Brighton & Hove Virtual School for Children in Care and Previously in Care
To get a copy of our guide for designated teachers, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
Date: Tuesday 11 October 2023.
Time: 2pm to 4pm.
Location: Portslade Hub, room G07.
Attendance for children in care, previously in care and/or with a social worker.
Empowerment Approach with Kit Messenger.
PEP Quality.
For more information, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
Strategies to support social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) in schools.
Evidence-based interventions and funding.
Attachment, trauma and mental health support.
For more information, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
The Virtual School for Children in Care and Previously in Care has funded TouchBase to deliver Team Pupil Support Groups.
These off-site support groups provide an afternoon of reflective space to:
Support groups are facilitated by Julia Wilde, Strategic Attachment Lead Teacher at TouchBase.
Support groups are free to attend for Teaching Assistants, Mentors, Teachers, SENCos and Senior Managers who are key adults or are involved in a ‘Team Around the Child’ (Team Pupil), seeking to work in an attachment-aware and trauma-informed way.
If this is your first experience of Team Pupil Support Groups, you can join the half-termly year 1 group.
If you've attended Team Pupil Support Groups previously, such as year 1 sessions, book onto the termly year 2/3 group.
If you've completed the TouchBase Attachment Lead in Schools 7-day course or have already attended 3 years of Team Pupil Support Groups, book onto the half-termly Attachment Lead group.
Half termly:
Termly:
Half termly:
Groups are run online from 1:30pm to 3pm.
For more information, send an email to info@touchbase.org.uk.
An offer to foster carers to attend a 1.5-hour training session with Key Stage Advisor Rob Caddick. This event will discuss education matters such as:
Thursday 28 September 2023, 1pm to 3pm at Portslade Hub, room G56.
Thursday 8 February 2024, 1pm to 3pm at Portslade Hub, room G56.
Thursday 6 June 2024, 1pm to 3pm at Portslade Hub, room G56.
For more information or to book a place, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
An exciting opportunity for all foster carers to come together with the Virtual School to discuss important issues that relate to their role in the education of young people in their care.
Thursday 20 March 2024, 9:30am to 2:30pm at Bramber House, Sussex University.
For more information:
Education can be a big ask for children and young people who have experienced a difficult or unsettled start in life. It's not always easy to know how to help them.
Our workshops cover a range of topics on supporting the child you care for through their educational journey.
Our workshops can help you:
The Virtual School has funded TouchBase to run the following free workshops. Workshops will be facilitated by Michael Reeves, an Integrative Child Psychotherapist and Specialist Teacher working in both the TouchBase therapy and education teams.
This session will focus on how we can:
We will think through how, together with education staff, we can support children and young people to let go of their need for control and follow our lead.
Together, let’s think about how we can help children and young people to learn to manage their emotions and find ways of staying calm, so they can make the most of nursery, school and college life.
All workshops are on Wednesdays from 10am to 11.30am. They take place at TouchBase, 41 to 43 Portland Road, Hove.
For more information or to book by email, send an email to info@touchbase.org.uk.
If you'd like to book by email, include the following information:
The Virtual School has funded TouchBase to run clinics for foster carers to attend on their own or as a couple. We encourage you to invite a key member of staff from the nursery, school, or post-sixteen provision to attend with you.
Clinics offer an informal session with Alice Mallorie, a Strategic Therapeutic Attachment Lead and Psychotherapist. This is a chance to explore strategies together and discuss helpful tips to support the education of children/young people in care. It isn’t a formal consultation or therapeutic intervention.
Clinics are free to attend on Mondays and are online.
Clinics are on the following dates:
Book a workshop or clinic place online.
For more information or to book by email, send an email to info@touchbase.org.uk.
If you'd like to book by email, include the following information:
Our offer of education workshops and clinics for parents and carers of children previously in care who are educated in Brighton & Hove is outlined below.
Children previously in care are children or young people who either:
‘State care’ is care provided by a public authority, a religious organisation, or any other organisation whose sole or main purpose is to benefit society.
The Virtual School have commissioned TouchBase to run the following free workshops for parents and carers of children previously in care who are educated in Brighton and Hove.
They will be facilitated by Michael Reeves, an Integrative Child Psychotherapist and Specialist Teacher in both the TouchBase therapy and education teams.
Parents: 11 October 2023.
Carers: 15 November 2023.
This session will focus on how we can:
Parents: 7 February 2024.
Carers: 24 January 2024.
We'll think through how, together with education staff, we can support children to let go of their need for control and follow our lead.
Parents: 8 May 2024.
Carers: 24 April 2024.
Together let’s think about how we can help children and young people learn to manage their emotions and find ways of staying calm, so they can make the most of nursery, school and college life.
All workshops are on Wednesdays from 10am to 11.30am. They take place at TouchBase, 41 to 43 Portland Road, Hove.
If you're a parent, you can:
Include:
If you're a carer, you can:
Include:
The Virtual School has commissioned TouchBase to deliver clinics which are free to parents and carers of children previously in care who are educated in Brighton & Hove.
This is a chance to explore strategies and discuss helpful tips with Alice Mallorie, Strategic Therapeutic Attachment Lead and Psychotherapist, to support the education of children/young people previously in care.
It isn’t a formal consultation or therapeutic intervention.
Parents/carers are encouraged to invite a key member of staff.
20 November 2023 - 3 available sessions:
4 March 2024 - 3 available sessions:
17 June 2024 – 3 available sessions:
The clinics are on Mondays at 11am, 12pm and 1pm and will be online or by telephone.
To book, you can:
Include:
The next CIC awards will take place on Friday 17 November 2023 at the Amex Stadium, Brighton.
Following on from the previous year’s inspirational trips for Brighton & Hove children in care to Cambridge and Sussex Universities, this year there will be further opportunities to experience university life as it might be and to see what great incentives are available to children in care.
For more information or to book a place, send an email to kirsty.baker@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
The Virtual School funds and assists weekly activities for CiC. This gives them the opportunity to socialise and get expert tuition in sports and leisure activities.
Table tennis club runs on:
Art club runs during the:
Dates to be confirmed.
Starts on Wednesday 6 September 2023 and runs weekly for 9 weeks.
For more information or to book a place, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.
This is an annual event that education professionals should not miss. Our education conference has recently been described by attendees as ‘a rare diamond in the meadow of monotonous training’ so please save the date and sign up at the earliest opportunity.
The event involves a range of keynote presenters, including care-experienced speakers, addressing key educational issues for children in care and children previously in care.
This year's conference is being held on Thursday 4 July 2024, 9.30am to 2.30pm at Bramber House, Sussex University.
Visit our BEEM page to book a place.
Below are the links to recordings on our YouTube page where you can watch speakers from some of our previous conference programmes.
Go to the Brighton & Hove Virtual School Summer Conference 2022 YouTube playlist.
Or watch the individual speakers:
For more information, send an email to virtualschool@brighton-hove.gov.uk.