A message from Mike Stoneman
To say that 2021 has been a challenging year would be an understatement, with no signs of it easing as we approach the end of this term. It's a credit to all of our education settings - early years, schools and post-16 - and the variety of services that support our settings, for the work they have done to continue to provide an education for our children and young people in the face of such challenges.
We can be enormously proud of our achievements in 2021 and the effectiveness of the strong partnership working arrangements that we have in place in Portsmouth. We can but hope that here will be better times ahead in 2022 and that the vaccination programme will get us back to some kind of normality.
I hope everyone is able to enjoy a decent break over the festive period, ready for whatever lies ahead in the new year.
Mike Stoneman
Deputy Director, Education
Portsmouth City Council
Curriculum and CPD |
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Computing deep dives and free curriculum health check |
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Park House NCCE Computing Hub are running virtual deep dives into computing CPD sessions for both primary and secondary schools. The hosts will share their expert knowledge in preparing for deep dives into computing inspection.
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Primary session: Tuesday 1 March 2022, 3.45pm - 5.15pm, hosted by Phil Bagge, Computing Inspector/Advisor for HIAS.
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Secondary session: Thursday 27 January 2022, 4.30pm - 5.30pm, hosted by Pete Marshman.
The hub is also offering primary and secondary schools a free computing curriculum health check. This is where they can find out more about the delivery of computing in your school and generate a report outlining how you can make best use of the wider range of free support they provide, including: CPD, enrichment, mentoring, coaching, summer schools, conferences and resource lending.
Living Difference IV RE syllabus now available
In Southampton, Portsmouth, the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, the agreed RE syllabus, Living Difference IV, has recently been revised.
The syllabus must be used by all Portsmouth’s maintained schools (other than those that are part of the Catholic Diocese). Academies may choose to adopt this or any other syllabus, however the majority of academies in the city will be using Living Difference IV.
The syllabus encourages children and young people to reflect on their own experiences and those of others, to engage intellectually with material that is new and to discern with others what is valuable with regard to living a religious life or one informed by a non-religious or other perspective.
The Living Difference IV syllabus is now available to view and download here.
Portsmouth 'Big City Read 2022' for year 6 pupils
Following the success of last year's Big City Read, Portsmouth public libraries and School Library Service are once again offering this very exciting reading opportunity for year 6 pupils in the summer term. This offer is open to non-subscribing schools as we are seeking the involvement of all schools to maximise participation across the city.
The book this year will be When We Got Lost In Dreamland by Ross Welford.
Each pupil will receive a hardback copy of the book, along with a copy of the School Library Service Moving Up year 6 to year 7 transition book list. Pupils will then get the opportunity to 'meet the author' towards the end of the summer term, with Ross appearing via a 'live' webinar or mixture of in-person events to be confirmed.
Schools will be able to purchase copies of the book for their pupils from the School Library Service at a special reduced price. This is likely to be £2.50 - £3 per copy, depending on the quantities ordered across the city. The more schools that take part, the cheaper the overall cost, which would range between £75-90 (for 30 pupils) and £300-360 (for 120 pupils). This represents considerable value for money as the RRP of this hardback edition is £12.99.
If you would like your school to take part, please complete the expression of interest form and return it to David.Percival@portsmouthcc.gov.uk by 5pm on Friday 7 January 2022.
 Stubbington Study Centre residential bookings for 2022/2023
Stubbington Study Centre offers residential, outdoor education experiences to primary school pupils within a safe and unique 14 acre coastal site. With an enviable reputation for quality, value and fun, Stubbington really is a place where learning comes to life!
The centre's booking window for academic year 2022/23 will open at the beginning of January. Schools interested in booking a place for next academic year and wishing to partake in the initial allocation round, are invited to complete and return the online booking request form between 1 and 31 January 2022.
Be aware that despite continuing COVID concerns and partly due to the reassurance of our ongoing COVID guarantee, we were not able to accommodate all schools this year as we were over-subscribed. To avoid disappointment, we recommend that you submit your form in January.
If you would like to know more about Stubbington Study Centre, please call or visit the website.
Emotional health and wellbeing |
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Is This Love? domestic abuse campaign returning for 2022
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As of September 2020, relationships and sex education - including domestic abuse - is compulsory for secondary schools. It's important to educate young people about domestic abuse to ensure they know the signs and where to get help if needed.
Portsmouth's community safety partnership (now part of the Health and Wellbeing Board) delivers an annual campaign to schools - ‘Is This Love?’ - to encourage discussion around healthy and unhealthy behaviours in relationships.
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For 2022, we will be offering assemblies for year groups 9, 10 and 11. These will be delivered by Stop Domestic Abuse, our commissioned provider of Domestic Abuse services in Portsmouth. Accompanying lesson plan resources will also be provided and there will be the opportunity for confidential contact for pupils wishing to speak to someone post-assembly.
Currently it is proposed to deliver this from February 2022 and we will circulate a booking request form shortly. In advance of this, we would appreciate any feedback on timings and when delivery would work best for your school.
Please contact charlotte.ferguson@stopdomesticabuse.uk with any feedback.
Dates for your diary
17 January 2022
Webinar: Teach Portsmouth presents...early years education
Find out more
17 - 21 January 2022
Portsmouth Aspirations Week
Find out more
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