Education Noticeboard

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

Included in this update:

Executive Director & Director update

Dear colleagues

Wow – what a year! As we hurtle towards the end of term we hope that you are enjoying your end of term activities. You have shared many social media posts of sports days, concerts, prom events, discos, family picnics, leavers events, graduation ceremonies…….the list goes on. There are many pictures of our children and young people having a great time across educational settings in Telford and Wrekin! You will certainly all need a rest after coordinating that lot, for sure!

It has been fantastic to recognise the achievements being made by our children and young people across the borough in our weekly Education Noticeboard, so please do keep sharing those successes with us. In today’s noticeboard we provide some highlights from our Hotshots Annual Awards Ceremony, which celebrates the fantastic achievements of the children and young people who are in our care.

This week the weather is getting ready for the long summer break (fingers crossed) but do check out the advice below, from health and safety colleagues, to manage the situation in your settings over the coming days.

This week the independent Inquiry into CSE has published its findings. There is a further note from Jo below which we encourage you to read.

Please check out the survey asking about educational support staff recruitment challenges. We have heard that this is increasingly becoming an issue and your feedback will help us consider how to best tackle the issue going forward.

Many thanks for your continuous efforts across this academic year. It has been another year of twists and turns and, whilst if feels as though business as normal has returned, we know you all working really hard to manage new issues arising out of the pandemic, alongside day to day operations.

For those heading off on your summer break please do take some well-earned time to rest and recuperate. There will be plenty to keep us busy when the new term arrives. We also know that many of our early years provisions keep going over the summer break so a big thank you to colleagues providing the best start for our children.

Best wishes and we will see you all soon!

Jo and Simon

Jo Britton: Executive Director for Childrens Services
Simon Wellman: Director for Education & Skills

Telford & Wrekin Council response to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation

Dear colleagues

This week the Independent Inquiry into CSE was published. The response of the council can be found here: Newsroom - Telford & Wrekin Council response to Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Telford. Further information about how we are dealing with Child sexual exploitation can be found at Child sexual exploitation (CSE) - Telford & Wrekin Council

Keeping children and young people safe from harm is the most important thing we can all do.

Child sexual exploitation is vile crime that disgusts all right thinking people. Sadly it takes place all over the country.

We all have a part to play in looking out for signs of child sexual exploitation and reporting any concerns. Thank you for the work you do to keep our children safe.

If you have any worries about a child or young person then contact Family Connect who are there to offer free confidential advice and guidance.

You can email them at familyconnect@telford.gov.uk or call 01952 385385 (Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm) or use the text back service 07537 453177.

The council has commissioned support for anyone affected by the report. There are two routes to access this support as follows;

For maintained educational settings:
We have been working with Health Assured, our employee assistance provider, to arrange some one-to-one counselling sessions for those who feel they may benefit from that. These sessions are bookable via Ollie under ‘CSE Inquiry – Counselling Support’ and are delivered by an independent trained counsellor. The contents of these sessions are completely confidential. These courses have been arranged to take place via MS Teams but, if you would prefer to meet face to face, you can contact HRhelpdesk@telford.gou.uk

For all other educational settings:
We've arranged counselling through base 25 which is a confidential and independent support service or anyone affected by the report. Please use the contact details to access the independent support from Base 25, quoting the code ‘IITCSE2022’. Telephone: 01902 572 040 Mobile: 07495 266 899 Text: 07495 266 899 Email: empower@base25.hush.com

We will be in touch over the coming weeks with regard to the Inquiry’s recommendations, specifically related to educational settings alongside those that involve the wider system, many of which we are carrying out already.

I want to thank you all for your continued hard work in supporting our children and their families.

Yours faithfully
Jo

Jo Britton: Executive Director for Childrens Services

Telford & Wrekin’s Hotshots Annual Celebration Awards Ceremony

Last week, the Local Authority virtual school team celebrated the success of our children and young people in care, as part of the Telford & Wrekin’s Hotshots Annual Celebration Awards Ceremony.

This is a fantastic event, which has taken place for a number of years and recognises the achievements of our young people in care in a range of categories. These include Education Achievement, Participation, Sports, Leisure and Art, Virtual School Head Teacher award, Care Leavers Award and the Hotshot Award.

It was fantastic to see the young people of the borough collecting their awards, celebrating their achievements and dancing the night away!

They also enjoyed entertainment from Circus Mash: plate spinning, juggling and a variety of games that the Virtual School Team and Smash life organised – their enthusiasm was infectious!

Thank you to the Virtual School Team who have created two super events in one day - The Designated Teacher/ Nominated Governor Annual CIC conference and Hotshots, both being ahuge successes.

It is our priority to ensure that all of our children in care feel supported and are cared about.

With the Hotshots Annual Celebration Awards Ceremony and with a range of many other activities and programmes, we will continue to support them as best as we can, so they can achieve their full potential.

Newport CofE Junior School celebrate South Asian Heritage Month

Newport CofE Junior School began their South Asian Heritage Month celebrations with workshops organised by the Telford & Wrekin Multi-Cultural Development Team.

The children were joined by Sairana, who taught the children all about the importance of South Asian Heritage Month. They also learnt about India and the movements to a Bollywood dance. They loved it!

