, they did also appreciate having the opportunity to hear from the Local Authority panel. We really did get the impression that we were ‘all in this together’ to do the best for our schools, and everyone went away feeling very positive. 

The view from the top. We even managed to conquer a couple of people’s fear of heights!

National quality mark for our Supported Employment team

The work of a Brighton & Hove City Council team that helps get local people with disabilities into jobs and training opportunities has been praised by a national body. The council’s Supported Employment team has gained a kite-mark award from the British Association for Supported Employment (BASE). The team is one of only 11 in the country to have been through a new auditing process being trialled by the association. They are currently working with more than 80 local people, helping them gain and retain employment. The team provides support to the employee, the employer and work colleagues through training, job coaching and advice.

We want all our residents to have equal access to training and employment opportunities. The BASE kite-mark is a very clear sign that we’re doing things the right way, and I hope it will lead to more local employers working in partnership with our Supported Employment team. To find out more about getting support from the council’s Supported Employment team to offer jobs or training opportunities to local people with disabilities, please email SET@brighton-hove.gov.uk or phone 01273 29 5961.

This month Ofsted has been visiting Moulsecoomb Primary and St John the Baptist Catholic Primary schools. I look forward to reporting back next time. 

Welcome

Helena Thomas, Principal at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College

I’d like to provide a warm welcome from the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership to Helena Thomas, who has been appointed to the role of Principal at Greater Brighton Metropolitan College (the MET) following an extensive recruitment and selection process led by the Board of Governors. Helena has been doing a great job already acting in the role for the past few months. We are all looking forward to continued partnership work with Helen and the MET. 

Best wishes,
Jo

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

Every Child a Reader (ECaR)

Vicky Conry, Every Child a Reader teacher, reading with a pupil

This month I would like to celebrate our Every Child a Reader (also known as ECaR) programme across the city. Nearly 3,000 children in Brighton & Hove who have struggled with learning to read have benefited from one-to-one support through our specialist reading scheme. ECaR currently operates in 14 local schools. It’s aimed at younger children who are below their expected reading level for their age. Each child gets an intensive programme of 1-1 support from specially trained teachers and teaching assistants. This has contributed to our reading success, with recently published national figures showing the city as a whole to be performing considerably above the national average in reading. Watch our video to find out more http://ow.ly/PjUn30nX9TG

Poverty Proofing the School Day

Children, Young People and Skills Committee

Our Poverty Proofing the school day project is now coming to an end. Since June 2017, we have heard the voices of 27,628 children and young people across the city. This month peer researchers from Longhill High School went to the Children, Young People and Skills Committee and the Neighbourhoods, Inclusion, Communities and Equalities Committee. They reported on the project and their role as peer researchers.

We are setting up a dedicated page on BEEM http://www.beem.org.uk/Services/5103 , open to all where we are gathering together all the outcomes from the project. This will include the volumes of best practice documents, the lesson plans about poverty, ‘How to poverty proof your school trip’ and an audit tool. In addition, we hope that there will continue to be ‘champions’ of poverty proofing who will encourage us all to look through activities in school life through the eyes of families who may be struggling with money.

St Mark's Primary library launch

This month in time for World Book Day, St Mark’s CE Primary launched their new library. Mayor Dee Simson cut the ribbon and declared the Secret Garden Library open. Headteacher Jane Fendley said ‘This warm, comfortable library stacked with lovely books is an amazing chance for us to show the children the pleasures of reading a good book.’

The garden at St Mark’s Library

Children in Care Council

Geoff Raw with the Children in Care Council

This month Geoff Raw, Chief Executive for Brighton & Hove City Council, met with 8 young people from the Children in Care Council (CiCC). The CiCC gives young people with experience of being in care the opportunity to meet and give their views on their experience of services including social workers, foster care and the leaving care team. The CiCC is also consulted about new developments and shares its ideas and views with the Corporate Parenting Board. The meeting was a great experience for Geoff and the young people, who asked some really interesting questions, such as ‘what keeps you up at night about your job’. I’m looking forward to hearing more from them and supporting them further with their important work.

