Inclusion
Healthier Together update for healthcare professionals |
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The latest healthcare professionals update from Healthier Together is available to read online and includes information on the following:
- Informative videos for parents on common childhood illnesses
- Accessibility improvements to parent-facing pages on the Healthier Together website
- Healthier Together urgent care app
- Mental health resources for parents/carers, and resources for teachers to use as part of PSHE education
World Mental Health Day |
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World Mental Health Day took place on Monday 10 October 2022. Better Health - Every Mind Matters has new NHS-approved videos based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and presented in easy, bite-sized tips to help people deal with stress and anxiety, boost their mood, sleep better and feel more in control.
There is also a Mind Plan where you answer five simple questions to get a personalised mental health action plan with tips and advice to help you be kind to your mind.
Mental health support for young people
Advice and guidance for parents and professionals on the mental health support available for young people in Portsmouth can be found on the Portsmouth City Council website.
Free wellbeing support for school leaders
School leaders can access free wellbeing support through Education Support. The DfE funded scheme provides free one-to-one supervision, peer support and counselling to assistant headteachers, deputy headteachers and above.
School leaders can apply here, even if you have access to an employee assistance programme in your school.
Black History Month |
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Black History Month takes place in October each year and the theme for 2022 is Time for Change: Action Not Words.
A resource pack for schools is available for a fee via the Black History Month website. It contains lesson plans which pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of the Black community who have strived to make Britain what it is today.
Portsmouth's anti-racism toolkit and other resources
Launched earlier this year, Portsmouth’s anti-racism toolkit for schools, colleges and early years settings explains why anti-racist work is so important and contains strategies and resources to use in and outside the classroom.
As well as the toolkit, the anti-racism page on the PEP website features a range of professional development resources, including a suggested reading list, to support your staff development further.
You will also find useful links to practical ideas and tools to support you to carry out a curriculum audit or plan your own lessons along with a variety of resources you may wish to use and adapt for your own setting.
School improvement
Grants for RE Christianity resources in schools |
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The Jerusalem Trust’s Small Grants to Schools Scheme supports the teaching of Christianity within Religious Education. The scheme operates by providing schools with grants of up to £600 to purchase Christianity resources for use in RE lessons.
The scheme is open to state funded schools in England and Wales, with 60% awarded to secondary schools and 40% to primary schools. Currently, grants are available for secondary schools, with more available for primary schools later this term.
Recently, one secondary school applied for this funding and got it to provide a full set of class Bibles for a GCSE class. The funding arrived the next day and the school spoke very highly of the scheme. The scheme has been operating for around 20 years, although many RE teachers are not aware of its existence.
Updates from Portsmouth Music Hub |
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1. Infant Voices Festival 2023
Infant Voices Festival is an opportunity for KS1 children to join with other schools across the city to sing together and share performances, followed by an optional showcase performance at Portsmouth Guildhall for year 1 and 2. Further to popular request, this year we will be doing songs about fairy tales, using songs from the Hub’s songbook Storyscape.
The festival will take place from Monday 20 February to Friday 24 February 2023 and the optional Infant Voices Showcase will take place on Tuesday 21 March 2023 at Portsmouth Guildhall. A twilight session will he held on Wednesday 2 November 2022 at 4pm on Zoom.
Please use the online form to sign up by Friday 21 October 2022.
2. Special Christmas celebration
This very popular inclusive event, particularly for students with special education needs and disabilities, takes place on Wednesday 7 December 2022 at St. Mary's Church, Fratton. For many years the event has been held at Portsmouth Anglican Cathedral, but this year we are unable to afford the new fee to use the venue, so the team at St. Mary's have very kindly enabled us to use their fabulous church.
This year we will be performing a Christmas concert featuring five community songs along with solo items from each school. These can be songs, poems, a dance, etc. items you are already preparing for your school festivities and would like to share with other schools and our invited guests. Full details are available here.
If you would like to take part in this event, please sign up by Wednesday 2 November 2022. There will be a twilight meeting for all schools wishing to take part on Thursday 3 November 2022, 4pm - 5pm on Zoom.
To register, please complete the online form. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Contact Sue.Beckett@portsmouthcc.gov.uk if you have any queries.
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3. YolanDa's Band Jam
Hundreds of children across Portsmouth have already benefited and been inspired by the amazing YolanDa Brown and her band.
Many children will have seen YolanDa's band Jam on CBeebies and now she is live in Portsmouth at half term!
For more information and to book tickets, please contact Portsmouth Guildhall.
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New #SimplyVeg campaign launched |
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In response to the cost-of-living crisis, Veg Power has launched a new campaign called #SimplyVeg.
The campaign aims to make it as easy as possible to navigate the cost-of-living crisis by serving affordable as well as sustainable and healthy veg-packed meals that families will love.
Posters, flyers and social media posts to share with families to support the initiative are available to download from the Veg Power website.
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'Anything Goes' discounted tickets |
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Stage One Youth Theatre Group is offering NHS and teaching staff a 20% discount on tickets for the Thursday 27 October 2022 performance of their show 'Anything Goes' which is running during the half term holidays.
The code to use to receive this discount is anything20.
Three steps to success for planning RSHE |
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The PSHE Association have provided three steps to successfully implement the statutory changes to RSHE:
- Consulting with parents and pupils, and developing policy
- What to teach and how to teach it
- Sustaining success
For more useful information visit PortsmouthEducationPartnership.co.uk/PSHE
Free spooky half-term fun at Fort Nelson |
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 Challenge your children to crack the codes and unravel the mysteries of Fort Nelson this October half term. The Royal Armouries’ Spies & Secret Agents event runs from Saturday 22 to Sunday 30 October 2022 and there’s something for all ages.
