Education Noticeboard - 2 February 2022

03 February 2021 Welcome to the Education Noticeboard. A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.

Included in this update:

  1. Director Update
  2. Latest local COVID-19 infection rates in Telford & Wrekin
  3. Queens Jubilee – Celebration funds are open
  4. Telford College provides multi-million pound boost to local economy
  5. Chinese New Year fun at Priorslee Academy
  6. Millbrook Primary pupils celebrate Year of the Tiger
  7. Young people in Telford & Wrekin take to the polls
  8. What to expect on a primary deep dive – some guidance for subject leaders
  9. Advance information of the focus of GCSE, AS and A level exams in 2022
  10. Final deadline for additional CO2 monitor requests
  11. Initial teacher training (ITT) in early years settings and schools
  12. School attendance webinars
  13. Pre-exclusion Hotline 07816 372459
  14. Happy Healthy Active Holidays set to continue for three more years
  15. Happy Healthy Active Holidays at Easter
  16. LGBTQ+ History Month – Telford & Wrekin events
  17. Meeting the OFSTED Requirements and Developing Reading Strategies for EAL Learners at KS2
  18. Children’s Mental Health Week
  19. Life Ready, Work Ready
  20. National Apprenticeship Week
  21. Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 8 February 2022
  22. Free virtual Prevent training for Designated Safeguarding & Prevent Leads
  23. Free training opportunity for Designated Teachers for Looked After Children
  24. SEND Newsletter –  January 2022
  25. TalkBoost – save the dates
  26. EAL and SEND
  27. Autism in Telford & Wrekin Council Schools and provisions
  28. Independent Chair of Telford & Wrekin Education Strategic Partnership Board vacancy
  29. CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors
  30. Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)  Supporting Recovery, making evidence informed choices
  31. Telford Community Pride Awards: Reminder to vote!
  32. In Kind – free goods for schools
  33. Important national science events coming up

Director Update

Dear Colleagues

A bumper edition of the noticeboard this week and there is some fantastic news to share. Telford College has provided the local economy with a much needed boost and I know a number of our schools and academies have celebrated Chinese New Year!

I am also delighted to share the news that the Happy Healthy Active Holidays scheme is set to continue for three more years. These holiday clubs provide a fantastic service to support our children. Leadership of the scheme now comes under us in the education team and we seek your help! We need schools/academies to help us set up even more provision. We have some cold spots across Telford but we know with your support we can achieve greater reach. I definitely don’t want to give any money back to the government (which happens if we don’t spend our allocation) when we know it could be better spent supporting children in Telford & Wrekin! Check out the details below about how you can get involved. Please don’t hesitate to make contact if you have any questions

Next week is Children’s Mental Health Week and a number of resources have been collated, both in terms of information and activities for the classroom as well as support that is available in the longer term.

Apprenticeship Week also commences on Monday, and there detail about ‘what’s on’ as well as various videos and links.

A quick note about COVID-19. We know many of you continue to experience difficulties particularly with regard to workforce continuity. I am told that whilst our numbers are high they appear to have peaked last week and therefore let’s hope we see numbers reduce further.

As always there are updates from the Department for Education, CPD opportunities and other key pieces of information including safeguarding and SEND.

Best wishes.
Simon

Simon Wellman
Director: Education & Skills


Latest local COVID-19 infection rates in Telford & Wrekin

As of 28 January, Telford and Wrekin has the tenth highest seven-day case rate nationally.

For the week ending 23 January:

  • 2,425 Covid-19 cases reported, 773 less compared to the previous week.
  • The seven-day infection rate for Telford and Wrekin is 1,337 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000.
  • For the West Midlands, the seven-day infection rate is 1,055 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000.
  • For England, the seven-day infection rate is 1,043 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000.

Read the full story on the Telford & Wrekin Newsroom.


Queens Jubilee – Celebration funds are open

This year 2022, is a very special year for Her Majesty The Queen. She will become the first British Monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee, having acceded to the throne on 6 February 1952 when Her Majesty was just 25 years old. It has already been announced that there will be an extended bank holiday, from Thursday 2 June to Sunday 5 June 2022 as part of the planned celebrations to mark this historic occasion.

The four days of celebrations will include public events and community activities, as well as national moments of reflection on The Queen’s 70 years of service.

Do you know anyone in your community who is thinking of organising an event to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee?

Telford & Wrekin Council launched The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Celebration Fund to support local communities to come together to hold their own Platinum Jubilee celebrations and events. Schools can also get involved (as long as your events or projects are open for the wider public).

You can find more information online, and it is hoped that you will share details with your own communities.

The closing date for applications is Friday 4 February 2022.


Telford College provides multi-million pound boost to local economy

It has been revealed that Telford College has contributed more than £226 million to the region’s economy during the past year.

The college generated a return of more than £25 for every £1 of Government funding received for its A level, apprenticeship and higher education courses. Vocational and technical courses made up over £115 million of the college’s contribution to the local economy.

The figures are contained in a new ‘Strategic Impact Assessment’ covering the 2020-21 academic year, which examines the impact of learning on the economy.

The report shows that Telford College is exceeding the business community’s expectations in areas such as employer satisfaction, and in its contribution towards helping to plug skills gaps in the local economy. Closer links with local secondary schools are also helping to boost student recruitment numbers and improve the college’s standing in the community.

The report is based on a nationally-recognised formula which calculates the contribution students will make to the local economy with their newly-acquired skills and qualifications. The performance was achieved against a backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, with restrictions presenting challenges with student participation levels in some areas.

