Education Bulletin 22 September 2022

Updated 22 September 2022

From Ming Zhang
Service Director of Education, Participation and Skills

Dear colleagues,

Soon after the state funeral of The Queen, it was announced on Tuesday that Academies minister Baroness Barran has been re-appointed at the Department for Education in Liz Truss's first reshuffle.

Colleagues who met Baroness Barran in Plymouth when she visited us in December last year would have heard her vision of the national policy which was later set out in the White Paper. She was minister for the school system at that time and had stewarded the landmark Schools Bills through its first few stages in the House of Lords. In accompanying her visits to Plymouth schools, I was delighted to see that she was most impressed with the pioneering education improvement partnership that we were developing in the city.

Plymouth Place-based Partnership Co-ordinator

Locally, on a similar note of partnership, I am pleased to share with you that Anna Mills has been appointed to this role and will be starting on 26 September. This is a joint decision made between the Department (SW Regions Group), Plymouth City Council and the Strategic Education Group's Chair. This is the position that Tony Bloxham held until August this year.

I am sure that many colleagues know Anna from her previous work at Isca Academy, All Saints, Lipson Co-operative Academy, or Tavistock College. Anna brings with her a passion for education partnership and a drive for improving outcomes for all, with vulnerable and disadvantaged learners being front and centre of her work. Setting and school leaders will have opportunities to work with her in our partnership initiatives and at our place-based boards and partnership meetings in different phase groups.

Anna will play a crucial role to ensure that the place-based approach becomes a sustainable, fully trust-led model here in Plymouth.

Best wishes.

Ming

Education updates

Message from Livewell Speech and Language Service

Research shows that many children with trouble learning at school or communicating with others have an undiagnosed condition called DLD.

Imagine making a new friend, learning a new subject, or negotiating yourself out of a tough spot if your ability to use or understand language were a life-long challenge.

On average 2 students in every class of 30 have a neurodevelopmental condition called Developmental Language Disorder or DLD.

Friday 14th of October 2022 is DLD Awareness Day.

"People with DLD are 6 times more likely to suffer from anxiety and 3 times more likely to have clinical depression. They are also at significant risk of struggling with reading, spelling and mathematics. Although DLD is a common condition affecting many areas of life, people with DLD are unlikely to receive access to services," said Stephen Parsons, Chair of RADLD.

Students with DLD can succeed at school when they are identified and access the right support. But first they need our help.

Livewell Speech and Language Service are offering free taster sessions on DLD and how it can be supported in the classroom. The sessions are free and last approximately 30 minutes. Sessions are on

• Monday 3rd October at 3:45
• Wednesday 5th October at 3:45

Please contact Speech and Language admin on livewell.childrens-sltraining@nhs.net to book your place.

Livewell Speech and Language also offer a range of free training packages, including a 90 min training session on Developmental Language Disorder, for more details please visit: Speech & Language | Livewell Southwest

School Exchanges

A primary school in Brest have reached out, as they would like to develop exchanges in English with a school in Plymouth.

The Jean Macé Primary School has set up the "CLIL" program, which reinforces language learning from nursery school onwards. The pupils are aged between 3 and 11.

All the teachers would like to set up these exchanges: correspondence by email, post, video- conferencing, etc.

The school's headmistress is Mrs. Verdier, here are her contact details:

Elisabeth Verdier
Jean Macé Primary School
ce.0291984z@ac-rennes.fr

Some schools in Brest and Plymouth are currently linked or have had links in previous years, but perhaps new schools would be interested in setting up exchanges.

Health and wellbeing updates

Senior Lead Training (Cohort 12) - Trauma & Mental Health Informed Schools

There is still time to book your place on the 'Trauma & Mental Health Informed Schools - Senior Leads' 2 day course, delivered by Trauma Informed Schools UK (04/11/22 & 09/11/22).

This funded course is designed to support Senior Leads to implement trauma-informed and mentally-healthy practices into their schools settings. The course ensures that Senior Leads have the knowledge, skills and understanding to optimise the well-being of both adults and pupils in their school (and drive this crucial cultural change). Attendees will learn practical ways of supporting children/teenagers whose learning is interrupted by trauma or mental health problems and whose troubled behaviour may have become a barrier to development. Attendees will also learn a wealth of interventions to support staff to ensure that they feel valued and nurtured, thereby supporting positive mental health and improving staff retention.

This last funded cohort of Senior Leads training will take place on the 4th and 9th of November 2022. Places are limited to 2 attendees per school.

For further information, course content and to book your place/s, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tisuk-slt-training-plymouth-cohort-12-4th-and-9th- november-2022-tickets-338103846707