Happy Diwali!

Wishing a very happy Diwali to everyone across Brighton and Hove!

Earlier this week, Pinaki Ghoshal and other members of our team came together to enjoy some treats and celebrate.

Pinaki Ghoshal and the Performance Improvement and Programmes Team

Gold Arts Award Success

Jacob

Jacob, a young trans person, has passed his Gold Arts Award, a national Level 3 qualification with UCAS points. He has been working on the award with a BHCC Youth Participation Team youth worker for almost two years, overcoming social anxieties to take part in, and lead on, creative projects. He learnt new skills, such as mask making; creating and photographing animal masks, and also took part in photography workshops. 

For further parts of the award Jacob visited and reviewed arts events and researched the art of drag, writing to the BBC voicing his concerns that Ru Paul’s Drag Race was not trans inclusive.  He also successfully took part in arts leadership opportunities, including ones at The Tate and Barbican! Jacob said, “leading these projects was daunting at first, since I am quite a shy person but I found that once I got there and got into the projects it was a lot easier to be able to lead and talk to the public.  Overall, through doing the Arts Award I learnt a lot about being more confident, both in myself and my skills as a photographer and a leader. Working on these projects was a great experience that I enjoyed so much and would love to do again.”

Annual Education Leadership Conference

Viv Grant speaking to attendees at the conference

We were delighted to welcome Viv Grant from Integrity Coaching as our keynote speaker for the Annual Education Leadership Conference this year. She spoke about the importance of keeping connected to our values and keeping connected to what matters most in school and college leadership.  She shared some of her experiences of headship and ways to overcome the ‘sacrifice syndrome’.  The powerpoint of her presentation can be found here  http://www.beem.org.uk/Page/3121

After the keynote she facilitated a workshop in which she encouraged delegates to explore their different drivers and think about how they affect behaviours. Feedback from the day has been very positive and we are hoping to do some further work with Viv with our school governors and to support the development of our wellbeing strategy going forward – watch this space.

National Adoption Week

National Adoption Week took place between 14-20 October.  The week reminds us to celebrate our families through adoption in Brighton and Hove and the good work schools can do to support them and promote the education of children and young people adopted from care.

We have excellent examples locally of schools carrying out termly Personal Education Plans for children adopted from care, schools that facilitate regular meetings of parents through adoption and who set up ‘Key Adults’ and ‘Teams Around the Child’.  Our ‘Designated Teachers’ for children previously in care attend network events for information and advice which are organised by our Virtual School - which also provides a Helpline for parents, school staff and other professionals on education matters. 

We have received some excellent feedback from Parent Adopters:

“The school groups are a great idea – we need as many ways as possible to share experiences and inform schools about the needs of our children and the support many of them need to negotiate their education”. 

We provide workshops on education matters for parents to attend and clinics for parents and school staff to explore helpful tips and strategies – these Workshops and Clinics receive very positive feedback from parents: 

“Thank you this was really helpful. Lots of ideas to use with my daughter” (Workshop) 

“Really helps with joined up thinking” (Clinic)

Please see our helpful resources:- 

https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/VS%20Training%20Offer%202019-20.pdf

and

https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/Transitions%20Virtual%20School%20CiC%20and%20PiC%20SL%20final%20April%2019%20smaller%20file.pdf

and
https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/sites/brighton-hove.gov.uk/files/Behaviour%20Regulation%20Policy%20Guidance%20-%20Sep%2018_1.pdf

Period Positive

Attendees at the twilight workshop

The council has provided the Personal Social Health Education Service with funding to support work in schools to end period stigma and create #PeriodPositive schools in which pupils and students will feel confident to ask for menstrual products if they do not have them or cannot afford them. This funding has enabled the Personal Social Health Education Service to be trained by Chella Quint, founder of #PeriodPositive. Chella has also delivered a twilight workshop to interested schools and services from across the city. Those who attended enjoyed learning the menstrual products song and dance!