Pick up a free Spies and Secret Agents activity trail for hours of code-cracking fun, plus, there’ll be a host of ghoulish ghosts and creepy creatures hidden around the site for younger children to find as they explore on a Halloween trail.
As a national museum, admission to Fort Nelson is free.
Opening hours: 10am - 5pm. Open Tuesday to Sunday (term time) and daily during the school holidays.
Early years
Better Health Start for Life campaign |
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 Better Health Start for Life and the Department for Education have launched a new campaign to encourage parents and carers to chat, play and read more with their children to develop their communication, language and literacy skills before starting school.
A range of resources are now available, including:
- A4 and A3 posters
- Digital screens
- Social media toolkit
- Campaign communications toolkit
Participation and progression
Healthcare science virtual work experience programme for year 10-13 students |
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Health Education England (London) has got together with Springpod to provide a free virtual work experience for year 10 - 13 students, introducing the fascinating world of NHS
healthcare scientists.
Reachout for Healthcare Science allows students to take a peek inside the healthcare science world, be able to hear from the personal experiences of healthcare scientists, get career advice and take part in a series of fun activities.
The programme is being funded by HEE London, but is open to all students across England who meet the eligibility criteria.
The programme will run from Monday 24 October to Friday 4 November 2022. Applications close on Wednesday 19 October 2022.
For full details (including eligibility criteria) and to apply, visit the programme website.
New data transfer system (Orchestra Lite) to support the upcoming change from Capita One to Synergy (central pupil database)
A new data transfer system (Orchestra Lite) will be coming soon to support the sharing of pupil information from schools to the local authority as we move away from the current Capita B2B system. This will enable a move to an automatic data sharing for all schools as the vast majority of school's management information systems can be incorporated.
Our new Education Business Leads - Sarah Jetten and Vicky Snagg - will be contacting schools about this and will include an item at the next LA briefing for headteachers on Wednesday 19 October 2022.
Key dates and actions to note are as follows:
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Tell us who your data manager is, if you haven't done so already: email us at SynergyProject@portsmouthcc.gov.uk with their name and contact details and/or the person who coordinates IT changes in your school
- Complete a new data sharing agreement by Tuesday 15 November 2022
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Install free Orchestra Lite software from December 2022: you will need to have this installed so it can communicate with and update the LA’s Synergy.
Portsmouth Independent Appeals Service (IAS) – Panel members required
Volunteers from across the community are wanted to join the pool of panel members supporting Portsmouth City Council’s School Admission Appeals Panel.
The role provides parents, guardians and carers of school-age children with an opportunity to appeal against a decision to refuse admission to their preferred school.
Applicants will have the opportunity to work flexibly from home as all our appeals are heard during the day in term time using Microsoft Teams.
Unfortunately, we cannot accept applications if you are an employee of Portsmouth City Council or have ever had a personal connection with a member of the council which might raise doubts about your ability to act impartially.
Training session on assessment in music
Some of you may have attended a session on assessment in music last week, delivered by Chris Stevens, HMI and Subject Lead for Music from OfSTED.
For those music managers who were unable to attend, you can watch the recording here.
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Free percussion resources and training
Portsmouth Music Hub is pleased to share these wide-ranging musical opportunities from PercWorks, including digital masterclasses, resources and other percussion experiences. These opportunities are all free and offer an invaluable insight into the music industry for young people.
For more information about other percussion opportunities, visit the PercWorks website.
Trailblazer digital masterclass series
This series of masterclasses starts with an introduction to body percussion and beginner Drumline, moving through to full Drumline playalongs and stick tricks and finally the Subdivision Workout trio, a brainteaser for even the most proficient musician! To join the masterclasses, head to the PercWorks website.
Interactive duet videos and sheet music
Black Swamp Percussion is a video series which features a newly composed duet performance, how-to playalongs and interactive sheet music. Featuring snare drum, tambourine, triangle, castanets, wood blocks and more, these are an invaluable resource for teachers and students alike. Access the duets here.
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Suicide bereavement training
Monday 7 November 2022, 3pm - 6pm | Microsoft Teams
Colleagues from Portsmouth schools are invited to join an online workshop hosted by the Luna Foundation exploring how to respond to children and young people who have been bereaved by suicide. The workshop will be delivered by trainers with direct lived experience of parental suicide, including Churchill Fellow Anna Wardley.
There are 25 spaces on the workshop.
Reducing parental conflict workshop
Wednesday 9 November 2022, 3.30pm - 5.30pm
Parental conflict can be a normal part of parenting and not all conflict is harmful. However, where it is frequent, intense and poorly resolved it can impact outcomes for children and parents. Whilst attending this two-hour workshop, workers will:
- Gain a greater understanding of parental conflict
- Explore factors and the impact on the family
- Look at ways parents can communicate constructively
The workshop has been designed for professionals to increase knowledge and skills around parental conflict. Professionals can use the workshop as a stand-alone workshop or can go on to attend the two-day RPC training.
Please email Kim.Smith@portsmouthcc.gov.uk to book a virtual space on the training. Alternatively, we may be able to come to your workplace in Portsmouth and provide the workshop for your team.
HISP Research School
Please find below links to CPD and information webinars we are running this term:
Starting in January...
Hampshire and Dorset Science Learning Partnership
Science Learning Partnerships are your local curriculum hubs for science. Here at Hampshire and Dorset SLP (HISP Learning Partnership) we are running several primary, secondary and post-16 face to face and remote training opportunities this term.
Visit the Science Learning Partnership website for details of how to sign up.
Are you a primary science lead? We have subsidised face-to-face training after half term:
- Developing your primary science curriculum using the Ofsted framework
- Embedding working scientifically in the primary classroom
Register your interest for either of these programmes here.
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