Graham Guest, Telford College’s principal and chief executive, said: “It’s incredibly pleasing and reassuring to see that we are providing such a dramatic return on investment as we continue to focus on addressing skills shortages. Our aim is to become a broad base for the delivery of further and higher education across the region, meet the needs of employers and make a major contribution to the economic success of Telford and Wrekin area. We have worked very hard to ensure that our curriculum is more inclusive, and fully reflects local and regional skills needs. Our highly experienced teachers are backed up by a very good network of impartial information, advice and guidance to maximise their career choices.”

Mr Guest said the college was also reaping the rewards of closer working partnerships with many secondary schools in Telford & Wrekin, delivering masterclasses, careers talks, new learner days and open events: “Our recruitment numbers grew again in 2020-21, showing improved levels of confidence in Telford College, and its role and relevance in the community. We are constantly focusing on delivering the skills needed by the local economy, aided by the creation of specialist employer hubs in areas such as health, engineering and aviation.”

Achievement rates for A level students were above the national average, and two thirds of vocational students progressed into either education, or apprenticeships.

Mr Guest said: “In priority areas such as business and professional, engineering, food and drink and manufacturing as priority areas, our impact of our vocational programmes in these sectors adds up to more than £30 million. In aspirational career sectors such as the creative arts, digital media and IT, these courses added a further £26 million.”

The report says achievement rates for adult learners at Telford College are ‘outstanding’ and performing either on or above the national average, while the college’s apprenticeship curriculum has been strengthened and improved.

Mr Guest said: “Our employer hubs are allowing us to work more collaboratively with employers, through interactive collaboration groups that include key representatives from local employers. We are building sector-specific curriculum programmes that support both the technical and soft skills that employers need to fill their existing and future skills gaps.”

In the run-up to National Apprenticeship Week, employers and students have been speaking about the benefits of apprenticeship programmes with Telford College.

If you're considering an apprenticeship - Go For It

"It's been great to work with Telford College" - Rosewood

Benefits of an apprenticeship

Business Administration Apprenticeships Question and Answer

An apprenticeship is the best thing I've ever done

Apprenticeships are critical for our business

Jacob Sharratt Addison - Electrical Apprentice - explains what it's link on his apprenticeship

Employer testimonies - Fodens and Mc Phillips


Chinese New Year fun at Priorslee Academy

Pupils at Priorslee Academy celebrated the Chinese New Year by wearing something red and Mrs Cooper, Head of School, dressed as a tiger to celebrate the year of the Tiger!

Pre-School and Reception children performed for their peers and parents after making tiger heads and their very own Chinese dragon!

The children also enjoyed a Chinese themed menu, which included a range of Chinese snacks for children to try.


Millbrook Primary pupils celebrate Year of the Tiger

Grace Tong from the Chinese Arts Cultural Centre, based in Telford, visited Millbrook Primary School in Leegomery to mark the Chinese New Year.

Pupils took part in workshops and even tasted Chinese food for lunch, as Grace showed them the importance of respecting different cultures.

Grace said: "The children took part in lots of different activities throughout the day, including Chinese fan dancing, dragon dancing, ribbon dancing and storytelling, as well as singing," 

Activities were set up for each class, year by year, with each group doing something different. Kirsty Holden, from Telford & Wrekin Council's multicultural team, said the event was important to show pupils how diverse Telford is.

"The funding for these sessions came from the police and crime commissioner John Campion, so that Telford & Wrekin schools can learn more about Chinese culture," she explained. "The cultural centre is actually offering free Mandarin lessons through this funding which take place on a 12-week course. All children throughout Telford and Wrekin can find out more about the course if they are interested. We are hoping to build cultural links, and show equality and diversity in the curriculum but also give families the chance to learn together and learn about the wonderful cultures we have here in Telford and Wrekin."

Jo Edwards, deputy head teacher at Millbrook Primary School, said the children loved doing the activities. "In our school it's so important to us to learn more about different cultures as we have a diverse community here," she said. "Throughout the year the school celebrates different cultural occasions and learns more about them. The children had a fantastic day – the activities were interactive and kept them interested, it was great. It kept them really engaged which was nice to see. For us, it's about widening our children's understanding of what goes on around the world and building respect for different cultures. It also allows us to develop a sense of belonging for people from different cultures here in Telford."

This year, Chinese New Year fell on February 1 2022, although celebrations typically last 16 days, starting from 31 January 2022 until 15 February 2022.


Young people in Telford & Wrekin take to the polls

Students aged 11-18 will have the opportunity to elect their next Member of Youth Parliament in forthcoming elections between 1 and 15 February 2022. 

There are four candidates hoping to be elected to represent young people in this national organisation for the next two years. Students will also be able to vote for the issues that they want to see tackled locally and nationally through the Make Your Mark Ballot which is taking place at the same time. Ballot boxes will be available in all secondary schools across Telford & Wrekin.

The UK Youth Parliament provides opportunities for 11-18 year olds to use their elected voice to bring about social change through meaningful representation and campaigning. During their term of office, Members of Youth Parliament (MYPs) work with their MPs, decision-makers, councillors and local youth groups on the issues of greatest concern to their constituents.  In the past year this has involved working on campaigns around mental health and reducing plastic pollution, and in the past MYPs have worked on the issue of knife crime.

Nationally, the views of young people are represented in the UK Youth Parliament manifesto, which contains statements on the issues Members of Youth Parliament think are most important.

Members of Youth Parliament across the UK work to give young people a voice – listening to marginalised groups, organising events, making films, meeting MPs, lobbying for change, organising campaigns and appearing in the media, all to amplify the views of their peers.