The council funding will also provide puberty packs to schools who attended and curriculum based resources to be used across the city and so funding for some pilot schools. This work complements our partnership with the Red Box Project and in preparation for the Department for Education beginning its programme of funded period products for schools.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-sanitary-products-in-all-primary-schools 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Red Box for the work they have done in ensuring that all secondary, primary and junior schools have a Red Box and to thank schools for ensuring pupils and students have access to the menstrual products they need.  If you would like support in making your school #PeriodPositive please email pshe@brighton-hove.gov.uk   

Post Graduate Teacher Apprentices

Michael Lowe

Charlotte Gill

We are proud to congratulate the first cohort of Post Graduate Teacher Apprentices (PGTA) who have recently completed their end point assessment with a grade of Outstanding!

Michael Lowe and Charlotte Gill both embarked last year on the PGTA with University of Brighton, the first group of apprentices and schools to take part in Sussex.  

Chris Pearson, Head Teacher of Goldstone Primary School said “Michael worked with us as a TA and an INA but always showed that he had the strengths needed to become a fine teacher. The scheme gave him the chance to develop these skills in a way which gave us positives as a school and him an opportunity which otherwise would have been impossible. We employed Michael to work as a teacher in one of our year five classes”. 

Lis Bundock from The University of Brighton added “both Charlotte and Michael have been extremely gifted and talented apprentice teachers and it has been a pleasure to see them grow.  It is amazing that there is this fantastic route to NQT”. 

I am delighted to see that this scheme has been so successful and has provided such a positive outcome for both Michael and Charlotte.  The 2019 cohort started in July this year, and we look forward to welcoming a new group of talented apprentices to the world of teaching very soon.  

For more info about apprenticeships, please contact Gavin Graham on gavin.graham@brighton-hove.gov.uk or 01273 293320.

Black History Month

To coincide with Black History Month the Council encouraged staff to wear specially commissioned badges remembering the lives of historical Black and Minority Ethnic people with connections to Brighton & Hove.  Schools in Brighton & Hove have also been marking Black History Month in a range of ways and using a range of resources including these materials about Thomas Highflyer: http://thomashighflyer.co.uk/resources/

Happy Birthday Rudyard Kipling!

Rudyard Kipling Primary School celebrated their 60th birthday this month.  Prior to the big day, the whole school assembled on the field in a RKPS 60 formation which was photographed with a drone.  Then on Friday 4 October staff and pupils celebrated in style by wearing their party clothes to school and decorating the school with banners and balloons.  A special assembly was attended by old students from the school who answered questions from current pupils.  The rain held off for all the school community to enjoy a traditional conga round the school field.  After school, pupils were invited to a party hosted in the school hall by the parents.  The atmosphere throughout the day was upbeat and fun - certainly a day to remember for pupils and staff alike.

Childminder Conference

Attendees at the Childminder Conference

Early years and childcare were delighted to welcome more than 50 of the city’s childminders to Inspiring Minds on Saturday 19 October at Hove Park School.

There are around 120 childminders in the city, providing high quality care and education for up to 360 children under five, as well as for many older children, before and after school and in the holidays. The event brought together many of these skilled professionals as well as those new to childminding to hear from a range of speakers, who reinforced their excellent practice with young children and made suggestions for new things to do.

Inspirational speakers included the legendary Dave Benson Phillips who invigorated our minds with his music and Makaton session to support early communication skills; education consultant Neil Griffiths who re-ignited our passion for storytelling and shared the importance of books and reading for our youngest children; and Vasilis Gkogkidis and Tosin Adebisi from LEGO Serious Play who inspired us to talk about our challenges and plan for success in a fun practical session.

Delegates had the chance to develop and build their networks and to hear from Jacqui Burke, early years specialist about marketing their business using social media, and from the award winning Pebbles Childcare about working together, building relations and developing a sustainable business.

