In this section:
Introduction
The Portsmouth Education Partnership strategy covers a wide range of work across the partnership. The PEP structure, diagram below, consists of boards and groups that oversee the areas of work in the strategy as outlined below.
There are seven priorities in the strategy:
- Strong leadership and ambition, led by the School Leadership and Effectiveness Board
- Digital learning strategy, led by the Digital Working Group
- Early communication, language and literacy, led by the Early Language and Literacy Development Group
- Attainment and progress in maths, led by the Maths Group
- Recruit, retain and grow the best teachers, practitioners and leaders, led by the ITT, Teacher Recruitment and Retention Group
- School attendance, led by the Removing Barriers to Inclusion Group / Behaviour and Attendance Group (BAG)
- Reducing the proportion of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET), led by the Post 16 Forum
PEP STRUCTURE
PEP BOARDS
Priority Education Investment Area Subgroup
Chair: Frances Soul (Independent Chair of the PEP)
Contact: [email protected]
Cross-cutting priority: Taking forward the work associated with the EIA including the data led needs analysis, identification of priorities and preparation and monitoring of delivery plans, with the overriding objective of addressing entrenched underperformance including literacy and numeracy in Portsmouth.
School Leadership and Effectiveness Board
Chair: James Humphries (Director of Standards and Effectiveness, UNiCAT)
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 1: Strong leadership and ambition at all levels within individual schools and education settings to improve effectiveness and outcomes for children and young people.
Key responsibilities:
- consider and plan for the holistic development of school leaders,
- work collectively to scope and commission a co-ordinated leadership programme
- agree guidance to schools on tools for benchmarking and target-setting,
- organise and oversee a process to ensure that there is effective peer review
- embrace the principle of distributed leadership and strong curriculum design
- support the development of governance
- consider the particular barriers and vulnerabilities faced by certain groups of children and young people,
- liaise with other boards and groups whose work connects with and contributes to the raising of standards and achievements.
ITT, Teacher Recruitment and Retention Group
Chair: James Doherty (Principal, UTC Portsmouth)
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 4: Recruit, retain and grow the best teachers, practitioners and leaders and provide high quality continuing professional development.
Key responsibilities:
- to promote and increase visibility of Teach Portsmouth, with a focus on the ethos of a teaching city,
- to utilise the Teach Portsmouth website, social media and other initiatives, to provide clarity on pathways into teaching and easy methods to apply for vacancies,
- to recognise teaching excellence and encourage teacher recruitment through initiatives that promote teaching in Portsmouth,
- to promote continuing professional development,
- to identify and bid for funding opportunities to support time-limited initiatives related to teacher recruitment and retention which have a lasting positive impact in Portsmouth,
- to develop and implement a strategy for Grow Your Own and second career teachers,
- to develop an evidence base to underpin direction of travel for teacher recruitment and retention initiatives,
- to identify and bid for funding opportunities to support time-limited initiatives related to teacher recruitment and retention which have a lasting positive impact in Portsmouth.
Post 16 Forum
Chair: Shared by colleges senior leaders and rotated on a termly basis.
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 7: Reducing the proportion of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) through NEET prevention and re-engagement activities
Key responsibilities:
- reduce the proportion of young people in Portsmouth who are not in education, employment or training (NEET),
- meet the needs of young people with special educational needs and disabilities,
- raise the aspiration and attainment of young people to increase the number of young people who progress to higher education and higher apprenticeships,
- support the regeneration of Portsmouth and up skilling of young people to meet the future skill and employment needs of the City,
- improve the provision of careers education, information, advice and guidance,
- share pupil / student information, data and intelligence,
- plan the post-16 curriculum,
- share information and intelligence about local education changes,
- support the planning and delivery of targeted youth support services.
Digital Strategy
Lead: Gemma Gwilliam (Head of Digital Learning, Education and Innovation, PEP Digital Strategic)
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 2: Implement a digital learning strategy for the city that supports learning both at school and at home.
Early Language and Literacy Group
Chair: Matt Johnson (Headteacher, Copnor Primary School, LA-Maintained)
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 3: Improve pupil outcomes in literacy (reading, writing and oral) with a high priority focus on early language development.
Key responsibilities:
- Agreeing and delegating particular elements of the key actions to individual members and sub-groups,
- Agreeing highly focused priority work so that it is manageable and can have the most impact,
- Building a network of professionals who can establish strong partnerships with clear channels of communication and collective responsibility.
- Securing funding and co-ordinating bids for training and professional development of school leaders, teachers and practitioners in education and pre-school and family settings,
- Co-ordinating the sharing of information and resources including regular updates and data sharing of evidence-based impact so that we can learn from best practice,
- Presenting regular updates to the Strategic Board on early language and literacy development programmes and the impact they are having on individual settings, schools and overall outcomes in the city.