The results of the Make Your Mark ballot will be used by the elected Member of Youth Parliament (MYP) and the Telford & Wrekin Young Peoples Forum to campaign for change within the borough.


What to expect on a primary deep dive – some guidance for subject leaders

This is an update from the Department for Education

A new post, “What to expect on a primary deep dive – some guidance for subject leaders” has now been published on the Ofsted: schools, early years, further education and skills blog.

Heather Fearn and Jonathan Keay, Her Majesty’s Inspectors from Ofsted’s curriculum team, discuss some key points about what primary subject leaders (especially small primary schools) can expect from deep dives. This blog builds on the previous blog about this subject.

Read the full post on the GOV.UK website.


Advance information of the focus of GCSE, AS and A level exams in 2022

This is an update from the Department for Education

It is recognised that those students taking exams this year have had considerable disruption to their education and adaptations to the exams take account of that.

Advance information of the focus of exams in most GCSE and all AS and A level subjects with exams will be published by exam boards (on their public websites) on Monday 7 February 2022 to support students in their revision. It is still important that students receive teaching that is broad and balanced in line with the national curriculum.

Advance information will confirm some of the aspects of the specification that will be assessed in the exams, relating to content, texts, topics, themes and/or skills as appropriate for each specification.

Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) guidance for teachers on advance information is available, and further information about what will be included in advance information for each specification is available on the relevant exam boards websites.


Final deadline for additional CO2 monitor requests

This is an update from the Department for Education

To help settings manage ventilation, over 350,000 CO2 monitors have been delivered to over 99% of eligible maintained schools, further education colleges and the majority of early years settings.

Settings should have received approximately one CO2 monitor for every two teaching rooms. If this is not the case or if you have not received your allocation of monitors, please contact the Department for Education COVID-19 helpline on 0800 046 8687 by Thursday 10 February 2022 with the following information about your setting:

  • number of pupils or children
  • number of teaching spaces
  • number of sites
  • your URN or setting reference number
  • full name of your setting

For any problems with deliveries, please contact the supplier, Rexel, directly on 0330 0450 606. Lines are open Monday to Friday from 7am to 7pm.


Initial teacher training (ITT) in early years settings and schools

This is an update from the Department for Education

Schools are encouraged to continue to host trainee teachers again this year. Hosting a trainee can support in meet your existing and future recruitment needs, as well as offering excellent professional development opportunities for your existing workforce and providing opportunities for them to hone their leadership and mentoring skills.

For those settings already hosting trainee teachers, we strongly encourage continuing this academic year. If you are not already hosting trainee teachers, local ITT providers can help you explore the opportunities available. Please contact itt.engagement@education.gov.uk for support with partnering with local training providers.

Alternatively, you can find and contact local training providers directly by using the find teacher training service.

Please review your recruitment needs and consider if you have capacity to support the employment of early career teachers. You can post vacancies on Teaching Vacancies, the free, national job listing service for schools and trusts. The department is also running social media campaigns aimed at raising awareness amongst the teaching community about this service.


School attendance webinars

This is an update from the Department for Education

School attendance best practice webinars are now underway. This series focusses on how a range of schools across the country have maintained or improved their attendance levels, and the approaches they have taken.

John Taylor Multi Academy Trust will be delivering the first webinar to share how they have been managing and improving attendance in their primary and secondary schools during the pandemic. This webinar will take place on Wednesday 9 February 2022 at 4pm on Microsoft Teams and will last between 30 and 45 minutes. There will be an opportunity for attendees to ask questions at the end of the webinar.

If you are interested in joining, please register your interest by completing the attendance webinar registration form. A link to the webinar will be sent to all participants who register.

If you are unable to attend, a recording will be published on GOV.​UK and shared after the event. Other webinars will be publicised in the coming weeks, showcasing the approaches of other schools in different contexts.


Pre-exclusion Hotline 07816 372459

The pre-exclusion hotline is working well. It has been used by schools that are considering an exclusion.

A member of the BSAT team has been able to offer immediate intervention by discussing the exclusion in more detail, and offering a preventative solution. This support is available for both the individual child and their school.

One example of this was a school who telephoned the pre-exclusion hotline requesting support.

Contact was requested because a child had got into trouble swearing and telling staff that they were going to kill them. The issue was that this individual had previously been on a fixed term exclusion. The school had noticed that the child had complex needs and had previously utilised alternative provision.

The school felt that the information provided to them by a colleague did not evidence the complex needs and support that was previously provided to the child. As Local Authority (LA) officers, the Behaviour Support Development and Advisory Team (BSATs) were able to check the protocol system to see the extensive support that had previously been provided to the child and they were able to discuss this in more detail with the school. 

A visit was planned which allowed the BSAT team to support the child and discuss the reasons for their behaviour using a restorative approach. An offer of a restorative justice session with the child and the teacher involved enabled the exclusion to be prevented. Following this, the school purchased further support sessions from BSAT. 

In this instance, the ongoing support has allowed the BSAT team to check in weekly with the child, who has remained in the school and is now doing well. This demonstrates that with the right support at the right time can prevent exclusions.

The Pre-exclusion Hotline number is 07816 372459.


Happy Healthy Active Holidays set to continue for three more years

The scheme called Happy Healthy Active Holidays is run by Telford & Wrekin Council and has now attracted 22 local organisations to help put on 427 holiday clubs in the past year.

The children who enrolled in the holiday clubs enjoyed a range of fun activities such as sports, music, and arts and crafts, as well as a free nutritious meal each day.