Fantastic feedback from childminders included:
“Inspiring and refreshing”
“A great opportunity to network”
“Very informative, interesting and inspiring”
“Fantastic speakers”

And from the speakers:
“I loved every minute of it!” Neil Griffiths
“Congratulations on a very successful event. I was pleased to be a part of it” Jacqui Burke
“Wow! What a wonderful day of inspiring speakers, networking and information. It was an honour to be part of such a wonderful event” Pebbles Childcare

Many thanks to Annette Barnard and Zoe Cox and their colleagues in the early years team for putting on this brilliant event.

Neil Griffiths, Education Consultant

The Power of Reading for Inspirational Writing

I am delighted that we are able to support schools with their development of writing. Ten schools are taking part in ‘The Power of Reading for Inspirational Writing’, led by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education through their associate school, Rudyard Kipling. Two members of the Power of reading team talked through the evidence base and potential impact of the programme and the structure of the training development days.  Members of staff from Rudyard Kipling School shared some of their experiences of the programme.  Some of the texts that could be used were shared and there was a time for questions.

A second strand of the project, ‘Improving Writing Outcomes’, which has been commissioned from the Sussex Coast Teaching School  Alliance, is due to start on 7 November.

There have been no school Ofsted inspections so far this term but I’m sure we will hear from them again shortly so watch this space!  

Welcomes and Goodbyes

Rhian Hughes

We are delighted to welcome Rhian Hughes to Brighton & Hove City Council at the end of this month.  Rhian joins us as Head of SEN Statutory Service.  She has many years of experience working in special educational needs and is committed to supporting children and young people achieve their outcomes.

Rhian says “I look forward to working together with families, schools and services across education, health and social care to develop and shape the service. I hope to meet many of you in person as I settle in and learn more about the area.”

Jacqui Lance

At Christmas we say goodbye to Jacqui Lance, who has been Headteacher of St Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School for ten years and is now retiring.  On behalf of everyone here in Families, Children and Learning, I would like to thank Jacqui for all she has done for the children at her school and across the city. 

The school motto is ‘Reaching Up, Reaching Out’ and reflects Jacqui’s commitment to excellence in all areas.  Her determination to nurture the whole child, spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally, physically and aesthetically has led to a happy and high achieving school. Jacqui has led on different initiatives across the city, including the recent curriculum conference and I know she has been a huge support to her Deanery colleagues as headteacher representative. We will miss her very much and wish her all the best for future.  

My thanks also to Sarah Clayton who is working as interim Headteacher at the school this term. 

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

Another great set of education results this year

Welcome back at the start of a new academic year. Congratulations to all schools, colleges and education providers on another great set of results this year.

It is still early days in terms of analysis but what is clear is that Attainment across all age groups is strong:

• In early years the City is in line with national averages;
• At KS1 there has been a marked increase in results compared to 2018 and our schools are above National averages in the vast majority of measures;
• At KS2 we have again seen improvements with results that are well above provisional Nationals. Reading continues to be the strongest subject for local children. Writing is also above the national figures, and maths is in line with the national average;
• At KS4, we maintain well above Nationals on the number of students achieving passes and strong passes in English and Maths in their GCSEs. The Government’s ambition is for all students to achieve a ‘strong pass’ in English and Maths combined;
• At A Level, despite reforms, results remain strong and improved. This is the sixth year running that Brighton & Hove is above or level with national benchmarks.

All in all a set of results that any city would be proud of. This is clearly the product of hard work and strong partnership working. Well done to all staff, pupils and students! Further details can be found in the early headlines report reported at CYP committee on 16 September.  https://present.brighton-hove.gov.uk/Published/C00000883/M00009732/$$ADocPackPublic.pdf

Congratulations to Coldean Primary School on achieving the Primary Science Quality Mark which was managed/led by the school’s science lead - Corinne Swayne.

The Primary School Quality Mark programme ensures effective leadership of science, enables schools to work together to share good practice and is supported by professional development led by local experts. The Primary Science Quality Mark is led by the University of Hertfordshire, School of Education in collaboration with the Primary Science Teaching Trust.

Jane Turner, PSQM National Director said: “Gaining a Primary Science Quality Mark is a significant achievement for a school. The profile and quality of science teaching and learning in each awarded school is very high. Children are engaging with great science both in and outside the classroom, developing positive attitudes towards science as well as secure scientific understanding and skills. Science subject leaders, their colleagues, head teachers, children, parents and governors should be very proud.”