Celebrating Rainbow Flag awards

Work from BACA allies - student event

The Rainbow Flag Award is a national quality assurance framework for all schools and colleges, focusing on LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, plus other related identities), inclusion and visibility. The Rainbow Flag Award encourages a whole organisation approach to LGBT and inclusion, as well as developing strategies to combat LGBT-phobic bullying. In Brighton & Hove, the Allsorts Youth Project have been delivering this programme, supported by the council. BACA, Patcham High, Blatchington Mill and Hertford Infant Schools have all achieved the Rainbow Flag Award and were presented with their certificates by Reuben Davidson from Allsorts and Anna Spragg (Equalities Manager, Communities Equality & Third Sector) and Georgina ClarkeGreen (Assistant Director - Health SEN & Disabilities) from the council. Well done to these schools who have worked hard to develop their LGBT inclusive practice.

Rainbow Flag Award Winners - BACA

Apprenticeship week

Our apprenticeship team had an exciting week and ran a number of different activities to highlight apprenticeships, and what they bring to the council, our communities, and the individuals taking them up. For the past year, the Families, Children & Learning (FCL) Policy & Business Support Team have been joined by David, a Digital Marketing Apprentice. David has been heavily involved in content creation for different FCL communication briefs, including the annual reports. If you would like to find out more about taking up an apprenticeship or hiring an apprentice, contact the team by emailing apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk

From left to right: Sarah Sawyer & Vanessa Potter Sussex, Council of Training Providers, Carla Butler (Council Apprenticeships Programme Manager) and Elizabeth Flegg, Chair of South East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network

This month during National Apprenticeship Week, I had great pleasure in attending the Apprenticeship Graduation. The event was opened with a live performance from alternative pop band ‘Wavve’ who are students at BIMM (British & Irish Modern Music Institute) Brighton. Apprentices from across the City received a rapturous welcome from family, friends, apprenticeship providers and ambassadors of apprenticeships. Thanks to the staff and apprentices from FCL who attended and made the evening so special and congratulations to all of the graduates.

The Apprenticeships Graduates and Mayor Dee Simson 

First Post Graduate Teacher Apprentice (PGTA) - Downs View School

The advert has gone live for four PGTAs at Downs View School. The PGTA is an exciting opportunity for gifted and talented graduates to follow an alternative route. Working on the PGTA will lead to QTS (Qualified Teacher Status) and gaining a PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education).

Headteacher Adrian Carver and Deputy Head Teacher Rachel McDonald-Taylor said:

‘This isn’t just a fantastic offer for people wanting a career in special needs education. It’s also an exciting leap forward for us. By opening our apprenticeships up to people across the city, we’re hoping to tap into a huge, exciting pool of talent.’

The PGTA is a 14 month apprenticeship working within the school with blended learning delivered through the University of Brighton.

To find out more about the Post Graduate Teacher Apprenticeship and Grants available up to £12,500, contact Gavin Graham - apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk . For more information on the vacancy please go to Downs View website; http://www.downsview.brighton-hove.sch.uk/about-us/vacancies/

Local Authority Challenge award

The Local Authority Challenge team, from left to right: Wes Emond, Liz Brand, Mia Brown, Emma Sheridan, Ruth Bradley and Giles Hippisley

Brighton & Hove City Council entered two teams into the South East Local Authority Challenge, with 14 teams tasked with running a fictional council for the day, in competition with each other. The Challenge is aimed at giving participants an insight into the world of executive leadership, including strategic oversight and imagination, decision making under pressure, and working as a team.

One of our teams included colleagues Mia Brown (Service Manager Directorate Policy & Business Support) and Giles Hippisley (Integrated Team for Families Locality Manager). Brighton & Hove did incredibly well in the challenge, having won 3 of the 6 Awards and been nominated in all categories. Mia and Giles’ team brought home the Best Partnership and Best Overall Team awards, and were runners up in the Best CEO and Most Valuable Player awards. Well done everyone!