Following the success of the scheme in 2021, the government confirmed the programme will continue for the next three years, and Telford & Wrekin Council have been allocated an additional £843,000 from the Department of Education to run the scheme during 2022.

The Happy Healthy Active Holidays scheme builds on the work of the Council’s own Holiday Activity and Eat Well programme, which has supported voluntary and community providers to deliver holiday clubs throughout school holidays since 2018. 

Happy Healthy Active Holidays and the Holiday Activity and Eat Well programme also runs alongside the council’s ‘Kids for a £1’ leisure scheme, ensuring all children in the borough can enjoy happy, healthy and active holidays. 

Councillor Shirley Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Families (Labour), said: "With our help, community groups have provided holiday activities and nutritious meals to children for several years now. I am delighted that this additional funding from the Department of Education will allow us are to provide these holiday clubs borough-wide for a second year running. We have been working hard with community groups to organise as many holiday clubs as possible. 

"The school holidays can be financially difficult for families, and some children feel isolated - so these holiday clubs make a difference to those who need it most. These holiday clubs help keep children entertained, eating healthy meals and getting ready for the start of the new school term. Parents have told us how their children have returned home excited after each session and are bursting with ideas.”

Vanessa Holt, coordinator for the Oakengates Town Council holiday club, said: “Working with Telford and Wrekin Council to put on these holiday clubs has been great, it’s been worthwhile to see the difference they make. 

"One of our parents told us how their child complained at first and asked why they had booked him on to a holiday club. He felt that he was being dragging out; now he really wants to go again and will be dragging his parent out!

The programme is now open for organisations to make applications for grant funding to help run holiday clubs. Organisations that can provide healthy meals and fun activities, such as sports, arts and crafts, nature or cooking, should apply. Venues or organisations who can provide activities for holiday club providers can register as a ‘Delivery Partner’, to help holiday clubs provide a varied programme.

Councillor Shirley Reynolds, added: "This could be your organisations chance to help support families during what can be a difficult time. We have a team on hand to answer questions and to help you make an application. So don't be put off if you don't think you nail everything in the criteria; we still want to hear from you.”

The deadline for grant applications is 18 February 2022, applications can be made online:


Happy Healthy Active Holidays at Easter

Following the confirmation that there will be funding over the next three years for the Happy Healthy Active Holiday (HHAH) programme, it has been confirmed that Telford & Wrekin are able to fund schools and other providers for one week at Easter, four weeks in the summer holidays and one week at Christmas.

This will build on the fantastic work of the four schools which took part in the programme over the Christmas holidays, with plans to double the number of providers for Easter. To see an example of the wonderful programme that was delivered over Christmas at Telford Priory Schools, please watch the short video:

Telford Priory - Healthy Happy Active Holidays

Schools have been asked to each nominate a champion for this programme and packs will be sent out to them this week. At this stage, the primary focus is on engaging schools for Easter, there is no expectation that schools who do so will deliver for the other holidays. That said, the hope is that schools taking part will be so pleased with the Easter programme that they will want to continue in the other holidays.

In summary, the programme is targeted at those eligible for benefit related Free School Meals from reception to year 11. There is some flexibility to target this more widely than just Free School Meals so if that is a consideration for you please get in touch for a discussion on how this might work. The Easter offer needs to be four days of face to face delivery for a minimum of four hours per day. Each day should include a meal (preferably hot); enriching activities; physical activities (minimum 60 minutes) and Nutritional information.

There are a number of ‘delivery partners’ who can support with the physical and enrichment activities in particular. Catering Services can support with the food. If your school has catering services, or already in touch with a delivery partner within your schools, these can also be used for the HHAH programme.

More information is available to download:

Happy Heathy Active Holidays - Information for schools 

If there are any queries please contact Andy Cooke, Andy.cooke@telford.gov.uk or Annleigh Reynolds, Annleigh.reynolds@telford.gov.uk.


LGBTQ+ History Month – Telford & Wrekin events

LGBTQ+ History Month is a month-long annual celebration of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and non-binary history, including the history of LGBTQ+ rights and related civil rights movements. In the United Kingdom it is celebrated in February each year, to coincide with the 2003 abolition of Section 28.

This year the newly formed LGBTQ+ Employee network group within Telford & Wrekin Council are celebrating LGBTQ+ History month in style, and to mark the occasion have several online events. 

Chatter and Natter LGBTQ+ Quiz-story
7 February 2022, 12:30pm – 13:30pm

Bring your lunch and a cuppa, Join your hosts Emma and Stacey for an hour of chatter, natter and our LGBTQ+ history quiz. The quiz will be informal, educational, and fun! Questions are multiple answers, so even if you know nothing of LGBTQ+ history you can bring your best guessing game! Between each question there will be time to discuss the topic and for everyone to have their say on what they think on the subject and share your own stories if you wish to.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to have fun and possibly learn a few new things.

Sign up for Chatter and Natter: LGBTQ+ Quiz and story

All My Love Forever, G
14 February 2022, 12.30pm – 1.30pm

While on military training during World War Two, Gilbert Bradley was in love. He exchanged hundreds of letters with his sweetheart - who merely signed with the initial "G". But more than 70 years later, it was discovered that G stood for Gordon. Gilbert had been in love with a man.

Come and find out how these letters were discovered. Listen to excerpts being read out and brought to life. Find out what happened to Gordon and Gilbert and if their love stood the test of time.

Sign up for All My Love Forever, G


Meeting the OFSTED Requirements and Developing Reading Strategies for EAL Learners at KS2

Telford & Wrekin Council are committed to providing equality and diversity support for schools including producing high quality resources for schools to use to evaluate their current practice and provision.