Secondary School Admissions 

The School Admissions application process for pupils to start secondary school in September 2020 is now open. The closing date for applications is 31 October 2019 and parents can apply online though the council's website. There are details of the schools' open days and information about the application process in the council’s school admissions booklet.

Successful Youth Fair

Lisa Mitchell (Employment & Skills Project Officer) and Linda Shaw (Local Employment Scheme Co-ordinator) at the Youth Fair

The Employment and Skills team and the Youth Employability Service joined Local Employment Scheme Co-ordinator, Linda Shaw at a Youth Fair hosted at Hove Job Centre. Young People aged 18 to 24 were invited to attend to discuss the employment and training options available to them. The aim of this bespoke event was to support young people to move into work, apprenticeships, training or education. The event also increased the awareness of the work coaches who support the young people. 

Children and Young People Who Love to Sing

Touchbase are now running “Belong”: a funky choir for children and young people in care, or previously in care, aged 10-18 who love to sing! The choir runs fortnightly on Monday at 16.30-18.00 during term time at Hove Methodist Church and is free to attend. The singing sessions will involve Theraplay informed practice to support both regulation and relationship. Snacks and drinks will be offered on arrival. You can either turn up together with your child and complete a registration form onsite or apply for it by contacting Rhiannon@touchbase.org.uk . Foster carers and adoptive parents can take some time out nearby in the local cafes. Come join us!  

We hope to hear them sing at a number of events across the city this year – so watch this space!

The National Apprenticeship Awards 2019 regional winners have been announced, with winners from a wide range of industries and occupations now progressing to the national stage of the National Apprenticeship Awards 2019. Well done to Mairna Marzoug from Brighton & Hove City Council who won The Nuclear Decommissioning Site Licence Companies Award for Higher or Degree Apprentice of the Year 2019 and is now gearing up for entry to the national awards to be held later this year.

Mairna Marzoug from Brighton & Hove City Council

Rudyard Kipling Primary School & Nursery turns 60 years old this year!  To celebrate their anniversary, the school will be holding a day of special events on 4 October.  We would like to wish them a very happy birthday and hope their celebrations are thoroughly enjoyed by everyone involved with the school.

Workshops for parents

Over this year the Parenting Team has been working in collaboration with our Secondary Schools in the City running various workshops to support parents through the teenage years. These are 2 hour workshops held in schools around ‘Coping With Teenagers’ Emotions’ and ‘Getting Teenagers to Co-operate’. This is a light touch intervention that feeds into the parenting skills courses for Parents/Carers with more complex issues. Over 60 parents attended last term alone. 

Parents have told us: “Useful and well presented. Easy to organise: good communication with office. Convenient time and location."

For further information please contact Gina Simmonds at the Parenting Team on 01273 294471 or e-mail parenting.team@brighton-hove.gov.uk and see the Parenting Team websites at https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/children-and-education/childcare-and-family-support/parenting-team

The Sussex Council of Training Providers (SCTP) is delighted to announce that it has been successful in securing the contract to deliver the Apprenticeships Support and Knowledge for Schools (ASK) Programme in East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton & Hove. The award has been made by charity CXK, who have been granted a 3 year contract by the National Apprenticeship Service and the Department for Education to deliver the programme across the South region.

The programme will provide apprenticeship awareness assemblies, apprenticeship application workshops, careers fair attendance, free resources, a teacher CPD session or a whole range of other options. For more information see https://amazingapprenticeships.com/about-ask/ 

The ASK programme has historically been targeted at Years 10, 11, 12 and 13, and provides a variety of support including access to digital broadcasts, workshops and application support. From August 2019 the offer has expanded to include a specially tailored digital programme for younger people in Years 7, 8 and 9.

