Agenda item - Chair's Communications

15.1           The Chair provided the following Communications:

“There is a full report later on the agenda but I am proud that the good work with the most vulnerable children & young people in the city has been recognised and that our overall judgement for children’s social care in the city is now good.

Again, there is a report later on the agenda but I want to say congratulations to the city’s nursery’s schools and colleges on the good results archived across all phases this year.

Good news from Blatchington Mill that that they have been successful in a bid to establish a modern foreign languages hub within B&H. They are one of 7 schools nationally that have been successful, and this is a major achievement for the school and for the city. The project will involve supporting other secondary schools to improve outcomes in MFL, important for EBACC success and also reflective of the city we live in and the life skills we want young people to have, including the ability to be bilingual in a globalised and increasingly interconnected world.

I am pleased to say that St. Paul's CE Primary School and Nursery has been reaccredited International School Award status by the British Council. The assessors found that the “international dimension is firmly embedded in the school's curriculum and whole-school ethos, promoting citizenship and foreign language learning, and celebrating cultural diversity across the school and wider community”. They also praised the well-established and active links with two schools, in Spain and in Uganda. Well done to all at the school.

Between Oct 2012 and Sept 2017 the Brighton & Hove Youth Collective consisted of 8 community and voluntary sector organisations: Brighton Youth Centre, The Crew Club, The Deans Youth Project, Hangleton & Knoll Project, Tarner Community Project, The Trust for Developing Communities, YMCA Downslink and the Young People’s Centre (YPC).

It was commissioned by Brighton and Hove City Council to deliver universal youth work across the city to young people against a number of targets and outcomes for young people under the overall strategic outcomes of ‘Young people are able to enjoy their leisure time’ and ‘Young people have the opportunity to be active citizens and shape the services that affect their lives’.

The Youth Collective worked collaboratively with each other and other organisations in the city to run events and put on activities for young people; everything from local community events to city wide events like the B.fest youth arts festival, which is part of Brighton Fringe Festival – a report has been compiled that celebrates the work that took place and the outcomes achieved.

The organisations involved continue to work collaboratively as part of the BHCC youth grants programme, providing some amazing opportunities for young people across the city

More detail including the report can be found on the youth collective website – a link will be shared in the minutes of this meeting.

I would like to welcome Councillors Lucy Care, Lisa Eldret, Alan Graves and Richard Hudson from Derby City Council who are part of a delegation to observe our committee system in practice.

There has been a minor adjustment to the Financial Implications of Agenda Item 23. The change will now read: “The cost of the TESU service per year is £66,800 paid for by the High Needs Block within the DSG.

There are no direct financial implications for the Local Authority as a result of the recommendations in this report.”

These changes have been applied and are available online for public consumption.”