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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
Portsmouth MHST summer workshops |
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The Mental Health Support Team (MHST) is hosting five workshops throughout summer to help support children and young people with their mental health and wellbeing. They will focus on understanding different elements of mental health and wellbeing, and learning CBT based skills to help us manage how we feel.
Designed for children and young people and parents/carers, the workshops will be held once a week throughout summer, on different dates, times and locations.
Workshops include:
- Calm kits (with Portsmouth Parent Voice)
- Coping with big emotions
- Managing worries
- Supporting wellbeing
Anyone wishing to attend should register for a ticket via Eventbrite. A poster to share with your school communities is available here.
Back to Basics |
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 Summer 2025 sees the launch of Back to Basics in Portsmouth. As a key partner working with children, young people and their families, you are invited to be part of the roll out!
What is it?
Back to Basics is an approach that has been developed and successfully used with communities and partners in Hampshire using the 5 Ways of Wellbeing since 2020. It is a simple way to help parents, carers and families make small changes to improve children and family’s health, wellbeing and outcomes.
Who has been involved?
Over the last year partners have been working together alongside parents and carers to look at ways to support children and their families to thrive. Partners have included Motiv8, Home Start, CAMHS and MHST, PCC, Family Hubs.
What does it mean to you and your organisation?
The success of Back to Basics is based on all organisations using a common and simple language with families to empower and strengthen their skills and confidence. We are aware that there are growing pressures on services, so it is crucial to note that Back to Basics is not a new initiative that you are being asked to deliver. Back to Basics is a helpful and simple approach with a set of tools to support your staff teams to support families.
What’s the offer?
Back to Basics forms part of the wider Portsmouth Social Emotional Mental Health strategy and features on the Portsmouth Mental Health website where you'll find helpful tools. We are also holding a series of 30-minute awareness sessions to help staff understand the approach and how it can be used in practice.
For more information, please visit the Portsmouth Mental Health website. To see the work that has happened in Hampshire, please visit the Hampshire County Council website.
Next steps
Please encourage staff to book onto the Back to Basics awareness sessions. Dates are available to book from July onwards.
We would love to hear from you as to how you plan to use Back to Basics and to book a tailored team awareness session. Please contact Hannah.Youell@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
PhD research on sexual harassment between students in schools |
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Schools are invited to take part in a research study focusing on preventing peer-on-peer harmful sexual behaviour in secondary schools. This would involve staff and students completing an online, anonymous questionnaire.
Findings from the research will be shared following data collection. Participating schools will receive £100 in book vouchers. For further details, please see the information sheet or contact Lauren Sansom at Lauren.Sansom@port.ac.uk.
URBOND Portsmouth Youth Awards |
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URBOND are teaming up with Portsmouth City of Sanctuary to create a 'sanctuary-seeking youth category' in their forthcoming Portsmouth Youth Awards. This award celebrates young asylum seekers/refugees who have displayed exceptional resilience or talent.
If you have someone in mind to nominate, please complete the online form. The deadline for nominations is Friday 15 August 2025 and the award will be presented by Portsmouth City of Sanctuary on Thursday 25 September 2025 from 5pm - 9pm at the Kings Theatre.
Have a SEND-sational summer with free and low-cost activities in Portsmouth |
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The summer holidays are an exciting time for children and young people as school and college finishes for the academic year. For families looking for accessible and low-cost activities, it can be a challenge to find things to do that are affordable.
Portsmouth SEND Local Offer is a central resource where families and professionals can find information about support, services, and opportunities available for children and young people aged 0–25 with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) in Portsmouth.
To help everyone have a summer to remember, community groups and organisations have shared information about accessible activities and events. From the colourful Portsmouth International Kite Festival on Southsea Common to the Homestart Family Festival in Victoria Park, there is something for everyone this season.
Check back regularly throughout the summer holidays as more events and activities are added. For more information, visit the Portsmouth SEND Local Offer website today!
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Portsmouth Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Workforce Development: Skills and Knowledge Framework |
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We are pleased to share this framework which has been developed with partners across education, health, and social care. It is built on what children and young people with SEND have told us that they want adults to know and to do.
This framework can be used for:
- staff induction
- identifying strengths and continuing professional development needs
- professional development reviews
- supporting reflective practice
It is intentionally shared as an editable Word document so that you can adapt it to best suit the needs to your teams and services.
We recognise that a lot of the knowledge and skills described in the framework may sound simple but can be difficult to develop and to use consistently. We hope that this framework will be a useful tool in identifying skills that we would all like to further develop.
The current SEND workforce training offer is available on the Portsmouth SEND Local Offer.
For any questions or support regarding the framework, please contact Sarah.Christopher@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
Get your ticket for Portsmouth Inclusion Conference |
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A reminder to register for the Portsmouth Inclusion Conference, taking place on Thursday 9 October 2025 at the Marriott Hotel.
Early bird tickets are available until the end of term for £75. The first 100 tickets purchased will get a free copy of Ginny Bootman's book. A second ticket purchased at the same time can be bought for £50.