To secure your support for your school contact Vanessa Potter, Executive Director, SCTP: vanessapotter@sctp.org.uk

NQT Events

Mark Holdaway from the Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS) speaks to NQTs

Last week we had the pleasure to welcome some of this year’s Primary and Secondary NQTs at Newman College, where they were given valuable information about all the support available during their induction year. Both events included inspiring speeches from ex-NQTs and also Mark Holdaway from the Brighton & Hove Inclusion Support Service (BHISS). Behaviour management is one of the biggest concerns for NQTs and I was pleased to see that Mark is leading considerable training for NQTs in this area throughout the year, for both primary and secondary NQTs. 

Sharon Mackenzie and the School and Governance Development Team co-ordinate an extensive training & development programme and provide useful resources on our BEEM portal for all those NQTs registered with us. We hope they all have a successful and rewarding year!

UN e-Learner Climate Change Course

Following concerns by pupils about climate change, which are shared by the politicians in Brighton & Hove and leading scientists, it was agreed that we would promote the expectation that at least one teacher in every school in the city has completed the UN e-learning course on climate change in order to be able to deliver lessons on the issue in schools. The e-learning courses are free and are available here: https://unccelearn.org/course/

I would encourage all Headteachers to nominate at least one teacher to do at least one of these courses; preferably the self-paced course https://unccelearn.org/course/view.php?id=7&page=overview and the short course on Children and Climate Change https://unccelearn.org/course/view.php?id=23&page=overview . To discuss, contact Gavin Thomas, Access to Education Manager, on gavin.thomas@brighton-hove.gov.uk or 01273 293431.

Making It REAL

Last year 44 staff were trained by the National Children’s Bureau to deliver the Making it REAL project through Children’s Centres, nurseries and our libraries. This week a further seventeen early years staff were trained over two days at the Jubilee Library. So far the project has reached over two hundred families at events held across the city. In the Summer term, EMAS (Ethnic Minority Achievement Team) worked with a group of mothers from the Bangladeshi community and their nursery aged children. The project was based on the Making it REAL principles which aimed to work with parents to improve the speaking, listening and literacy skills of pre-school children and give them a positive start. It was run by EMAS staff Irene Chowdhury, Hasna Choudhury and Meeta Johnson.

The sessions were structured between events at the Children’s Centre space at Fairlight School, home visits and an environmental print walk from the Level to Jubilee Library where all the families were helped to join. There was 100% attendance at every session and there was positive feedback from all the families. The project gave the EAL (English as an Additional language) mums an opportunity to learn the important role they play in their children’s learning by engaging with them through simple everyday activities. 

Conference for School and College Leaders

Viv Grant, Speaker at the Conference for School and College Leaders

We are looking forward to seeing school and college leaders at our annual conference on 4 October at the AMEX Stadium. This year’s theme focuses on wellbeing. Keynote Speaker Viv Grant, Director of Integrity Coaching, 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”. Viv has been in the teaching profession for over 30 years and at the age of 31, was appointed as one of the youngest Heads in the country to turn around a failing primary school. 

This will be a really interesting and informative day, definitely one not to be missed! To book onto this event please contact: School & Governance Development on schools.training@brighton-hove.gov.uk or telephone 01273 293511.

It’s been a very quiet term so far with no Ofsted inspections taking place yet. I’m sure it won’t be long before we hear from them again though so watch this space! Ofsted launched their new framework in September 2019 and there is a lot of useful information available on the Ofsted Website. We would recommend everyone reads the Framework and inspection handbook. There is also a useful guide to the new area around curriculum.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/inspecting-the-curriculum

Welcomes

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

Welcome also to Matt Hillier (Head Teacher at Dorothy Stringer); Anita Philbrook (Acting Head at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School), Wendy King (Interim Head at Saltdean Primary), Ben Massey (Head of School at West Hove Infants), Lorna Cumming (Head of School at Hove Juniors), Rachael Durneen (Head of School at Hertford Junior), Amanda Meier (Head of School at the Connected Hub), and Kate Schofield (Head of School at Homewood).