Early Years and Childcare Reference Group
Chair: Early Years Leadership Team (PCC)
Contact: [email protected]
Cross cutting theme: Critical to the PEP Education Strategy is a clear understanding of the importance of early years provision and practice upon which future stages of education are built.
Key responsibilities:
- Ensure improved communication across the sector and the sharing of information or gaps in service provision,
- To consider how far the crisis provides an opportunity for, and requires, more radical thinking around consistent expectations,
- To consider the financial implications and sufficiency of the childcare market during this crisis,
- To provide a strong voice to Government on what is needed,
- Representatives will act as a conduit for information to and from the wider market.
Removing Barriers to Inclusion Group and Subgroups
Chair: Nys Hardingham (CEO, Salterns Academy Trust)
Contact: [email protected]
Cross cutting theme: Creating an educational environment that is welcoming to all children and young people and not giving up on any child whatever their circumstances.
Leading on priority 6: ensure all pupils regularly attend school.
Key responsibilities:
- identify further support for schools to address SEN Support variability,
- identify further support for schools to improve literacy,
- carry out a review of secondary schools’ internal AP provision,
- embed the work of the Turnaround project in the Early Help and Prevention Service in order to increase reintegration rates,
- renew the focus on addressing school absence for children with SEND,
- embed the new model of delivery for the Inclusion Outreach Service,
- make available grants for mainstream schools to support inclusion building projects.
Removing Barriers to Inclusion Subgroups:
Children’s Emotional Health and Wellbeing Group
Chair: Laura Peterkin-Aldred (Headteacher, Solent Junior School, De Curci Trust)
Contact: [email protected]
Behaviour and Attendance Group
Chair: Christian Down (Headteacher, Castle View Academy, ULT)
Contact: [email protected]
Maths Group
Chair: Sarah Anderson (Solent Maths Hub Lead)
Contact: [email protected]
Leading on priority 4: Secure a step change in attainment and progress in maths across all key stages.
Key responsibilities:
- Develop teacher and support staff mathematics subject knowledge in all key stages through the work of the Solent Maths Hub
- Support maths subject leaders to help unpick pupils’ specific areas of weakness and ensure the pedagogy is appropriate, inclusive, effective and impactful
- Raise aspirations through making maths learning exciting and meaningful, by highlighting the relevance of concepts or specific knowledge with collaborating specialists who can offer inspirational activities, experiences, resources and equipment, linked to a wider focus on STEM
- Consider ways of training and supporting school staff in how to use digital technology to enhance maths teaching and learning and reduce workload (with reference to the EEF evidence-based Using Digital Technology to Improve Learning recommendations)
MEETING SCHEDULE
The meeting schedule for the remainder of the 2023/24 academic year is as follows:
| PEP Strategic Board (Termly) |
Tuesday 12 December 2023 Tuesday 27 February 2024 Tuesday 23 April 2024 Tuesday 25 June 2024 |
| PEIA Sub-Group (At least half-termly) |
Tuesday 5 December 2023 Thursday 8 February 2024 Tuesday 19 March 2024 Tuesday 11 June 2024 |
| School Leadership and Effectiveness Board (Half-termly) |
Monday 22 January 2024 Monday 11 March 2024 |
| ITT Teacher Recruitment and Retention Group (Termly) |
Please contact [email protected] and [email protected] |
| Post 16 Forum (Termly) |
Monday 4 December 2023 Monday 25 March 2024 Monday 13 May 2024 Monday 1 July 2024 Friday 6 September 2024 Monday 11 November 2024 |
| Digital Strategy | Please contact Gemma Gwilliam at [email protected] |
| Early Language and Literacy Group (Half-termly) |
Friday 12 January 2024 Friday 15 March 2024 Friday 10 May 2024 Friday 12 July 2024 |
| School Sufficiency Board (Termly) |
Wednesday 24 January 2024 Monday 11 March 2024 Tuesday 7 May 2024 Tuesday 9 July 2024 |
| Early Years and Childcare Reference Group | Please contact Mindy Butler at [email protected] |
| Removing Barriers to Inclusion Group (Half-termly) |
Wednesday 17 January 2024 Thursday 21 March 2024 Wednesday 8 May 2024 Thursday 20 June 2024 |
MEMBERSHIP
The list of multi-academy trusts (MATs) operating in Portsmouth and the schools in each MAT is available here.
The current membership of each group can be viewed here.
In the spirit of openness and transparency, any headteacher or MAT representative within the city is at liberty to request to attend meetings of this group/board in the capacity of an observer.
The timings of PEP Boards and meetings can be found on the PEP calendar.
Minutes of previous meetings are available here (please email [email protected] to request access).
For further information regarding the PEP, please contact:
- Sarah Christopher, PEP and School Inclusion Manager
Email: [email protected] - Frances Soul, PEP Independent Chair
Email: [email protected]