Head to the Traded Services website for full details, including workshop descriptions and to make your booking. The non early bird price is £100 per ticket.
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Pupil premium network meetings for new and established coordinators |
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While the funding for the successful pupil premium network meetings has ended, it was felt as a community that the network should continue to support those who are new to the role and also support those who have been completing the role for a number of years. Rachel De La Rue from Cottage Grove Primary School and Darran Cowell from Portsdown Primary School have agreed to organise the network for 2025-26.
On Wednesday 24 September 2025, between 2.30pm and 3.30pm, there will be a virtual meeting (on Zoom). This meeting will look at how we can support each other in the role of pupil premium leader.
On Wednesday 12 November 2025, between 1.30pm and 3.30pm, there will be a face-to-face meeting at Portsdown Primary School. The focus for this session will be the review of the previous strategy and the writing of the new strategy. This date has been selected to enable the strategies to be ready for their publication in December.
If you are interested in attending the network meetings, please email d.cowell@portsdown.portsmouth.sch.uk, with a brief note on your experience with regards to the role (and the school you are from).
School improvement
Teaching physics out of specialism? |
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If you are teaching physics out of specialism, The Ogden Trust's fully funded subject knowledge for physics teaching (SKPT) CPD sessions will give you the knowledge and confidence to bring KS3/4 physics to life in the classroom.
SKPT is delivered by expert practitioners through face-to-face sessions, online tutorials and independent learning. All SKPT courses are fully funded, and there is a £600 school subsidy available on successful completion per participant per module!
- Develop subject knowledge
- Improve pedagogical approaches
- Build classroom confidence
Secure your free place now:
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Electricity (autumn term) | Register now
Wednesday 1 October 2025 and Wednesday 26 November 2025
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Energy (spring term) | Register now
Wednesday 21 January 2026 and Wednesday 18 March 2026
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Forces (summer term): TBC
“I now absolutely see myself as a physics teacher. I am loving teaching physics this year and the pupils are loving my enthusiasm for the subject.”
If you have any questions, please email Sam Taylor at s.taylor@thornden.hants.sch.uk.
Hampshire and Isle of Wight schools poster and story competition |
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Primary and secondary schools across Hampshire and Isle of Wight are invited to take part in an exciting competition for World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week 2025!
Create a poster or comic strip that explains:
- How drug-resistant infections can happen
- How they might spread
- What the consequences could be
- Why it’s important to use antibiotics responsibly
Competition categories:
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Key stages 1 and 2: Design a colourful, eye-catching poster using AndiBiotic, the UKHSA's new mascot, as your character! You can find AndiBiotic resources here.
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Key stages 3 and 4: Create your own “Horrible Histories” style comic strip to explain drug-resistant infections in a fun and memorable way.
Why take part?
- A chance to win one of 4 x £100 prizes for your school
- Winning child or young person will receive a certificate, which can be awarded in assembly or as your school prefers (e.g. addition of 'house points')
- Winning posters will be used in AMR awareness campaigns during World AMR Week (November 2025) across Hampshire and Isle of Wight
- Both winners and runners-up will be displayed on the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB website and social media
- Schools can integrate free e-Bug resources (available for each of the four key stages) into lesson plans in the autumn 2025 term.
Submit your entries via the online form by Friday 24 October 2025. Winners will be announced by Thursday 7 November 2025.
Participation and progression
NextGen Power programme for secondary school head students |
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NextGen Power is designed for current secondary school head students, or those who will be taking on this role in the new academic year, and will equip those young people with all the essential skills and experience to be an effective and inspiring leader in your school.
This immersive, interactive and informative programme includes sessions over the course of several months and aims to develop the next generation of Portsmouth leaders. During these sessions, participants will explore the importance of power, improve leadership skills and connect with inspirational guest speakers and other young leaders. Our final session will be a celebration and a chance to reflect on their leadership journey with us.
The launch event (Saturday 27 September 2025) will take place at City of Portsmouth College, Tangier Rd, PO3 6PZ.
The dates and times for the programme are: (Please note these are subject to change, any changes will be communicated as soon as possible)
- Saturday 27 September 2025, 10am - 4pm
- Wednesday 22 October 2025, 4pm - 6.30pm
- Wednesday 10 December 2025, 4pm - 6.30pm
- Wednesday 11 February 2026, 4pm - 6.30pm
- Wednesday 25 March 2026, 4pm - 6.30pm
- Wednesday 8 April 2026, 11am - 1pm
Please pass on this information to your head students. A poster is available here.
Share your views on region-wide council reorganisation options |
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 We recently asked you about Local Government Reorganisation from a purely Portsmouth perspective.
Now we are looking for your views as part of a county-wide survey, with options that affect local authorities across the whole of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including Portsmouth.
Please share your views - it's important our city's voice is represented. The survey is open until Sunday 27 July 2025 (closes midnight).
You can complete it over the phone by calling 020 7845 5880 or you can email ourplaceourfuture@thinksinsight.com.
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