Preparing for study, work and life |
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Leadership, recruitment and retention |
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Teach Portsmouth Week - My Teacher on a Postcard Exhibition |
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The My Teacher on a Postcard Art Exhibition which will be taking place during Teach Portsmouth week in September 2019. Has your school decided how it will take part? Please take a look at the information which is attached and tells you more.
At your school - who will take part? (a class, a year group, a project group or wider across your school?) Don’t forget adults can also take part.
Please let us know how many postcards your school would like.
We expect the exhibition will be last for a number of days during Teach Portsmouth week (w/c 30 September 2019) and we hope you will want to bring groups from your school to see the exhibition and vote for your favourite postcards. There are prizes for the winning artists and their schools.
Teach Portsmouth Awards |
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The countdown is now underway!
Nominations for the Teach Portsmouth Awards close on Friday 28th June.
Nominations are welcomed from schools, colleges, multi academy trusts and all partners involved in the Portsmouth Education Partnership. Please think about who you might wish to put forward and get those nominations in! (Details of the Awards here and the Nominations Form here).
You can also find more information about all the Teach Portsmouth Week events on the Teach Portsmouth website www.teachportsmouth.co.uk, and don't forget to follow #TeachPortsmouth for information on this exciting event!
For your diary, the Teach Portsmouth Awards evening is on Friday 4th October 2019, so please keep the date free!
Portsmouth School Experience Programme - funding available for schools
At the beginning of September we will be launching the first of our campaigns to encourage people to consider teaching in Portsmouth. The campaign will include the invitation to prospective teachers to register to gain school experience in a Portsmouth school.
We are therefore looking for host schools to take prospective teachers over the course of the 2019/20 school year, probably over 2-3 days, and allow them to:
- Sit in on a variety of lessons, working with pupils under the guidance of the teacher;
- Receive advice from the Head or CPD lead on routes into teaching;
- Talk to a newly or recently qualified teacher in the school about their experience.
We hope to be able to secure some funding from the Portsmouth Education Elementary Fund to contribute to the administrative costs to schools of providing quality school experiences which could be up to £1500 for a school (or group of schools) able to take up to 10 prospective teachers over the course of the year.
To express an initial interest in taking part please contact Alison.Critchley@portsmouthcc.gov.uk by Tuesday 25 June.
Governor Training for 2019/20
The new co-ordinated governor training offer for 2019/20 is now live and available to book on the traded services website. So far we have 18 courses available to book, with topics ranging from inclusion and exclusions, to understanding school finance, to raising the attainment of BME and EAL pupils. The first session is an induction for new governors, which will take place at the Civic Offices on Tuesday 17 September from 4.30pm-6.00pm. Most courses are priced at £45 per attendee (significantly cheaper than other similar courses on offer locally), and will be tailored to a Portsmouth specific context.
I would be grateful for your help in sharing information about this training with governor colleagues, and booking governors onto appropriate training or encouraging them to sign up for relevant courses themselves. For governors to book on directly they will need to set themselves up as users of the traded services website by completing a short pro-forma. Requested training courses will then appear in the school's traded services basket for the school to confirm the purchase in the normal way - governors will not be able to commit expenditure without the school's authorisation. For any queries please contact schoolgovernor@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
Programmes for Early Career Teachers
As the plans for next year are in full swing, the Portsmouth Teaching School Alliance would like to draw your attention to the following linked programmes for Early Career Teachers in the city. Our aim is to begin our preparations for the envisaged changes to NQT Induction which are currently being piloted in the north of England. One year NQT Induction remains the statutory expectation and the registration letter and forms will be in your schools now. In addition, from this autumn we are offering an optional second year twilight programme for the current NQTs to further develop aspects of the Teachers' Standards. Please contact either Sophie Venables or June Hutchinson for further details at www.portsmouthtsa.org.
School Improvement |
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High praise from Ofsted following short inspection of The Harbour School
On 14th May 2019 The Harbour School received a short inspection visit by Ofsted. Ofsted confirmed that the school continues to be Good but highlighted significant improvements.
The leadership team has maintained the good quality of education in the school since the last inspection. Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I am of the opinion that the school has demonstrated strong practice and marked improvement in specific areas. This may indicate that the school has improved significantly overall. Therefore, I am recommending that the school's next inspection be a section 5 inspection.
A copy of the letter from Ofsted can be found here.
Curriculum and CPD |
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Primary Languages in Portsmouth
The latest update can be found here. Please note there are still some places available at the one day conference at the University of Southampton on Friday 19th July and on Saturday 9th November The Southern Primary Language Show is due to be held in Wokingham. Details of both events and how to register is contained in the update.
Portsmouth Ambassadors Programme - Young Ambassadors
The Portsmouth Ambassadors programme is run by Shaping Portsmouth and has been successful across the city for several years. It aims to engage the local community and businesses to drive passion for the city. The Ambassador’s role is to spread the word about the positive aspects of life here in our great waterfront city.
How does the Young Ambassadors Scheme fit into our curriculum?