Reading is a key focus and it is the area where English as an additional language (EAL) learners typically make slowest progress at KS2, and where the attainment gap is greatest.

This course will:

  • Explore the potential barriers to successful reading for EAL learners · provide clear guidance on expectations of progress and identification of whole class / intervention strategies which can enable children to access reading and meet age appropriate expectations; these approaches are equally relevant to monolingual pupils who struggle with reading comprehension

Delegates will explore:

  • the process of children’s additional language development when they are in the early stages of developing English competency
  • barriers to becoming a successful reader
  • strategies to develop reading fluency
  • using reading to broaden and deepen vocabulary
  • effective differentiation for whole-class texts
  • group reading strategies that work well for EAL learners, with a focus on reciprocal reading
  • supporting EAL children’s independent reading

Download the flyer for more information:

Reading Strategies Key Stage 2 Flyer

Queries can be sent to Kirsty Holden and Qamar Maqsood via email to Multicultural.Development@telford.gov.uk or by calling 07855148693 or 07800 671756.


Children’s Mental Health Week

Children's Mental Health Week is taking place on 7-13 February 2022. This year's theme is Growing Together. Children (and adults) are asked to consider how they have grown, and how they can help others to grow.

Some downloads are available for you to use:

Children’s Mental Health Week Information

Children’s Mental Health Week Activity Booklet

 Practical ideas and advice to support resilience

More information is available online:

Children's Mental Health Week

Some resources have been collated for you:

Ageless 24/7 Urgent Helpline
Call 0808 196 4501 (option 1 – under 18’s; option 2 – over 18’s).

This is for help and advice for anyone experiencing a mental health crisis.

CAMHS Highland
There are also a set of great resources from Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAHMS) Highland, these include ‘8 Ways to help Children Struggling During Lockdown’, ’10 Things to Say Instead of Stop Crying’, ‘The Emotional Cup’, ‘Anxiety Presents Itself in Many Different Ways’ and ‘The Stress Relief Giraffe’. 

These resources are available to download.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)

Healthy Telford
Healthy Telford is run by Telford & Wrekin Council’s Public Health Team. The site is to help people to look after their physical and mental health with information, tips and stories all local to Telford & Wrekin. We work together and tell stories with people across the private, public and voluntary sector, on how we all work together to help people to live longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. Please follow the following link:

Healthy Telford

Healios
An online provider of mental health services.

Healios

Healthwatch
Information about Children's Mental Health Week

Children's mental health week | Healthwatch

It’s OK not to be OK
An article from Dr Tina Rae, ‘It’s OK Not To Be OK: Top Tips for managing your child’s anxiety’ might also be useful and worth sharing with parents:

It's OK Not To Be OK: Top tips for managing your child's anxiety

Kooth
Kooth provides an anonymous 24-hour online service offering peer support, self-help and they have trained counsellors you can talk to. Anyone aged 11-25, living in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin, can register to access this service and you don’t need to be referred or have an appointment Whilst the website is available 24 hours, there will be someone to talk to online at the following times:

12noon to 10pm (Monday to Friday)
6pm to 10pm (Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holidays)

Kooth

Mental Health Service Directory
The Mental Health Service Directory brings together services in Telford & Wrekin that are available to support children and young people aged 0-25 with their mental health and wellbeing.

The provisions vary from drop in support services that can be accessed directly by families, community support via charities and organisations through to training courses that are available for professionals working in schools. Some services listed are highly specialised.

The directory is broken down into two sections. The first section details services that can be accessed directly by families, young people and schools. The second section provides information about provision available to schools only.

Mental Health Service Directory

Place2Be
Place2Be is a children’s mental health charity that provides counselling and mental health support and training in UK schools. Resources include lesson plans and assembly ideas.  

Improving children’s mental health in schools – Place2Be

Public Health England
The Public Health England website holds lesson plans and resources that cover a range of topics including ‘What to do about worry’, ‘Social media’ and ‘Sleep’. 

Mental wellbeing

Red Cross
Free teaching resources available.

Red Cross - teaching resouces

SCARF
Free home or school resources for children using the SCARF: Safety, Caring, Achievement, Resilience, Friendship framework from Coram Life.

Coram Life Education

Wellbeing for Education Return
As a follow up to the MindEd and Anna Freud Centre programme, ‘Wellbeing for Education Return’, there is now a hub of resources hosted by MindEd.

MindEd Education Hub


Life Ready, Work Ready

The latest Life Ready Work Ready Newsletter is available, with all the latest information on what’s on for Apprenticeship Week 7 – 13 February 2022.

Life Ready Work Ready Newsletter


National Apprenticeship Week

The Life Ready Work Ready team have put together a week of videos and events promoting apprenticeships that all young people can access. Each day features a different theme/sector:

  • Monday is Hospitality
  • Tuesday is Business and Professional Services
  • Wednesday is Health and Social Care
  • Thursday is Construction
  • Friday is Advanced Manufacturing/Engineering

Through each day vacancies will be promoted on FutureFocus  and Job Box face book pages. Drop-in sessions, to talk to an advisor about apprenticeships, will be available all week at Southwater.

Please share the link with your students:

Life Ready Work Read- National Apprenticeship Week


Safer Internet Day – Tuesday 8 February 2022

Over the years, Safer Internet Day has become a landmark event in the online safety calendar. Starting as an initiative of the EU SafeBorders project in 2004 and taken up by the Insafe network as one of its earliest actions in 2005, Safer Internet Day has grown beyond its traditional geographic zone and is now celebrated in approximately 200 countries and territories worldwide. From cyberbullying to social networking to digital identity, each year Safer Internet Day aims to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns.

