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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
Kooth digital mental health support |
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Kooth is a free, safe, and anonymous digital mental health and wellbeing service for young people aged 11-25 years old in Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and Isle of Wight.
Young people can sign up themselves and get free support immediately.
What Kooth offers
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Immediate access: no referrals, no waiting lists or thresholds to be met.
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24/7 digital platform: self-help resources and community support (read and share personal stories, creative content and wellbeing advice).
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Free, confidential counselling: fully qualified counsellors accredited by the BACP are available from Mon-Fri, 12-10pm and Sat-Sun, 6–10pm 365 days of the year.
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Community discussion boards: moderated and safe spaces to connect with others.
Carly Seymour (cseymour@kooth.com) is the HIOW Kooth Engagement Lead and can be contacted to arrange free staff training, provide presentations, assemblies and workshops to school groups and can deliver presentations to parent/carers.
Kooth resources for schools, professionals and families
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Free posters and cards: email cseymour@kooth.com for wallet cards, leaflets and posters
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Kooth digital resources: digital resources including posters and images that can be utilised on websites and via social media are on the Kooth portal, for education, families and healthcare
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Kooth webinars: KoothKlass (young people) and KoothTalks (professionals/families)
School improvement
Updates from Teach Portsmouth |
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1. Media opportunity: Help us celebrate Portsmouth’s teachers this October
Teach Portsmouth is proud to champion the incredible work of our city’s educators in the lead-up to Love to Teach Week (13–17 October). As part of our campaign, we’re inviting media and partners to a special flag-raising event on Monday 6 October 2025 from 3.30pm - 4.30pm, outside the Civic Offices in Portsmouth.
Joining us will be Councillor Nick Dorrington, Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, who will raise a specially designed Love to Teach / Teach Portsmouth branded flag to mark the start of our celebrations. This symbolic moment will help spotlight the wider activities planned for the week, including a webinar on Routes into Training.
We’re looking for two early career teachers, one from a school-based route and one from a university-based route to share their journey into the profession with media in attendance. Their stories will also be featured across Teach Portsmouth’s social media channels as part of our campaign content.
If you know someone who would be perfect for this opportunity, please email Callum.Murphy@portsmouthcc.gov.uk by Friday 12 September 2025.
2. New training directory launched to support Portsmouth’s teaching assistants
Following feedback from last year’s teaching assistant retention survey, Teach Portsmouth has launched an online training directory to help support and retain teaching assistants across the city.
Teaching assistants told us that access to recognised and accredited training is vital for their development and job satisfaction. In response, the new directory hosted on the Portsmouth Education Partnership brings together a wide range of training opportunities from both local and national providers. While the development of this resource has come from the teaching assistant retention survey, please share this with all staff who may benefit from it.
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Updates from Portsmouth Music Hub |
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1. Music Hub events 2025/26
Schools will receive an extensive email this week with all events and musical opportunities for the academic year 2025/26. This is intended to help schools to plan opportunities across the year and book transport accordingly. There is a small amount of funding available to subsidise travel costs to some events, which is excellent news.
Many of these events have been planned as part of the city's celebrations for Portsmouth 100, the 100th anniversary of Portsmouth becoming a city. If you have any queries, please contact portsmouthmusichub@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.
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2. Music Mark Schools
We are pleased to announce that the 2025/26 Music Mark Schools Programme is now open. Music Mark is the UK Association for Music Education, championing and supporting access to music for all children and young people. Music Mark works to support and enable the music education sector to deliver high-quality musical and social outcomes for all children and young people.
Being a Music Mark School gives schools access to additional resources, events and training. Other benefits include, a certificate of achievement, use of exclusive Music Mark logos, and access to Music Mark Members Area, regular newsletters to keep you up to date with the latest national and regional sector news.
If you are interested in becoming a Music Mark School (there is no cost attached), please contact portsmouthmusichub@portsmouthcc.gov.uk by Tuesday 23 September 2025.
Primary languages updates
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1. Keeping in contact
To ensure we have an accurate contact list for primary languages colleagues in Portsmouth, schools are asked to complete and return the below information to Liz Lord at lizlord0502@gmail.com.
- Name of school:
- Name of languages lead:
- Email of languages lead:
- Language taught in school:
2. Upcoming languages meeting
All colleagues involved or interested in languages in primary schools are very welcome to attend the autumn meeting of the Association for Language Learning (ALL) Portsmouth Primary Hub and the Portsmouth LA Network Leads. The meeting will take place at Admiral Lord Nelson School at 4pm on Wednesday 1 October 2025. Further information will follow shortly.
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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
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 by Friday 24 October 2025.
Black Heroes of Mathematics Youth Festival |
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 Dates: 1 and 2 October 2025
Times: 10am or 2pm (50 minutes each)
Format: Live, online, and classroom-ready – all you need is paper!
Sign up now for sessions in a new exciting two-day maths and diversity event with inspiring and brilliant mathematician role models. Discover the stories of trailblazing mathematicians and take part in fun engaging maths challenges. Don't miss this free online event funded by the Royal Commission of 1851, live from the London Society of Mathematics.
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