World Book Day 2020

Another exciting World Book Day takes place on Thursday 5 March.  Last year, many fun filled activities took place across Brighton and Hove to emphasise the importance of reading.  Research has shown that children who participate in World Book Day activities are more engaged in reading and books than those who don’t participate.   We are looking forward to hearing all about this year’s events across the city.

Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network

Thomas Bald at the House of Commons

Lisa Mitchell (Project Officer, Employment and Skills) and Thomas Bald (Transport Accessibility Officer Apprentice) attended the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network third anniversary reception at the House of Commons during National Apprenticeship Week in February.

The Apprenticeship Diversity Champions Network was launched to support the delivery of the Government target to increase representation in apprenticeships by 20% for individuals who are Black, Asian, or Minority Ethnic (BAME), and from individuals who have learning difficulties and disabilities by 2020. The Network has grown significantly to over 85 members recruiting more passionate champions to promote and enhance social mobility through apprenticeships.

Thomas said “Being invited to the House of Commons to attend the Apprenticeship Diversity Champion Network to represent Brighton and Hove City Council was a great experience for me, it opened my eyes to the lives and experiences of not only other apprentices, but also all sorts of different authorities and businesses that are using apprentices as part of their work force."

"There were some motivational and interesting speeches including from Cumbria County Council, and individual apprentices talking about their own experiences, how such networks really do make a difference in helping all types of people get into work.”

Apprenticeship Away Day

Andrea Weller and John Young

The Apprenticeship Team recently put on an away day supported by local news presenter John Young to support our apprentices in gaining skills needed in the world of work and preparation for their end point assessment. 

The day was a fun, interactive event, not relying on PowerPoint charts and graphs, just how learning should be done!  The apprentices gained confidence in brisk decision making, resilience, speaking up in a meeting, communication, holding your own, listening to others, collaboration and writing clearly.

Here’s what our apprentices had to say:

"I will put myself into the ring even when I feel very scared. I will do more public speaking."

"I'll communicate and take a shot, prepare myself more before doing important things."

"I'll speak up! And have the courage to take the shot."

"I'll write more concise emails where face-to-face on phone conversations aren't possible."

"I'll take more time out to help motivate and encourage staff to challenge themselves. I'll trust myself to just do it, stand up and be strong."

"I'll have more confidence to do my EPA."

For more information on John Young’s workshops, please see www.johnyoungmedia.co.uk

Apprentices at the away day

Dorothy Stringer School Successes

Congratulations must go to several students at Dorothy Stringer School who have recently achieved some amazing sporting accolades.

Dylan Hicks in Year 11 has been selected to join the Great Britain Cycling Team as an apprentice for the 2020 season.  As one of 15 youth riders to be selected from across the UK for the road and track endurance programme, Dylan has set himself a goal to win a national title in 2020 and to continue to develop his cycling with the aim of maintaining his place within the GB Cycling Team environment in 2021.

Dan Thomson in Year 10 is a competitive table tennis player. He has recently been accepted onto the national Futures programme with the British Para Table Tennis Association.

Meanwhile, Noah Hoffmann in Year 8 has been signed for Charlton Athletic Academy Under 13 Team after being scouted by Charlton while playing for Russell Martin Academy. He was signed after impressing the coaches in a three month trial. He will be very busy with Charlton Athletic attending three afterschool sessions plus Saturday training and playing a match on Sundays.

 

Well done to Dylan and Dan and Noah on these fantastic accomplishments.  We look forward to hearing all about your future sporting successes!

Dan Thomson (photograph by © Michael Loveder)

Noah Hoffmann

PACE (Providing Access to Childcare and Employment) Project

Congratulations to Janet Cupidi, PACE keyworker at Roundabout Children’s Centre, who has recently received some very positive feedback from a family who have been helped back into employment by the PACE project.

PACE (Providing Access to Childcare and Employment) is a European funded project, assisting parents to return to work, training or volunteering by offering support for childcare needs throughout the journey.

The family said of Janet and the PACE project:-

“They covered everything and there is nothing else they could have helped with”

“My truly fabulous keyworker Janet Cupidi has been more than a keyworker to me. More a mentor and an amazing support”

“The support I have received throughout my journey has been outstanding”

“If anything everything has got better thanks to the continuous support of Janet and PACE”

“My PACE experience has made a tremendous difference to me and my family. It has not been an easy journey for many reasons but thanks to Janet and the team being there every step of the way.”

