|
If you have information to be included in the next issue of the PEP bulletin, please send your text, image and link by Tuesday at 12pm to pep@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
Inclusion
Play your part and help shape SEND services for young people |
|
 |
|
Portsmouth SEND Local Offer's survey is still open for young people aged 13 - 25 years old who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. The information gained from the survey will be used to introduce new services as well as improve existing ones.
Please share this information with parents/carers in newsletters and on social media. You can download a promotional image here. Parents/carers can complete the survey with their young person too.
The survey closes on Saturday 30 March 2024.
|
|
 |
Parent/carer survey: mental health and wellbeing support and services |
|
|
A survey for parents and carers is being run to understand how access to children and young people's mental health and wellbeing support and services in Portsmouth can be improved. The survey closes on Sunday 31 March 2024.
Please share this information with parents and carers to help reach as many people as possible before the deadline. A poster promoting the survey can be downloaded here.
Young people’s ideas could help the NHS and millions of others across the world |
|
|
As the mental health and wellbeing crisis continues, more and more young people find that feeling low or anxious leads them to eat for comfort. This leads to weight gain that affects the young person’s health and wellbeing, leading to weight-based stigma, more mental ill-health, and physical ill-health that costs the NHS over £6.5 billion each year.
The NHS is looking for innovative new approaches to help young people avoid and overcome such weight gain. Family Mental Wealth is exploring possibilities for developing digital tools (like an app) that will help young people to manage their thoughts, feelings, and behaviours around food, in a way that is positive and affirming.
Family Mental Wealth is looking for young people aged 11-17 (and their parents/carers/teachers) to join them in creative sessions to come up with ideas for digital tools to be included in this app - so it is ‘created by young people for young people’. These sessions will be two hours of enjoyable creative thinking and each young person will be paid £20 to thank them for taking part.
We are looking for schools and community groups who might like to host one of these creative sessions between 18 March and 19 April 2024 – either in school, after school, or in the community. You will be paid £200 to thank you for hosting and recruiting suitable young people.
If your school or community group might be interested, please email Carol Pollard (Director of Family Mental Wealth) at Contact@FamilyMentalWealth.com.
Prevent newsletter |
|
 |
The latest regional Prevent newsletter from the DfE includes information on:
- online training sessions
- Prevent events
- explaining Prevent to staff and students
- discussing ongoing conflicts
- Incel research
- the Prevent review one year on
Young Carers Action Day - 13 March 2024 |
|
 |
This year's theme is fair futures for young carers and young adult carers. The Carers Trust's Young Carers Action Day 2024 pack has resources for schools and colleges to use to celebrate this event. The website also has resources to use from previous years and the Lowry's 'Heavyweight Champion' film, shared in 2023, has a powerful message and could be used in an assembly or tutor group in secondary schools.
Portsmouth Young Carers Service have created resources that you can use in school:
- Presentation to use in an assembly or tutor group (EYFS - KS1, KS2 and secondary). This can be adapted to include details of your young carers lead or champion and any support young carers can receive in your school.
- Slides to add to your electronic noticeboard during the week or to adapt for your newsletter (primary and secondary).
-
Leaflet about Portsmouth Young Carers Service to display around school and add to the young carers page on your school website.
- Word version of the referral form that can be printed off, completed manually, and scanned and sent to the team.
-
Letter to share with parents, asking if their child is a young carer and the benefits of sharing that information with school.
Carers Trust and The Children's Society have a young carers quiz that could be used as a tutor group activity or during a PSHE session. They have also recently re-launched their Young Carers in Schools initiative, containing a wealth of information and practical ideas for schools and colleges to use to promote and support young carers throughout the year.
Visit the Portsmouth Young Carers Service webpage for information on young carers, the service, and a link to the electronic referral form that can be completed by professionals or parents/guardians.
If you have any questions, please contact youngcarers@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
School improvement
Updates from Teach Portsmouth |
|
|
1. Get your long service to education submissions in now
The Teach Portsmouth team would like to thank everyone so far for submitting people for the long service to education event. Due to venue capacity, we can only have 100 recipients in total. We would encourage schools to submit staff as soon as possible. Schools are able to enter up to four people. If a school has more than four people, a waiting list is in operation. We would still encourage you to submit four people. The deadline for all submissions is Friday 29 March 2024.
2. Deadline for thank a school superhero incoming!
Primary and secondary schools in Portsmouth have received over 500 thank you messages from parents/carers and colleagues. Our aim is for every school in the city to have 15 thank you messages. We have now extended the deadline to Friday 15 March 2024. We would encourage schools to continue promoting this in their email newsletters and on social media. For more information, visit the Teach Portsmouth website today!
3. Exhibit at the Teach Portsmouth Support and Teaching Assistant Jobs Fair
If you have support vacancies, volunteering opportunities or apprenticeships in your school, Teach Portsmouth are now welcoming interest to exhibit at the Teach Portsmouth Support and Teaching Assistant Jobs Fair. The Teach Portsmouth team are trialling the use of the Traded Service website, allowing HR and senior team members to book online. The event will take place at Central Library on Tuesday 23 April 2024 from 1.30pm - 3.30pm and 4pm - 6pm. For more information, visit the Traded Services website to book your table.
|
Summer term digital and computing events |
|
|
Summer term is a little way off, however we are pleased to share with you the computing and digital training dates and events for summer term. There will be no direct Teach Computing courses for the whole city for the summer but more a focus on digital strategy.