The Young Ambassadors Scheme can run within your setting as a one off mini-project, fulfilling many elements of PSHE, British Values and SMSC, lasting just a few sessions (approximately 3 hours) or as a longer project covering a variety of National Curriculum objectives. It may complement and enhance a topic already on your school calendar.
The topic "Pompey Pride" has been running for a number of years in Lyndhurst Junior School, and they are happy to share planning and resources with you when you register your interest, or a member of the Steering Group could meet with you to discuss how it can be adapted to suit your needs.
How do we get involved?
Email your interest to matt.farmer@shapingportsmouth.co.uk. He will then reply to you with further details and contacts who can help with planning the scheme into your curriculum, should you require it.
Secondary school wanting to study Chinese?
The City Council has been approached by a secondary school in one of our Chinese twin cities who would like to establish a link with a secondary school in Portsmouth. They are looking to work with a school who are offering Chinese as a language option to link with their pupils who are learning English. The approach has come from Mr Albert Choi who is president of the Portsmouth Chinese Association who is well known both here in Portsmouth but also in China.
Several of the private schools in Portsmouth are establishing links like this but we are keen that state funded schools in Portsmouth also have the opportunity to do this. If you would be interested in pursuing this, please do get in touch with Albert Choi or Gerald Vernon-Jackson.
Citizenship Matters!
National CPD day for teachers on curriculum planning, personal development and the New Ofsted framework
Friday 5 July : 11.00 am - 4.30 pm
The Institute of Education, London
An opportunity for teachers to consider the new Ofsted Inspection Framework, which gives a prominent role to Citizenship as a curriculum subject in both the new Quality of Education and Personal Development measures.
The CPD day will be full of practical sessions and guest speakers, including the DFE and Ofsted. The day is designed to help teachers consider and plan their curriculum for Citizenship, SMSC and Personal Development, using the three 'i's - intent, implementation and impact - described in the new Framework. All teachers will receive ACT CPD certification to take back to their school.
Our Council of teachers (chaired by Helen Blachford from Priory School, Southsea) has developed a really strong programme - view the draft here.
Participants will have the opportunity to hear and learn from -
- Gillian Machin, DFE curriculum policy lead for Citizenship
- Neil Redmond-King, from Ofsted who helped lead work to design the revised School Inspection framework
- Liz Moorse, ACT Chief Executive, on the latest work ACT is doing to support high quality Citizenship and influence national education policy
- Helen Blachford, Zoe Baker and Emily Mitchell - three experienced teachers from very different schools across the country on planning high impact Citizenship and personal development at different key stages and for GCSE Citizenship Studies.
- Amit Puni, Senior Lecturer at Kingston University School of Education, on principles for effective medium term planning
- Lee Jerome, Associate Professor of Education, Middlesex University, on 'Bringing the curriculum to life'
Teachers can register via https://www.teachingcitizenship.org.uk/events-cpd-training. The pricing is as follows:
- Individual ACT Member £99.00 - Individual Non-Member (inc. 1 year individual membership) £199.00 - Individual ACT Member Concessionary Rate – Trainee Citizenship Teachers £5.00 - Individual Non-Member Concessionary Rate – Trainee Citizenship Teachers (inc. 1 year individual membership) £29.50
Emotional health & wellbeing |
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 Portsmouth Pride 2019
Portsmouth Pride is taking place on Saturday 22nd June. The PEP is proud to be supporting this event and we would encourage all members of our school communities to join us, staff, pupils and parents/ carers.
We will be joining the parade with our PEP banner. We would love to have a large contingent our staff, pupils and parents with us. Please feel free to bring your own school banners. The PEP contingent will meet at 9.30 am opposite The Yomper statue (outside the marines museum on Eastney Esplanade PO4 9PX) and we will head to the Coffee Cup at 9.45 to join the parade.
The main event takes place on Castle Field, Southsea from 11am - 7pm and the PEP has a stall at the event so please come and say hello. For further information or to let us know that you will be joining us please contact Sarah on 07825 420519.
 The Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families is a children's mental health charity which has developed and delivered pioneering mental health care for over 60 years. Their aim is to transform current mental health provision in the UK by improving the quality, accessibility and effectiveness of treatment. Their vision is a world in which children and their families are effectively supported to build on their own strengths to achieve their goals in life.
View the latest Schools in Mind Summer Newsletter 2019.
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Bereavement Conference
Simon Says, The Child Bereavement Support Service, is hosting it's first bereavement conference. Details are attached.
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Knife crime PSHE resource for schools
The Home Office has been working with the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) Association and teachers to create new and improved school curriculum materials on knife crime ahead of the summer holidays. Today (5 June 2019) 20,000 PSHE teachers were sent new lesson plans that will further equip them to challenge myths and communicate to their pupils the realities of carrying a knife.
Aimed at children aged between 11 and 16 years old, the hour-long lessons have been created in partnership with the PSHE Association and developed based on feedback from teachers. Lesson plans feature real-life case studies of young people from the latest #knifefree campaign along with new content on the importance of having good role models.