For more information about PACE please follow this link https://www.brighton-hove.gov.uk/content/children-and-education/childcare-and-family-support/take-first-step-work-training-or

National Careers Week

National Careers Week (NCW) is a celebration of careers guidance and free resources in education across the UK.  The week, which runs from 2nd to 7th March 2020, aims to provide a focus for careers guidance activity at an important stage in the academic calendar to help support young people leaving education.

We look forward to hearing more about activities across schools and colleges during the week.

For more information and resources please see the National Careers Week website www.nationalcareersweek.com where you can also view the official NCW2020 film, HOPE.

The Local Employment Scheme

Balfour Beatty is a major player in the construction industry and is currently building student accommodation on the University of Sussex campus.

Balfour has been extremely proactive in promoting careers in the industry, offering site visits and work experience opportunities to BACA, GBMET and Brighton University students.  In collaboration with the Local Employment Scheme, they have provided a number of in-depth site tours which have involved a pre-tour talk by the project director and then a walk through the project where they are shown methods used for modern construction, explanations about the various roles and equipment used on site as well as the potential career paths in the industry.

Balfour run a regular webinar (Construction Live Broadcast) and their Community and Education Liaison Manager, Fiona Gush has sent through a link to a webinar to be run on:

Tuesday 3 March at 10.30am from Embrook School in Wokingham.

Schools will need to register on: https://learnliveuk.com/construction-live-5/#teamscape

The broadcast will provide valuable information on the construction industry and the exciting career opportunities available and will be a timely opportunity during Careers Week.  The Balfour Beatty also contains information on apprenticeships with a section where interested students can apply www.balfourbeatty.com

Things have been busy in the city this month with inspections at Moulsecoomb Primary School, Hove Junior School, Balfour Primary School and Downs View Special School.  We are looking forward to all of these reports being finalised.

The Homewood College report has now been released and it is an RI judgement.  However, the improvements in the school are clearly recognised in the report.

BHCC’s Adult and Community Learning inspection has taken place this month and we have had our local authority focused Ofsted visit on children in need and those subject to a child protection plan to establish whether children receive the right help at the right time.  We have also had our visit from Ofsted for our annual conversation regarding all Family, Children and Learning services and outcomes.  We look forward to these reports being finalised.

Welcomes

I am delighted to inform you that following external recruitment and a competitive process Carla Butler has been appointed as the Head of Skills and Employment. We are looking forward to continued work with her to achieve further success in the service.

Tracie James will be starting her new role as Youth Work Coordinator on Monday 2 March working with Debbie Corbridge on the Youth Review and commissioning arrangements.  Tracie has a wealth of experience in youth work and has worked for the council for many years; we are pleased to welcome her to this service area.

We are also very pleased to welcome Becky Surman who will also be joining us on Monday 2 March.  Becky’s role will be the Prevention Programme Manager leading on Troubled Families and the Whole Family Working Strategy. 

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.

Happy Chinese New Year

Wishing a very happy Chinese new year to everyone across Brighton and Hove!

2020 is the Year of the Rat. It was great to hear about all the celebrations going on in schools and around the city highlighting the positive partnerships we have with our Chinese community.

Young Carers Awareness Day 2020



I was delighted to attend the #YoungCarersAwarenessDay event last night at the Brighthelm Centre to present awards to some amazing children and young people.  The evening, which was organised by the Council and the Carers Centre for Brighton and Hove, celebrated the achievements of Young Carers across the city. 

Young Carers Awareness Day is an annual event, led by Carers Trust, which aims to raise awareness of the challenges faced by young carers and campaigns for greater support.   Every day across the UK thousands of young people help to look after someone in their family, or a friend, who is ill, disabled or misuses drugs or alcohol. 

Please watch and share this video arranged by and starring the Young Carers’ Family Coach Katie Shortt plus a Young Carer, promoting Young Carers Awareness Day  https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2020/citys-young-carers-take-centre-stage

Well done to everyone involved in making the evening such a successful event.

Joint Career Leaders and Work Experience Co-ordinators Meeting

A recent meeting was held between secondary school and college Career Leaders and work experience co-ordinators to discuss how we can work proactively together to  support the achievement of the Gatsby Benchmark 6  - experiences of workplaces, which recommends that every student should have first-hand experience of the workplace:-

o By the age of 16, every student should have had at least one experience of a workplace, additional to any part-time jobs they may have.

o By the age of 18, every student should have had one further such experience, additional to any part-time jobs they may have.