This year the theme is "Together for a better internet", and will call upon all stakeholders to join together to make the internet a safer and better place for all, and especially for children and young people.

As a teacher or educator, there are various ways in which you can get involved in Safer Internet Day.

Firstly, the most important way is to raise awareness – talk to your colleagues to plan whole-school actions, and provide a real focus with a day, week or even a month of safer and better internet activities.

If you’re looking for resources to support you in this, check out the SID resource gallery. Here, you’ll find a range of resources from assembly and lesson plans, to printable games to use in the classroom, in a variety of languages and for a variety of age groups.

You may also wish to make contact with your local Safer Internet Centre or Safer Internet Day Committee to find out about specific actions in your country. They may also be able to assist with more targeted resources. If your school has a social media account, you can support SID by tweeting and posting about your actions, and sharing our posts too. You can find suggested posts, visuals and covers in our social media plans. 

Find out more online:

Safer Internet Day

Safer Internet Day Resources


Free virtual Prevent training for Designated Safeguarding & Prevent Leads

The Education & Safeguarding Team is working in partnership with the Counter Terrorism Unit to provide a FREE virtual Prevent training for Designated Safeguarding & Prevent Leads.

Date:  
Tuesday 15 February 2022, 10am to 2pm, via Microsoft Teams.

Keeping Children Safe in Education 2021 says: “All schools and colleges are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 (the CTSA 2015), in the exercise of their functions, to have “due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism”. This duty is known as the Prevent duty. The Prevent duty should be seen as part of schools’ and colleges’ wider safeguarding obligations.”

Ofsted Inspecting safeguarding in early years, education and skills says: “Inspectors should consider evidence that there is a clear approach to implementing the ‘Prevent’ duty and keeping children and learners safe from the dangers of radicalisation and extremism, including by encouraging open debate about different points of view and beliefs.”

Key Outcomes of this session:
Attendees will:

  • understand the difference between hate crime and radicalisation
  • broaden their knowledge of ideologies
  • recognise when and how to make Prevent referrals
  • gain knowledge of the local context
  • understand the role of the Designated Safeguarding/Prevent lead in supporting staff to respond to and to manage concerns about radicalisation and extremism

To book your place please send an email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk with your name, school name, job title and email address.


Free training opportunity for Designated Teachers for Looked After Children

The Virtual School are thrilled to support your ongoing professional development, through FREE access to six, LIVE training workshops hosted by Luke Rogers and The ‘Care Leaders’ organisation. ‘A Journey Through Care’ is a six-week block of live, online workshops which focus on different aspects of supporting care-experienced youngsters, within your professional roles.

The sessions run from 3:30pm to 5pm, each Tuesday between 1 March 2022 and 5 April 2022 and each can be booked separately by following the Eventbrite links. Spaces are limited, so please do book now to secure your invitation. We encourage you to share this invitation with colleagues in your school who work directly with Looked After Children.

An outline of each session, plus Eventbrite booking links, are included in the course flyer:

A Journey Through Care - course outline

Luke Rogers has been a speaker at a previous Designated Teacher Network Meeting, as well as a keynote speaker at the Virtual School’s Young Persons’ Conference, last Summer Term. As such, many of you will know he is an engaging and enigmatic facilitator, who draws on his own care experience to provide context and clarity to the training he leads. He is an award-winning social entrepreneur, recognised through the award of the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honours List.

If you have any questions, please email John Newton, Education Adviser and Virtual School CPD Lead, john.newton@telford.gov.uk


SEND Newsletter –  January 2022

The SEND Newsletter - January 2022 has been published on the SEND Local Offer. Discover all the current news and information about Special Educational Needs and Disability in Telford & Wrekin.

Please take a look at the SEND News section on the Local Offer to see the full list of articles.

SEND Local Offer – SEND News

To make sure that you don't miss future updates, subscribe to the SEND Newsletter.


TalkBoost – save the dates

The Learning Support Advisory Teachers (LSAT Team) have been working with colleagues in the Shropshire Community Health Trust to explore how they can work together to support schools with SLCN and as a result are planning to offer ‘ICAN TalkBoost KS1’ training to schools before Easter.

Please download the flyer to find out more information.

TalkBoost – Flyer


EAL and SEND

Telford & Wrekin Council are committed to providing Equality and Diversity support for schools including producing high quality resources for schools to use to evaluate their current practice and provision.

This course will be run by the Multicultural Development Team and LSAT and will focus on pupils learning English as an additional language (EAL) who may also have Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND.

The course will:

  • consider the process of additional language acquisition, and expected patterns of progression
  • differentiate between barriers to learning as a result of EAL and those related to SEND
  • explore the process of unpicking EAL factors from SEND through case study material
  • discuss the impact of cultural norms and understandings of SEND when working with families.

Delegates will gain knowledge and skills to pinpoint and differentiate between EAL and SEND factors in those pupils where both may impact on their learning.

EAL & SEND

Please direct any queried to Kirsty Holden and Qamar Maqsood by email to Multicultural.Development@telford.gov.uk or calling 07855148693 or 07800 671756.


Autism in Telford & Wrekin Council Schools and provisions

Gratitude is expressed to everyone who bought into the new drive for the Autism Education Trust training across Telford & Wrekin schools. There was a huge response and there is now an autism lead professional in almost 80% of schools across the borough.