    

Matt Hillier, Anita Philbrook and Wendy King

      

Ben Massey, Lorna Cumming and Rachael Durneen

                 

Amanda Meier and Kate Schofield

Best wishes,

Jo
Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

The end of another academic year

It’s that time of year when our schools and some of our education and skills providers are finishing for the summer. For others across Education and Skills and the wider partnership, you may be planning for a summer holiday or a short well deserved break from work. I’d like to wish you all well and a happy and safe summer. Thank you for your continued commitment to education, skills and our children and families across the city. 

NQT Celebration Event

Skills and attributes mapping

Congratulations to all our newly qualified teachers (NQT’s) who are coming to the end of their induction year. A celebration event was held this month by Sharon Mackenzie (School and Governance Development Manager) and her team, where NQTs spent time reflecting on their achievements so far. They also learnt about next year’s appraisal process, the opportunities available to them as they move on in their careers and the skills and attributes they hope to develop (pictured). I hope you all have a well-deserved break over the summer!

Governance training & development

New Ofsted Framework

Our final event of the academic year went down well this week, with governors and clerks spending an evening discussing the new Ofsted Framework and thinking about questions they can be asking their school leaders. Governors welcomed the fact that there would be more focus on all areas of the curriculum and time was spent considering how governors can support school leaders with this change. The Governance Development Team also held a very engaging Governance Partnership Forum this month led by Gavin Thomas, Access to Education Manager. Delegates were able to share ideas about how we as a city can support some of our most vulnerable children - such as children with medical needs, school-aged mothers, those in elective home education, poor attenders, Hidden Children, excluded children etc. Thank you to all those who contributed - including governors from Longhill (pictured, with Sharon MacKenzie and Gavin Thomas). 

Longhill governors with Sharon MacKenzie and Gavin Thomas

Congratulations - Another good set of results 

A huge thank you for all the hard work of our teachers and all school staff who have prepared children for and organised a range of assessments in primary schools this summer.
The headlines in our early analysis of provisional results show that:

• At KS2 (age 11) schools in the city remain above or at national averages in reading, writing and maths. We know that there have been particular improvements in writing progress which has been an area targeted for improvement
• At KS1 (age 7) there have been improvements in reading, writing and maths attainment to be above national averages
• In early years we continue to remain in line with national averages

Well done to all the children and staff who have worked so hard across the City. We are very proud of these successes!

As part of the ongoing collaboration of the schools in the Aspirational Partners in Learning and Partnership (APLL), they held an exhibition event to showcase some of the work done by their children throughout the year. It was hosted at Longhill High School. I was delighted to be invited and join the teachers, headteachers, councillors, governors and wider partners. The simple theme was creativity. It was well and truly an amazing event with some spectacular innovative displays from all the schools involved. Lots of learning, sharing and networking was had by all. Well done APLL and the children of course! 

Brighton & Hove Virtual School annual summer conference

Sam Wilson, Virtual School lead, speaking at the conference

Brighton & Hove Virtual School held its annual summer conference this month. Dr. Margot Sunderland, award-winning author and co-director of ‘Trauma- informed Schools’ shared not only how trauma can affect a child’s ability to learn, but also how school leaders can embrace a whole school trauma informed approach. 

We also heard how our own Brighton & Hove schools have embraced this learning and used the Attachment Aware Behaviour Regulation Policy guidance to review their own inclusive behaviour practices. To find out more about the work of Trauma Informed Schools: www.traumainformedschools.co.uk

However, it was the performances from our own Brighton & Hove children in care and children previously in care that blew us away; their talent, confidence and creativity shone through their poems and songs. The children and have been working with Little Green Pig, a local creative writing charity. More info and contact details: https://www.littlegreenpig.org.uk/  , info@littlegreenpig.org.uk , 01273 457 758

The conference was a wonderful opportunity for teachers, headteachers, educational psychologists, social workers, adopters and foster carers to come together, to explore how we can each contribute to supporting the emotional and mental health needs of our children- because we know that if we do they will achieve their very best!

Sussex Teacher of the Year Awards

The Sussex Teacher of the Year Awards was a fantastic evening, all made possible by great partnerships, and a fitting celebration to trumpet the best educators and support staff in your county. 