The new Ofsted Framework  includes a new section on the judgment of ‘Personal Development’ which focuses on many dimensions of personal development and evaluates the education centre’s intent to provide for the personal development of all pupils and evaluates the quality with which the education centre implements this work.  At the meeting facilitated by the Employment and Skills Project Officer and the C2C Enterprise Co-ordinator, participants shared challenges and best practice around meaningful encounters with employers and the world of work, and discussed collaborative approaches to enhance current activity.

SEND/Inclusion Conference

This term’s School & College Leaders’ Meeting on 7 February at the University of Sussex will focus on Whole School Inclusion: working in partnership to ensure high impact interventions for SEND learners to reduce exclusions and increase engagement with the curriculum.

The aim of the meeting is to contribute intelligent analysis, knowledge and experience to promote the development of policy and practice in Brighton & Hove schools for the inclusion of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities.
This conference will focus on value of whole school SEND. The Keynote Speaker will David Bartram OBE, Director Prescient Education.  There will also be stimulating workshops delivered by local specialist leads running during the conference.

This is an important opportunity for Headteachers, Principals and Heads of School to benefit from participating in this event to help inform and discuss how best to meet the needs of children and young people with SEND.  SENCOs are also welcome to attend with their headteachers/ principals.

Please sign up via BEEM (login required), email schools.training@brighton-hove.gov.uk or call 01273 293511 by Friday 31 January 2020.

Holocaust Memorial Day 2020 #Stand Together

The Brighton & Hove Jewish Community's Holocaust Education Project together with the Rwandan Youth Information Community Organisation (rYico) and Brighton and Hove City Council commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day on Monday, 27 January.

Moving and powerful speeches were given by Bryan Huberman, the son of the late Alfred Huberman, a Brighton-based tailor by trade and one of a group of 732 orphaned child survivors of Nazi concentration camps who came to the UK in 1945 and Vivenie Mugunga; one of the original founders of rYico, a UK-based charity that supports vulnerable young people in Rwanda.

 

Many schools will have marked this important day, perhaps using materials sent out by the Equality & Anti-Bullying Service. 

Thinking about how all communities in Brighton & Hove can #StandTogether is an important message in the context of what appears to be an increase in prejudiced and hate incidents.

The Power of Reading

We are pleased to be supporting 12 schools in the city with the Centre For Literacy In Primary Education (CLPE) project ‘The Power of Reading’.

Day 1 of the four day training programme was held at Rudyard Kipling Primary School earlier this month.  I am delighted that Rudyard Kipling has been awarded ‘Associate School’ status for the Power of Reading.  Teachers were very happy to be given bags of high quality texts that they can use in their classrooms.  

Well done to all involved in this project.

Fairlight Primary School – Sharing Prayer Room Practice

Damien Jordan, Headteacher at Fairlight was approached by some Year 5 and 6 Muslim boys asking for a space to pray in school. Damien found a space and worked with the pupils, parents and EMAS staff to provide what was needed within the space, including washing facilities and to reflect on issues such as the age of the children and how the space can be used by girls and boys.

Imam Uthman from Al-Medinah Mosque also provided support to the school particularly to ensure the school was confident in its messaging to pupils.  Messages included for example the idea that it is up to individuals to choose if they want to pray and not for older siblings or peers to exert any pressure.  Damien feels that this has been very much pupil led with his role being to ask questions and from a careful distance monitor the use of the room.  Damien reports that this has further strengthened relationships with pupils and their families. 

One parent wrote to Damien saying;

“We do appreciate the effort from the headteacher, the staff and teachers…to embrace the beauty of different colours with your inclusive program. The fact that the school provides a room for prayer and even invited Imam of Al Medinah Mosque last week really touches us.”

Damien also commented that this could be extended to a ‘Multi-faith’ or ‘Reflection’ Room if a space is requested by pupils of different faiths.  Damien is happy for other schools to contact him to find out more (DamienJordan@fairlight.brighton-hove.sch.uk).

The Faith and Belief in Educational Settings Guidance is also available on www.BEEM.org.uk (log-in – protected groups – religion) to provide useful contextual information related to prayer rooms.

Congratulations Hove Park

I am delighted to confirm that following a recent visit by the awarding body assessor, Hove Park School has now been accredited with the Wellbeing Award for Schools.  The assessor was incredibly impressed with everything he heard and saw.  He commented on the very positive relationships between staff and students and the obvious care and support the school shows for each other and the whole school community.   Congratulations to Jim Roberts and all at Hove Park School.

The attached link sets out further information about the framework and the criteria needed for the award. https://www.awardplace.co.uk/award/was

Primary Headteachers Meeting

The Primary Headteachers meeting took place on 21 January at the University of Sussex.