The next step of the programme of professional development is to deliver training to classroom practitioners plus all additional staff. This will consist of two training inputs: The Good Autism Practice (GAP) is for classroom teachers and Making Sense of Autism (MSA) is for all additional school staff. 

The Autism Standards document was distributed during the LGAP training last term, and is the document that will help you to evaluate your school. Many attendees completed an action plan at the training, and this should continue to aid you in your role. The benefit of engaging in additional training will be to further equip your staff in understanding autism and how to not only adapt the curriculum, but to also adapt learning environments to further include young people and be able to understand the perspective and experiences of the young person.  A positive outcome of this training will be an increase in attendance in schools as well as increased attainment levels, alongside improved experiences of positive mental health and wellbeing. 

Jo Jenks (SENDCo, Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary school) wrote: "In order to develop our knowledge and, more importantly, our understanding of Autism, we recently received the Good Autism Practice and Making Sense of Autism training for all the staff in school.  This training has enabled us as a school to reflect upon our approaches and strategies when working with autistic children.  It has given all staff the knowledge of the key areas of differences, and how these impact learning.  Following the training, we have carefully considered our learning environments and have made simple adaptions so that all the children in our school experience a positive education that supports their wellbeing."

To access GAP and/or MSA training, please make direct contact with Michael Lane via email to michael.Lane@Telford.gov.uk. Either an EP or LSAT staff member will then be allocated to you. 

The costs of the training packages are:

GAP £300 
MSA £100

GAP is a 3 hour session which can be delivered in one whole or via twilight sessions. 
MSA is 1 hour and can be delivered via twilight or otherwise depending upon your schedule.

The aim is to accept and commit to all the training by July 2022 so please take the time to assess your training needs before you make contact. If you have questions, please liaise with your link EP and/or your LSAT link.  If you have not undergone the initial leadership training with AET and would like to receive the training, you can also make contact using the email address above.


Independent Chair of Telford & Wrekin Education Strategic Partnership Board vacancy

Telford & Wrekin are currently recruiting for an independent chair of the Education Strategy Partnership Board. This is a great opportunity to be part of the newly refreshed board, working with existing board Members to ensure that the vision and strategy is ambitious and that key objectives are met.

For more information, please visit the advert on WM Jobs.


CPD courses for school staff, senior leaders and governors

The CPD Booklet continues to be available on the Telford Education Services site.

Course bookings with a course code are made by sending a completed CPD booking form via email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk

Other courses and briefings without a course code are usually booked by sending your email address name and school name to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk (unless stated otherwise).

Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS2 (CPD 504)

Tuesday, February 08, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Managing Sexual Violence & Sexual Harassment in Schools (SG 201)

Tuesday, February 08, 2022

9am to 12noon

Primary Science and Design & Technology Subject Leaders' Termly Update and Development Meeting (CPD 517)

Tuesday, February 08, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

The Importance of the Early Years Foundation Stage in Schools (GO 603)

Tuesday, February 08, 2022

5.30pm to 7pm

Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training (SG 103)

Wednesday, February 09, 2022

5pm to 7.30pm

Accredited Safer Recruitment Training – part 1 (HR)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

1pm to 2.30pm

EAL and SEND? (CPD 601)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

1.15pm to 4pm

Meeting the Statutory Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements of the EYFS (EY 009)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Taking the Chair - part 2 (GO 504)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

4.30pm to 6.30pm

Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 213)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

9am to 11.30am

Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 214)

Thursday, February 10, 2022

3pm to 5.30pm

Accredited Safer Recruitment Training – part 2 (HR)

Friday, February 11, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Understanding and managing your school budget (GO 508)

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

9.15am to 12noon

Online Prevent Training in partnership with the Counter Terrorism Unit (no code) – see Noticeboard article

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

10am to 2pm

Understanding Children’s Development in the EYFS – Milestones, Theories and Approaches  (EY 314)

Wednesday, February 16, 2022

9.30am to 12.30pm

Meeting the OFSTED requirements and developing reading strategies for EAL learners at KS2 (CPD 714)

Thursday, February 17, 2022

3.45pm to 6pm

Safety Intervention Refresher Training (formerly MAPA Refresher Training) (BSAT 212) -

Thursday, February 17, 2022

9am to 11.30am

Taking the Chair - part 3 (GO 504)

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

4.30pm to 6.30pm

EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development
Session 3: Physical Development
(EY 308)

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

1pm to 2.30pm

EYFS: Areas of Learning and Development
Session 3: Physical Development
(EY 309)

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Understanding Nurture (PSS 101)

Tuesday, March 01, 2022

9.15am to 12noon

Governors' Responsibilities for Exclusions (SG 104)

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

5pm to 7pm

Raising Awareness of Child Protection (SG 108)

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

9.30am to 11am

Preventing and Dealing with Racist Bullying (CPD 533)

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

1.15pm to 4pm

Youth Mental Health First Aid - Part 1 (PSS 001)

Wednesday, March 02, 2022

9.15am to 4pm

Safer Recruitment Administration - book through HR

Thursday, March 03, 2022

3pm to 5.30pm

Primary ICT Coordinators' Update (CPD 512)

Thursday, March 03, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Youth Mental Health First Aid - Part 2 (PSS 001)

Thursday, March 03, 2022

9.15am to 4pm

RADY network meeting (by invitation)

Friday, March 04, 2022

10.30am to 12noon

Promoting the performance of disadvantaged students (GO 505)

Tuesday, March 08, 2022

4.30pm to 6.30pm

Teaching Children with SEND: Meeting the Needs.
Session 4: Supporting Memory Across the Curriculum
(LSAT 508)