Healthy food in schools
Headteachers recently received a letter from Nadhim Zahawi, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families, highlighting the importance of children accessing healthy food while in school including reference to the recent report from the Children's Future Food Inquiry and its #Right2Food charter, and several useful pieces of guidance to support schools in their school meal provision.
Employee Assistance Programme (Workplace Wellness)
Portsmouth City Council work in partnership with Right Corecare Ltd, to provide confidential employee helpline and counselling services also known as Workplace Wellness. This service is provided to Maintained and Academy Schools alike, it is open to other customers by agreement.
Representatives from your school are invited to a free short webinar to find out more about the support offered to staff through Workplace Wellness, the provider of our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).
The information webinar is on the following date and time:
EAP awareness Webinar - Thursday 20th June
11:00 - 11:30 am
For joining instructions and to book a space, please contact Gareth Spooner (Staff Wellbeing Coordinator, Portsmouth City Council) on 023 9268 8518 or email.
Post 16 and higher education |
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Schools Apprenticeship Support |
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Portsmouth City Council has been a forerunner in Local Authorities pioneering the Schools Apprenticeship post. This has enabled our schools to benefit from the Apprenticeship Levy and upskill and recruit staff in the Local Authority schools. Spending was in excess of £149K over the last financial year.
This post will no longer be funded from September 2019 so therefore the schools apprenticeship support will be greatly reduced.
Full apprenticeship guidance will be sent to all LA maintained schools in the next two weeks which will outline the training providers and different apprenticeship procedures we have in place.
Schools can still receive advice and guidance by emailing the PCC apprenticeship inbox: Apprenticeships@Portsmouthcc.gov.uk (this inbox is not monitored daily.) You will be kept up to date of news, events and updates regarding apprenticeships.
The apprenticeship team wishes to thank you for your engagement in getting the apprenticeship levy off the ground and we hope you continue to recruit and upskill your staff through apprenticeships.
Nature Grants for Schools
Infant, Primary and Secondary schools in England, Scotland and Wales are being invited to apply for up to £500 worth of free outdoor equipment and two hours of professional outdoor training as part of the third instalment of Local School Nature Grants.
Schools can choose from over 100 different products to deliver outdoor learning and play. These include:
- Den Building Kits
- Small Spaces Planters
- Insect Study Centres
- Litter Picking Kits
- Investigating Weather Kits
The funding is being made available through the charity Learning through Landscapes Local School Nature Grant scheme. The charity has been helping schools across Great Britain since 2017. Funded by the players of People’s Postcode Lottery, the grants have so far provided £900,000 worth of equipment to 800 schools. This year it will reach a further 500 schools.
This year, the scheme is also open to non-mainstream schools; including pupil referral units.
The programme is only open to schools. Nurseries, Playgroups, Pre-Schools and gardening groups are not eligible. Reception settings attached to a school (i.e. on the same physical site) are eligible to apply in partnership with a school, but the school must lead the application.
There will be four funding rounds throughout the year and the next closing date for applications is 30th August 2019.
Interested schools can also email LSNG@ltl.org.uk for further information.
Working with refugees and asylum seekers |
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Thursday 20th June 2019 : 4 - 6pm
Training and Learning Centre, Portsmouth Academy, St Marys Rd, Portsmouth, PO1 5PF
This event is for anyone working with refugees and asylum-seekers in schools and is free to attend.
- The British Red Cross will discuss the national and local context and support for ongoing points of crisis
- EMAS and the Virtual School will share innovative uses of Pupil Premium
- The ECAR Adviser will look at supporting late arrivals with very little English, sharing intervention ideas and support materials
- Displays from the School Library Service and Schools of Sanctuary
For further information email Karen Thomas or call 023 92733130, or book now.
Grant Funding opportunities for schools - DEADLINE 5 JULY
The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Community Fund (hwicf) has just opened up its latest funding round. There are three grants which could be particularly appropriate to bids from schools:
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Small Grants Small Items: which provides grants of £250-£500 for one-off items or small items of expenditure which will benefit the local community. Examples given include a new cooker for a luncheon club, and sports equipment for youth clubs, so this might be an appropriate fund to pay for items that are shared with community groups using a school building.
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Better Start provides grants of £1,000-£5,000, for projects that help tackle childhood poverty for those aged up to 21 years old. The suggestions include those helping children with access to a nutritious meal or projects that help build family resilience, so this may be an avenue for securing additional funding for breakfast or after school clubs working with vulnerable children, or wider work with their families.
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#iwill awards grants of £1,000-£5,000 to encourage young people aged between 10 and 20 to lead change and make a positive contribution to their communities, particularly in less affluent areas. Grants should deliver opportunities for young people to get involved in campaigning, fundraising and volunteering, all of which enable participants to make a positive difference in their local area.
- The contact number at hwicf is 01256 776101, email info@hwicf.com. If helpful I am very happy to look over draft bids - Alison.critchley@portsmouthcc.gov.uk Tel : 023 9284 1973.
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