The morning started with an update from George Roe from Public Health, BHCC about the Back on Track training which offers support to families where a parent is drinking too much.

For information on the support offered for parents, and to contact Francesca Carpenter, the Family Practitioner who works with parents please go to: https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/back-track-brighton-hove/support-parents-or-carers-who-would-drink-less

To find out more about the support for children and young people and to contact Youstina Brais, the Family Practitioner who works with children and young people please see: https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/back-track-brighton-hove/support-young-people-who-are-worried-about-parents-drinking

For more information on how to book on to training please go to: https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/back-track-brighton-hove/help-professionals-support-families or contact george.roe@brighton-hove.gov.uk to learn more about the bespoke, onsite training which can be offered.

Linsey McGill then provided an update about the specialist CAHMS service and supporting and referring families – for more information please contact linsey.mcgill@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Gillian Hibbert, Safeguarding lead provided a presentation regarding Safeguarding, particularly around the requirements that have been highlighted by Ofsted in recent inspections.

Hilary Ferries, Senior Adviser: Education Partnerships then led a workshop for headteachers to discuss the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership Priorities of disadvantaged, inclusion and wellbeing and record what is already going well and what more could be done.  These will be collated and given to the groups leading on the priorities.  Headteachers are very welcome to join one of the groups and can contact Hilary Ferries for more details on 01273 293738 or email Hilary.Ferries@brighton-hove.gov.uk

An event is being planned to give Headteachers the opportunity to discuss the Ofsted process in more detail and to hear from a guest speaker.  The event will take place on 30 March 2020 from 1pm at the University of Sussex.  More details about this will be available on BEEM shortly.

It All Adds Up

At the Maths Project Meeting this week it was great to be with teachers talking about how best to teach maths and different strategies they could use. ‘It All Adds Up’ has been our maths project, in partnership with Sussex Coast Teaching School Alliance and two wonderful specialist maths teachers in the city, who are also part of the Sussex Maths Hub.



As part of our Miss School Miss Out attendance campaign, we’ve made a video of some of our secondary school pupils saying what they like best about going to school.

They told us all sorts of things that they enjoy – from seeing friends to football and netball, maths and art, film club, and study trips to London, Amsterdam and Harry Potter!

Every school in Brighton & Hove has staff trained to help families who are struggling with school attendance. Please contact your school for their support in the first instance.

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.

The new Miss School Miss Out secondary age video is now on our website with an accompanying statement:
 https://new.brighton-hove.gov.uk/news/2020/miss-school-miss-out

Bevendean and Woodingdean Primary Schools have received the outcomes of their inspections which took place in December.  I am delighted to announce that they both retained their “Good” Ofsted judgements.

The inspector at Bevendean said “This school is indeed ‘a place for everyone to succeed and thrive Pupils are happy, proud of their learning, confident that they are doing well and ambitious for their futures.”

At Woodingdean the inspector stated: “Pupils enjoy coming to school. They speak confidently about their work. Pupils are attentive and respectful. They hold doors open for visitors. Pupils who have difficulty making the right choices about how to behave get a range of effective support.”

Congratulations to everyone at Bevendean Primary School and Woodingdean Primary School on these great outcomes.

Welcomes and Goodbyes

This term we welcome Paul Barber to Brighton & Hove.  Paul is the new headteacher at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School. Our thanks to Anita Philbrook for taking on the role of acting headteacher last term and all best wishes to Paul.



Paul Barber

We are putting some extra Head of Service resource into Education & Skills given the need for us to continue to have effective oversight and strategic ownership of work within the branch, which includes Home to School Transport.  This will be for a 3 month period on a part time basis.  Regan Delf will be joining us on 13 January 2020 to provide additional Head of Service capacity and will be the interim lead for Home to School Transport.  Rob Glaister is joining us on secondment from Housing on 20 January 2020 to be the team manager, with day to day responsibility for operational matters.  These arrangements will enable Richard Barker (Head of School Organisation) to work on the other priority areas within his service.

Regan Delf



Rob Glaister

Sad news

Hugh Baldry, who worked with us a school partnership adviser from 2014-2015, had an incredible fight with a range of health issues, but sadly passed away on December 27th.  His family were around him. His daughter Abi, who used to teach at St Mark’s said ‘a peaceful end for an incredible man’.