Wednesday, March 09, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Designated Safeguarding Leads' and Safeguarding Governors' Termly Update (SG 106)

Wednesday, March 09, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)

Thursday, March 10, 2022

3.30pm to 5pm

Meeting the EYFS profile requirements for  EAL learners in EYFS (CPD 715)

Thursday, March 10, 2022

1.15pm to 4pm

Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA training) - Part 1 (BSAT 201)

Thursday, March 10, 2022

8.30am to 4pm

Taking the Chair - part 4 (GO 504)

Thursday, March 10, 2022

4.30pm to 6.30pm

Child Development: Physical Development in the EYFS (EY 315)

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

9.15am to 12noon

Governors’ Responsibilities for SEND (LSAT 212)

Tuesday, March 15, 2022

5pm to 7pm

Designated Teacher for Children in Care Network Meeting (Post 16) – book through the Virtual School Team

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

4pm to 5pm

Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 1 (SG 102)

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

9.15am to 4pm

EAL Network Meeting (CPD 526)

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS1 (CPD 505)

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Early Career Teacher Network (CPD 720)

Wednesday, March 16, 2022

4pm to 5pm

Early Years Coordinators – Termly Update (EY 007)

Thursday, March 17, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Newly Appointed Designated Safeguarding Leads' Training (2 days) - part 2 (SG 102)

Thursday, March 17, 2022

9.15am to 4pm

Safety Intervention Training (formerly MAPA training) - Part 2 (BSAT 201)

Thursday, March 17, 2022

8.30am to 12.30pm

Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS1  (CPD 505)

Thursday, March 17, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Restorative Justice (PSS 003)

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

SACRE Conference – further details to follow

Wednesday 23 March, 2022

Time TBC

Assessment - termly update (morning) (CPD 502)

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

9.15am to 10.45am

Assessment - termly update (twilight) (CPD 503)

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107)

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

9.15am to 3.15pm

Recently Qualified Teacher Development Programme (CPD 507)

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Designated Teachers & Governors for Children in Care Network (compulsory school age) – book via Virtual School Team

Wednesday, March 23, 2022

4pm to 6pm

Creating an Engaging Curriculum  which excites, inspires and develops the learning of EAL pupils (EY 716)

Thursday, March 24, 2022

3.45pm to 6pm

Talk Boost - KS1 – awaiting further detail

Thursday, March 24, 2022

9am to 4pm

Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 213)

Thursday, March 24, 2022

9am to 11.30am

Verbal Intervention Training (BSAT 214)

Thursday, March 24, 2022

3pm to 5.30pm

Early Career Teacher's Annual Professional Development Conference (CPD 514)

Friday, March 25, 2022

9am to 3.30pm

Creative approaches and new ideas for sharing stories within the EYFS (EY 301)

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

4pm to 5.30pm

Accredited Safer Recruitment Training - part 1

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Developing the Role of Teaching Assistants in Supporting SEND
Part 1 (LSAT 507)

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

9.15am to 12noon

An Introduction to EAL for Early Career Teachers (CPD 527)

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

3.45pm to 6pm

Accredited Safer Recruitment Training - part 2

Wednesday, March 30, 2022

9am to 12.30pm

Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107)

Thursday, March 31, 2022

9.15am to 3.15pm


Education Endowment Foundation (EEF)  Supporting Recovery, making evidence informed choices

The Education Endowment Foundation are offering two free 90-minute online sessions aimed at supporting schools to purposefully identify key development priorities in the wake of the pandemic - Supporting recovery: making evidence informed choices.

These sessions are designed to provide guidance around using research to identify potential approaches to educational recovery, alongside worked examples of how to put new initiatives into practice.

There are currently a number of sessions scheduled:

8 February and 15 February 2022, 3.45pm – 5.15pm or 9 March and 16 March 2022, 3.45pm – 5.315pm
Delivered by Staffordshire Research School

9 February and 15 February 2022, 3.30pm – 5.00pm or 17 March and 24 March 2022, 3.30pm – 5pm
Delivered by St. Matthew’s Research School

8 February and 15 February 2022, 3.45pm – 5.15pm or 9 February and 16 February 2022, 3.45pm – 5.15pm
Delivered by Aspirer Research School

More information is available by downloading the course flyer:

Supporting Recovery Flyer

Please book to secure your place: Book for Supporting recovery: making evidence informed choices


Telford Community Pride Awards: Reminder to vote!

Calling all teachers and parents. Do you know an individual who is aged 16 or over who has shown Outstanding Educational Achievement? Nominees can be a past or current Telford student, be able to demonstrate outstanding educational success and progress made in developing their skills and or learning in the past year. Full details of the entry requirements and more information can be found online.

Make your nomination – Telford Community Pride Awards


In Kind – free goods for schools

In Kind Direct is a charity that believes everyone deserves access to life’s essentials and that no usable product should go to waste. 

They help UK charities, schools, community groups, faith sector organisations and foodbanks benefit from huge savings on essential items like toiletries, household cleaning and laundry items, clothing and baby essentials.

Register for free

Their main warehouse is located in Telford. There is a small charge for products which covers part of the cost of sorting, storing and includes delivery to your chosen address - as a charity, In Kind Direct meet the rest. 


Important national science events coming up

Two exciting events, around women and engineering, will take place in February 2022.

United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science
Friday 11 February 2022

Further information is available online.

Women’s Engineering Society Apprentice Showcase
An online event open to all students
Friday 11 February 2022
Further information is available online.

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Every week during term time we publish a new update for the education community. It includes essential briefings and specialist information about education.

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