Mark Storey, Head of Education Standards & Achievement and Emma Gale, Maths teacher, with one of her awards 

Well done to Emma Gale from Coldean Primary School for winning the awards for Maths Teacher of the Year Brighton, Hove and Mid Sussex, and Overall Sussex Primary School Teacher of the Year. See event video: https://vimeo.com/345222247 

Looking forward to next year’s event and some more winners from Brighton & Hove! 

Carden annual Eid Picnic 

Carden Nursery and Primary School hosted their third annual Eid celebration picnic again this year. There was a fabulous array of delicious food, from curries to pastries - some which had come from as far away as Kuwait! The ever wonderful Parent Teacher Association (PTA) also provided henna tattoos for numerous delighted children. This event is not only a celebration of this particular festival but a reminder of the brilliant community at the school. Huge thanks to all who organised, attended and enjoyed the afternoon. 

Miss School Miss Out – our Citywide attendance campaign

Following on from the Miss School Miss Out attendance campaign, we’ve made a video of some of our primary school pupils saying what they like best about going to school. They told us all sorts of things they enjoy – from seeing friends to sports, maths, art and playing ninjas in the playground. Take a look: https://youtu.be/sacirXUERZU 

The video is designed to be shared with parents and pupils as part of the drive to improve attendance in our schools. It can be shown in the classroom; shared on social media and sent to new parents to share with their children. Although it is subtitled, it is far better with the sound on; so please make sure you listen as well as watch! Thank you to the staff and pupils of St Peter’s Primary for their help in producing this film and for their enthusiastic responses. 
We will also be producing another video aimed at secondary pupils next term, so watch this space. 

The council's access to education team can also offer help and advice with school attendance. Email attendanceteam@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call 01273 291378. For further advice on school attendance please visit https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/miss-school-miss-out 

Official Opening of New Build at St Bartholomew’s CE Primary School

The Bishop of Chichester at the new building entrance 

On 12 July, St Bartholomew’s CE Primary School celebrated the opening of their new extension. It looks fantastic and the inclusion of a clock above the entrance gives a focal point for people coming to and from the station and into the local supermarket. Bishop Martin of Chichester led the celebration and blessed the new build. 

Thank you and Goodbyes

It’s that time of year when some of our headteachers and principals across the partnership retire or move on. We would like to thank them all for their commitment to the children and families across the city and wish them all the best for the future. 

Paul Beverton has been Headteacher of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School in Rottingdean for four years and a deputy and teacher in the city for the whole of his career so far. In September he is taking on the headship of St Thomas a Becket Catholic Primary School in Eastbourne. We wish him all the best.
Richard Bradford came to Dorothy Stringer from leading a school in Hong Kong. As well as successful headship at Dorothy Stringer he has been instrumental in partnership working overtime, chairing the Secondary Schools Partnership and one of the founder headteachers of the Pavilion and Downs Teaching School Alliance. He will be retiring at the end of term and we wish him all the best for the next chapter of his life.

Suzanne Morgan has worked in the city for 33 years as teacher, senior leaders, consultant and Headteacher. She is leaving Saltdean Primary School at the end of term.  

Our thanks to Natalie Burley who has been Acting Headteacher at Saltdean Primary School. Natalie has done a fantastic job and we wish her well as she returns to her role as Deputy Head

We are also saying goodbye to Ellen Mulvihill, Director of the Pavilion and Downs Teaching School Alliance and former Head of Standards and Achievement and Behaviour and Attendance in the city. She is leaving to take on the role of Director of School Improvement for Surrey Schools. We are looking forward to working with her in her new role. 

Paul Beverton, Headteacher of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary, Richard Bradford, Headteacher of Dorothy Stringer, Suzanne Morgan, Headteacher of Saltdean Primary School

Ellen Mulvihill, Director of the Pavilion and Downs Teaching School Alliance, Natalie Burley, Acting Headteacher at Saltdean Primary School

Best wishes,
Jo

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