Hugh Baldry




Best wishes,
Jo

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



Happy Christmas

Wishing you a Happy Christmas

and good wishes

for the New Year

 from

 Jo Lyons

and the

Education & Skills team

I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a happy Christmas and new year.  Thank you for your contribution to education and skills and wider families, children and learning agendas in 2019.   Although there have been challenges, I have been extremely proud of the continued excellent practice and good outcomes for our schools and wider education providers, children, young people and families this year.  I hope you all enjoy your well-deserved break and I look forward to working with you in the new year.

Youth Employment Service (YES) Service Achieve Matrix Award

The Matrix Standard is a unique quality standard for organisations to assess and measure their advice and support services, which ultimately supports individuals in their choice of career, learning, work and life goals.

There was a two day assessment where the assessor met with 15 clients, parents and carers and partner organisations for 360 feedback and spoke to managers and advisers about their roles and the impact on local families’ lives.

 

The national assessor was impressed with the level of tailored support for young people and commented  “Each client is receiving bespoke support that is customised to take into account the whole person and their individual circumstances, with action plans frequently reviewed to help achieve an EET (Education, Employment or Training) outcome…The City of Brighton and Hove has every right to be very proud of YES and how it is fulfilling the key role of ensuring no one is left behind.”

Congratulations to the YES Service on these excellent outcomes.

Congratulations to Michael Lowe who won Apprentice of The Year at the Sussex Business Awards on 5 December, beating three other finalists to the title.  Michael, who successfully completed his Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship at the University of Brighton, undertook the programme while at Goldstone Primary School and is now a fully qualified teacher at the school.

Lis Bundock, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education, said: “Michael’s amazing – a little bit of magic happens in his classroom.  We are truly delighted that Michael’s well-earned success has been recognised with this prestigious award.”

Goldstone’s Head Teacher, Chris Pearson, added: “Michael is a great example of what degree apprenticeships are all about. They are a great way of bringing on the talent that you can see standing in front of you.”

Michael said “Winning the Apprentice of the Year award was a genuine surprise but the reaction I have had from colleagues and friends has been lovely. I have worked for Goldstone Primary for ten years now, firstly as an INA, then as a TA and having completed my ITT at the school I am now a teacher. The course was definitely challenging, but I was surrounded by a wonderful group of people who supported me and it was a very worthwhile experience.”

I am delighted to hear that Michael has been rewarded for all of his hard work and I look forward to hearing more success stories from other apprentices on the scheme.  For more information about apprenticeships, please contact Gavin Graham on 01273 293320 or apprenticeships@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Michael Lowe with Chris Pearson, Headteacher of Goldstone Primary School

Bike It Wild

Presentation at the Bike It Wild event

Blatchington Mill held a celebration of their Girls’ Cycling Club last week.  The school noticed that the majority of pupils cycling to school were boys and started up a cycling club just for girls. This was hugely successful and a trip was planned in the summer.  It turned out to be the hottest day of the year when they cycled up to the South Downs and slept under the stars.  At the event last week, the girls gave a presentation about the club and the trip, the fun they had and the positive difference it had made to their confidence and self-esteem.  There are plans to reconvene in the summer term.

The school also showed a film about climate change and how pupils at Blatchington Mill are leading the way in their school, questioning practice and making suggestions.  Even the school ties are now made from recycled materials.

Well done to Blatchington for such running two such successful and engaging projects.  I look forward to hearing more in the future about both the Girls’ Cycling Club and the pupils’ endeavours to fight climate change.

It All Adds Up

Our Local Authority maths project, ‘It all adds up’ has been receiving very positive evaluations from teachers in the city.  The teachers have said they have found many things helpful, including: 

‘Discussion of strategies and games to help children learn well’, ‘fluency games’, ‘subject knowledge’,’ the opportunity to work through examples of how to teach and see the progression of strategies’ and ‘having time to really think through the different strategies to consider effectiveness and misconceptions and the opportunity for open discussion’.

The twilight planning session was attended by staff from across the year groups and gave the opportunity for joint planning and discussion.

Many thanks to the Sussex Coast Teaching School Alliance and the Sussex Maths Hub for working in partnership with us on this important project and for organising such a valuable development opportunity.

City Wide School Writing Strategy





Several schools are getting ready to take part in the Power of Reading (for inspirational writing) which starts in January,   The programme is led by the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education, at Rudyard Kipling Primary School, who are an associate school.  My thanks to Joanne Smith for her hospitality and for taking this forward.

It is good to see so many schools engaging with the English Hub at Springhill Catholic Primary School in Southampton.  If you are interested in finding out more, their website is https://www.springhillcatholic.co.uk/information-1/ .  They have an offer of courses, visits and audits.