Congratulations to Hove Park School

Hove Park’s Assistant Head of Year Rosie Scott was part of the BBC Radio Sussex and Make Good Trouble Productions live round table discussion between parents, experts and teachers on raising teenagers. The programme was about bringing parents and carers of teenagers together to support and better understand their children and explore issues that may be affecting them including mental health. The show aired on the 4th of March at 9pm and is part of The Big Take Over with presenter Kathy Caton. You can listen to it by following the link below. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p070mvpf . Well done to Rosie and Hove Park School.



It continues to be a busy Ofsted time for us all. Peter Gladwin Primary, Hertford Infant and Nursery School, St Andrew’s CE Primary School and Hill Park Special School were all inspected last month. Congratulations to Peter Gladwin, Hertford and St Andrew’s for their Good judgements from Ofsted, and to Hill Park for retaining their Outstanding.

Peter Gladwin Primary: ‘Pupils have positive attitudes towards learning. They say that school is fun. They particularly enjoy the creative curriculum, mathematics and writing.’

Hertford Infant and Nursery School: ‘Leaders ensure that pupils with SEND are cared for and this area of the school’s work is led exceptionally well. The school is highly inclusive, with a growing reputation locally for its skilled work in this area.’

St Andrew’s CE Primary School: ‘Leaders and governors have risen proudly to the challenge of leading a large and inclusive primary school. You [Sophie Thomas, new Headteacher] joined the school in January 2019 bringing renewed energy and direction to improve the school still further.’

Hill Park Special School: ‘You [Rachel Burstow, Executive Headteacher] have established a calm and purposeful school that reflects your commitment to providing the best for all pupils. You and your leadership team are ambitious for pupils and determined to provide the opportunities that they need to succeed.’

Tudor House (residential children's home for children with Special Education Needs and Disabilities) received its annual Ofsted inspection. They were rated outstanding in all three areas. This is the tenth consecutive year that Tudor House has been rated outstanding, by nine different Ofsted inspectors. Clare Brunt, Practice Manager said, ‘I am immensely proud of my team and everyone’s contribution to making the service outstanding and also to sustaining this achievement year after year’.

The inspector said: ‘Young people feel very safe and supported in the home. Parents reflected extremely positively on how much they trust the staff to care for their individual child’s needs.’

Stephen Long speaking to Headteachers and Local Authority Colleagues

We also had a visit from Stephen Long, Assistant Regional Director Ofsted, South East. Stephen spoke to Headteachers and the LA about the proposed Ofsted Framework changes and consultation. This was a fascinating morning and provided a useful platform for heads to share their thoughts. You have until the 5th of April to send a consultation response into Ofsted so please follow the link for more details: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/education-inspection-framework-2019-inspecting-the-substance-of-education

Welcomes and Goodbyes

Rachel Carter

Rachel Carter finishes in her role with the council this week, having established and led the Skills & Employment Team in the Education & Skills branch. We gathered together this week with council colleagues and wider partners to say a huge thankyou and goodbye. The Team continue to support those furthest from the labour market, into work and training and leads on the city’s priorities as identified in the City Employment & Skills Plan. Through partnership working with schools and colleges, the team is well placed to support the progression of young people into employment, and to ensure people of all ages have access to training and progression.

I’m delighted to inform you that as Rachel departs, Carla Butler will be acting up into the role. Carla has built the Apprenticeship Team across the council and has been responsible for the roll out of the apprenticeship programme across schools and council departments. She has shown her absolute commitment to supporting disadvantaged residents and is highly valued and respected in her current role. She is looking forward to working with you all.

Annual Conference for School and College Leaders - Hold the date!

Viv Grant

Our conference this year will be on October 4th and the theme is around wellbeing. Speaker Viv Grant will be addressing the title: ‘Daring Greatly: How successful school leaders rise above the challenges of their roles and stay connected to their vision, passion and purpose’. Please hold the date in your diary.


Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

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