Schools are still able to book the Teach Computing courses through Gemma Gwilliam and either Gemma or one of the city's PDLs will deliver.
Schools will need to sign up using the online form, and participation grants will be given as applicable (silver and gold schools for ½ day events).
If you have any questions, please contact Gemma at GGwilliam@copnorprimary.co.uk.
Lean in Girls: PSHE resource |
|
 |
Designed for girls and teens who identify with the girlhood experience. Rooted in research and developed in close collaboration with experts and teens. Each session includes an “ignite,” a fun info-packed activity, and a commitment to take action.
Sign up to receive tips, advice and activities to help support girls.
Participation and progression
Member of Youth Parliament voting now open! |
|
|
Votes are now open to select the next Member of Youth Parliament for Portsmouth. Anyone aged 11-18 who lives, studies or works in Portsmouth is eligible to vote. We have four candidates running from the Youth Cabinet and we hope to engage more young people than ever before in this democratic process.
Please use assemblies, tutor time, newsletters and school socials to show the campaign videos to your students. Votes can then be cast electronically.
Voting closes at midday on Friday 8 March 2024.
Fostering - Ofsted survey |
|
|
Ofsted would like to hear your views about Portsmouth City Council's Fostering service.
We really value your views. We might include what you tell us in our inspection report or in other types of report that we put on our website. We may use what you tell us as part of Sir Martyn Oliver’s (His Majesty’s Chief Inspector) comprehensive listening exercise ‘Big Listen’ which is happening later this year.
You will remain anonymous at all times and it should take you just a few minutes to complete the survey.
NHSE urges those unprotected against measles to come forward for their vaccinations |
|
|
Measles cases are continuing to rise across England, with a number of unvaccinated children and young adults requiring hospital as infections take hold. This month, millions of parents, carers and young adults in England are being contacted by the NHS to book missed measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccines as part of a major new campaign to protect those at risk from becoming seriously unwell.
NHS figures show millions of children under the age of 16 years are either unprotected or not fully protected and at risk of catching these serious and completely preventable diseases.
Measles is not just a childhood disease and can be serious at any age. If caught during pregnancy it can be very serious causing stillbirth, miscarriage and low birth weight and NHS bosses are also urging young adults to catch up on any missed doses before thinking about starting a family.
Two doses of the safe and effective MMR vaccine are needed for maximum life-long protection, with the first dose given around the child’s first birthday, and the second dose given at around three years and four months old.
However, anyone can catch up at any age on any missed doses and it’s never too late to protect yourself. If you or your child have not had both dose of the MMR vaccine, contact your GP surgery to book an appointment as soon as possible and catch up.
|
School grounds and nature projects for climate resilience and health and wellbeing |
|
|
As part of our ambitions to be a Green and Healthy City, we are keen to help schools develop their school grounds using nature, benefitting student and staff health and wellbeing as well as climate resilience. We are also keen to understand the ways in which school grounds across the city are currently providing benefits for students, including the opportunity to connect with nature; shade on hotter days; and improved air quality.
We would be grateful if you could spend ten minutes completing our survey by Friday 15 March 2024. We currently have limited funds to support a number of schools with school ground development, including design and planting. If you are interested, please leave your contact details at the end of the survey and we will get in touch with you.
Clearing the path for greener schools |
|
|
Meon Infant, Meon Junior, and Moorings Way Infant Schools have swapped out pavement for plants and trees - to create cool, shady spots for outdoor learning and play.
They're diving into hands-on programmes with greening charity Trees for Cities to help nurture green spaces and teach kids about nature care.
Meon Juniors is also going one step further with an edible playground to grow, learn, and munch their way to a greener future.
These types of projects are so important for climate action as they help keep the ground cool in hot weather, which is likely to be especially helpful this El Niño year. When soil dries out it can get washed away in heavy downpours - plant roots and leaf cover is great for protecting the soil and stopping this from happening.
|
uCheck (DBS checking service) price increases |
|
|
Portsmouth City Council have received communication from uCheck (the online DBS checking service) that they will be increasing the price of their services next month with effect from Monday 1 April 2024.
"As a valued customer, we want you to know that we always try to keep our increases to a minimum, but for us to be able to develop and improve our service and platform, we need to keep our pricing plans in line with the market. Your new pricing can be found below. As the UK's largest DBS umbrella body with Home Office Approval, we are proud to be rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot."
New pricing:
- Enhanced DBS Checks - £45.40
- Standard DBS Checks - £25.40
- Basic DBS Checks - £25.40
- Disclosure Scotland Basic Checks - £32.40
- Right to Work Checks - £3.80
- Identity Checks - £3.80
- Adverse Credit Checks - £3.80
- Digital Identity Verification Checks - £3.80
|