Our third strand to the writing focus, Improving Writing Outcomes, is based on the successful methodology of the recent DfE funded maths project.  It  is also receiving positive evaluations from teachers.  These include:  ‘time to reflect on how to use texts linked to writing and the value of this’, lots of useful and practical ideas we can use’, ‘sharing ideas/experiences with lots of other schools’, ‘time to talk’ and ‘getting ideas from organisers as well as attendees and useful tips for books to read and activities’. 

We hope to see the impact of these programmes in the pupils’ enjoyment of and engagement in writing, as well as in the end of key stage outcomes.

We are keen to work with schools to plan and devise city wide programmes on areas for improvement.  If you have ideas and suggestions, please contact Hilary Ferries at hilary.ferries@brighton-hove.gov.uk

Healthy Schools Celebration Event

Cllr Dee Simson presenting the Awards to the winners

On Thursday 28 November 33 infant, primary and secondary schools attended a celebration event at the Sussex County Cricket ground to celebrate their schools achieving one of the following awards:

School Games Mark – Sport and Physical Activity
A Smile or I am Whole Award – Mental Health
Healthy Choice Breakfast Club Award  - Healthy Eating

54 schools in the city have achieved one of these awards in 2018/19.

It was a great afternoon celebrating and showcasing all of the great work these schools are doing around physical activity, emotional social wellbeing and healthy eating.  Cllr Dee Simson presented the pupils and teachers from these schools with their awards.   Inspired by each other’s work around these 3 main themes, schools were also encouraged to make pledges to go back to school and change / do something different for next year.

Well done to all of the schools involved and I look forward to hearing about the pledges which have been made following the event.

Cllr Dee Simson and the winners

A Jolly Festive Sing-Song

I was delighted to attend a wonderfully festive evening at the Brighton Centre on Monday 2 December – The Schools Christmas Concert. This annual event is a great example of the Brighton & Hove Education Partnership working at its best.

The children and young people, parents, carers and audience guests enjoyed the carefully rehearsed and enthusiastically presented Christmas sing along with swing band and orchestral numbers, Santa hats, tinsel and reindeer antlers in abundance.

The evening was a fantastic success.  Well done to everyone involved!

Ofsted inspectors have been busy in the city over the last month. 

 

St Mary Magdalen was the first school to receive a Good outcome under the new Inspection Framework within the city. The inspector said: “This is a highly inclusive, multicultural school, where pupils mix well together. Leaders have created a culture of care where all children are welcomed and embraced.” 

Leaders promote high academic and pastoral ambitions for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They believe there are no limits or ceiling on what any pupil can achieve and actively seek out the best support for pupils to enable them to succeed.”

Homewood College and Bevendean Primary School received inspections in the first week in December.  We are still waiting for the final reports for Benfield, Woodingdean and Bevendean Primary Schools and Homewood College and will update you about these in the January blog.

We are looking at organising a conference / workshop about the new framework, which is likely to take place on 28 February.  Please look out for more information in the new year.

Best wishes,
Jo

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



Stonewall Champion

I am absolutely delighted to confirm that following submission of evidence in July to Stonewall’s Children and Young People’s Champion Award, Brighton & Hove City Council has recently won the Gold Award with a score of 126/130.

A range of evidence of work done to prevent homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and to promote lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans inclusion was required from teams within Families, Children and Learning and from schools for criteria related to training, working groups and strategic leadership.

This is a positive reflection of the hard work of staff in our schools and our partnership working with the ever brilliant Allsorts Youth Project who provide a range of support including training, LGBT Peer educator sessions in school and support for parents and carers of LGBT young people.  

I would like to record thanks to Allsorts and also to Sam Beal, our Partnership Adviser: Health & Wellbeing, for her tremendous work with partners city wide which has been reflected in this award.  

Huge congratulations on this fantastic achievement to everyone involved. 

Anti Bullying Week

Anti Bullying Week took place from 11-15 November with a theme of ‘Change Starts with Us’. This nationwide event is organised by the Anti Bullying Alliance and is intended to raise awareness of the issue of bullying among children, especially in schools. Children of all ages as well as parents and carers are encouraged to get involved in the event and take part in activities that will help to shine a light on the problem of bullying and ways to help resolve the issue. In Brighton & Hove a wide-range of activities took place this year. Thanks to schools for participating in this year’s anti-bullying week, I have enjoyed hearing about activities via Twitter. We have had positive feedback on the resources produced by the Equality and Anti-Bullying Service and further feedback is welcomed – please send to pshe@brighton-hove.gov.uk so that the service can continue to provide high quality resources. 

This year Patcham High took a slightly different approach to an anti-bullying week assembly.  Patcham High holds an assembly each half term marking a religious festival.  This half term, the assembly brought together Anti-Bullying Week (Change Starts With Us) and Guru Nanak's birthday being celebrated on 12 November. The assembly included an extract from the Dalai Lama's book 'A Call for Revolution' to emphasise to our young people that change does start with them. That we, as adults, have faith in them to make the right decisions and do the right thing to move our society away from "hatred, violence, selfishness, greed and fanaticism". The life of Guru Nanak was used as a role model for standing up for equality for all and fighting to remove discrimination from society. 

Be the Change

The Brighton Be the Change 2019 launch event took place on Tuesday 19 November in Hove.

Be the Change is aimed at young people from Year 9 (14 years old) who for one reason or another may be disengaged at school or lack confidence in their own abilities but who have real potential once they are involved in inspiring and engaging activities and given positive role models. The programme helps to support these young people on their journey, opening their eyes to the world of work and wealth of the possibilities and career opportunities in their hometown and beyond.   

Launching with this powerful day long conference, Be The Change brings together young people with business guides from the local area. Schools participating include BACA, Varndean, Blatchington Mill, Longhill and Cardinal Newman.  The event was an interactive and engaging experience which shed light on the importance of individual qualities as well as qualifications and demonstrated to young people that (although not always academic) they are bright and talented and, with support, they can have successful futures. 

I look forward to hearing more about this programme over the coming months.

Every Child a Reader

We are very excited about the additional resource in place to expand Every Child a Reader (ECaR) across the authority so that more children in our schools can benefit from this excellent provision.

Primary and Secondary schools have been invited to sign up to train teaching assistants for Better Reading @Primary (BRP), Fischer Family Trust Wave 3 (FFTW3) or Inference Training by Friday 29 November. Bex Shore, our ECaR Teacher Leader and Joyti Azad, LA Strategic Lead, will be meeting with Primary Headteachers at their next briefing to explain these interventions in more detail and share the exciting way forward by bringing ECaR into more of our schools. 

Schools that currently have an ECaR teacher have seen the impact on reading throughout their communities:

“There are many reasons why the ability to read is a challenge for some but we know that the Every Child a Reader programme can demystify the process and open up the wonderful world or reading and writing for a child. At Middle Street, Vicky’s role as an ECaR teacher impacts across the whole school as well as opening up the world of literature and enriching the lives of the individual children she has worked with over the years.” Julie Aldous, Headteacher at Middle Street Primary School.

“Rudyard Kipling is exceptionally fortunate to have a full time ECaR teacher, Julia Tooke, who is a highly skilled practitioner and middle leader who drives reading and writing throughout the school. Her knowledge and expertise is shared with a team of TAs who lead interventions to positively support the role of ECaR at Rudyard.” Joanne Smith, Headteacher at Rudyard Kipling Primary School. 

We look forward to working together in this area so that we can continue to open up a whole new world for children through the joy of reading. 

Family Learning Halloween Event

Family Learning Brighton & Hove held a Halloween event at Hangleton Library on Sunday 27 October to celebrate Family Learning Festival month.   Twenty five local families joined us for spooky stories and crafts and picked up packs of English, maths, crafting and scavenger hunt activities to take home for half term.  It was lovely to see families enjoying the activities together and a good opportunity to share information about the Family Learning service in Brighton & Hove and to hand out the Campaign for Learning Best Coach guides.

For information about Family Learning Brighton & Hove please contact Kirsty Cregan on 01273 810213.

O360 Young Leaders

Brighton & Hove Music & Arts have been leading Orchestra 360 (o360), an inclusive music group for children and young people with Special Educational Needs/Disabilities and their parents/carers and siblings for 3 years; and the group has become one of our largest and most popular music activities, with over 100 children and young people taking part.

Ahead of o360 sessions running in November and December, working towards a performance on 14 December 2019; a group of 6 o360 members were invited to a Young Leaders training day, to develop their musical and leadership skills. Music leaders who facilitate the group were keen to find new ways to support the young people to make good musical progress, while also designing a training pathway that will open-up new opportunities in music leadership for young people with SEND.

All the young people took part in warm up games, rhythmic and singing activities; discussion and practice of how to lead music activities with young people; a carousel of taster sessions where they each tried 5 different instruments; more intensive individual tuition on a chosen instrument and group music-making activities. 

Facilitated by James Redwood, Emma Collins and a team of music leaders from Brighton & Hove Music & Arts, the day was successful in piloting a new approach to supporting aspiring music leaders and further o360 Young Leader training will be offered on a regular basis throughout the coming year, in conjunction with the orchestra’s regular programme of activity.

One parent of a young participant said ‘I just wanted to let you know that my daughter has not stopped talking about how much she enjoyed Saturday. It is often quite hard to get her to talk about what she has been doing but she hasn’t stopped talking about what music she did, how she can help set up and encourage younger children. It really had a big impact on her.’

For more information about o360 please visit the website:

https://www.bhma.org.uk/inclusive-ensembles

Children in Care and Care Leavers Awards

Every child or young person in care has had different experiences in life.  The Children in Care and Care Leavers Awards is an annual celebration recognising the personal achievements of children and young people who are in care or have been in care in Brighton & Hove.

Designed to recognise how award winners have made a difference to their own or someone else’s life, the theme for this year’s event was “Reach for the Stars” to show that there is no limit to how high people can aim or how far their success can soar.

The annual awards took place last week on Friday 22 November, hosted by British Airways i360.  I’d like to offer congratulations to all the awards winners and everyone who has worked so hard to make this celebration such an inspiring and successful event.

Brighton & Hove Primary Schools Cross Country

The Brighton & Hove Primary Schools Cross Country event took place on 20 November.  1,197 children, from 43 different primary schools, completed the course safely and with lots of smiles on their faces! 

A big thank you to the 48 Sports Leaders from Hove Park, Blatchington Mill and Dorothy Stringer who helped get all of these children around the course safely.   Thank you as well to Phoenix Athletics club and their volunteers for helping with the funnel. 

The children who finished in the top 5 in the year 5 races and top 10 in the year 6 races will be invited along to the Sussex School Games finals on Thursday 2 April at Waterhall to represent Brighton & Hove. 

There are lots of opportunities in the city to get running: 

Parkrun 

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/prestonpark-juniors/

https://www.parkrun.org.uk/hovepark-juniors/

Brighton Marathon and Brighton Half Marathon Youth Races 

https://www.brightonmarathonweekend.co.uk/events/mini-mile/

https://www.brightonhalfmarathon.com/take-part/youth-race/

Brighton Athletics Club 

https://brightonandhoveac.com/

Phoenix Athletics Club 

https://brightonphoenix.org.uk/

School Attendance

I’m delighted that our attendance campaign “Miss School Miss Out” championed by our Brighton & Hove Education Partnership is starting to have real impact.

Pupil absence in Brighton & Hove has decreased by 0.25% from 5.06% in 2017/18 to 4.81% in 2018/19.  This is our lowest average pupil absence in the last 6 years and the second lowest average in the last 13 years.  Persistent absence has decreased by 1.13% from 11.77% in 2017/18 to 10.64% in 2018/19.  This is our lowest percentage of pupils classed as being persistently absent ever.

Well done to all our schools and the Access to Education Team for their continued focus on this important area of work.

We have now had three inspections at primary schools under the new Inspection Framework, which started in September 2019:  St Mary Magdalen Catholic Primary School received a Section 5 inspection and Benfield Primary and Woodingdean Primary School received Section 8 inspections (Woodingdean’s finishes today 29 November).

We are now awaiting the results of these inspections and look forward to reporting these in the next newsletter.

Bright Start Nursery Rated 'Good' by Ofsted

Congratulations to Bright Start nursery in central Brighton which has been rated ‘good’ by Ofsted.

Their inspector described Bright Start, which is run by Brighton & Hove City Council, as a vibrant, busy and stimulating nursery. They said that:

• Children are very happy and safe, and their well-being is given very high priority

• Parents say how staff go above and beyond what they expect and confirmed how happy they are with the care provided

• Behaviour is good and every child's unique qualities are understood and catered for

• Staff work hard to make sure every child achieves well, especially those who need extra help with their learning

• The curriculum offers children a broad range of learning experiences

• Children leave Bright Start confident, sociable and ready for their future learning.

See here for further information about Bright Start nursery.

Congratulations to all of the staff at Bright Start and everyone involved in achieving this result.

Welcomes

We would like to welcome Simon Davies, the new Head at Balfour Primary School.  We are all looking forward to working closely with him in his new role.

Welcome also to two new members of the Access to Education Team:-  Natasha Young who is an Engagement Officer with a particular emphasis on monitoring Elective Home Education (EHE) and Hannah Campbell who is working on Child Performance/ Chaperone Licences.

Best wishes,

Jo

Keep in touch and follow me on Twitter @JoMLyons

Find details here Twitter accounts across all council services.