Leon’s Magic Mantra: Free digital version for schools

The launch of ‘Leon’s Magic Mantra’ at Hadley Learning Centre was a terrific success, and the school are receiving some great ongoing feedback from their children and parents.

The rest of the books, sponsored by Denso, should be arriving at schools early this week with a covering letter.

In the letter schools are invited to register, so that they can access the digital flipbook version of Leon’s Magic Mantra, which can be used in classroom sessions on the interactive whiteboards and panels. All Telford & Wrekin primary schools are encouraged to take advantage of this free resource – registration is done online.

Happy Healthy and Active Holidays – activities open for booking

The Happy Healthy and Active Holiday’s (HHAH) scheme will be running through the Summer holidays (Saturday 23 July – Sunday 4 September 2022). Holiday activities will be available for children and young people who are receiving income-based free school meals.

If you’d like to see and show a parent or child an example of what children/ parents can expect from participating in these FREE holiday clubs, please look at this short video:

Happy Healthy and Active Holidays Film

There will be a range of activities on offer at Holiday clubs for children in reception to Year 11. Every day that a child attends they will be provided with a nutritious meal and at least 4 hours of enrichment activities, including 60 minutes of physical activity, arts, crafts and nature walks. In order to access the scheme parents and carers of children who are eligible must register on the HHAH website. Video tutorials on how to register, manage and cancel bookings are all available on the website.

Parents and carers who are eligible for income-related FSM have been directly notified of the scheme and how to sign up by letter.

If you are able to further promote the HHAH scheme to eligible families then that would be greatly appreciated. We know some families will need your support to help them to register for the scheme, so we have created an paper registration form to help any that are finding it difficult to apply online, please can we ask that schools support these families in completing the form and returning this so that contact can be made between them and the holiday club.

Happy Healthy and Active Holiday's Registration Form

There are undoubtedly families who miss out on this opportunity because they are not registered / not eligible for free school meals. If you could ask families who come to you if they have heard of the HHAH (holiday club scheme) and if they interested in taking up the offer for their children to attend a free holiday club as there is some flexibility for other children, not eligible for FSM to access the scheme. This may include children and families living in areas of deprivation, those known to children services and those that have SEND as examples. If you feel a child would benefit from the HHAH programme, please get in touch so that we can provide information and a code so that they can register.

If there is any child/children that you feel would benefit from this scheme and who does not qualify for FSM but can be included as part of the 15% allocated funding for our vulnerable and deprivation areas, please provide us with their detailsby emailing holidayactivityhub@telford.gov.uk.

What’s Happening in Telford & Wrekin

The 'What’s near me – Summer 2022' information is available to download.

We have a range of free fun activities during the school holidays for Telford & Wrekin families to take part in for children from reception to year 11 for families receiving income-related free school meals. They’ll be able to have a healthy meal and join in on sports, arts, crafts and much more! Check out the HHAH Website for full details of what’s running over Summer.

Free sports sessions for young people aged 11+ in Telford & Wrekin

Young people aged 11+ can now access free sports sessions at venues across Telford & Wrekin throughout the summer holidays. With help from Telford AFC and Wrekin Riders, the council has organised sessions following feedback from residents who have been working with the council’s Safer & Stronger Communities project. There’s no need to book, just visit the website for more information:

Telford – Urban Games

Bumper programme of activities planned for families this summer

Telford & Wrekin Council Leisure have just launched their biggest ever school holiday activity brochure to help keep families busy and active during the upcoming six weeks break.

The bumper programme includes family favourite kids-4-£1 activities like tobogganing, tennis and swimming – plus some brand new additions like £1 bike hire, soft play and archery.

Activities are scheduled to take place every day, between Monday 25 July and Monday 5 September 2022.

Telford Ice Rink are also offering 2-4-1 on ice skating tickets during the school holidays and, for those who find themselves venturing to Telford Town Park, Sky Reach is offering a combo deal for the climbing wall and quick flight wall.

Find out more and start planning on the Telford & Wrekin Leisure website.

Summer reading challenge

The Summer Reading challenge started on 9 July 2022 and is a great way to keep your child reading and to introduce them to a library.

The 10 by 10 initiative is about helping children take part in 10 life enhancing activities by the time they are ten. One of the goals is to use a library, so join the Gadgeteers as they get ready for their summer party by reading six library books this summer.

Along the way, you can collect stickers and once you have read your six books, you will receive a medal and certificate.

Children can read any books in any format, fiction, non-fiction, picture books, audio books, eBooks and eAudio books via the Libby App. Just head into one of our main libraries and your child will receive a Gadgeteer pack along with their first book.

For under 5’s, Bookstart is a national programme that encourages all parents and carers to enjoy books with their children, from as early an age as possible.

The Bookstart packs can be obtained from your local library and contain age appropriate books suitable from 0-5 years. Just head to your local library and start inspiring that love of reading that will give children a flying start in life.

Find out more about Bookstart Packs

Telford & Wrekin Council are collecting and developing more opportunities all the time. Further information about the scheme can be found on the 10 by 10 website

Looking after children and those in early years settings during heatwaves: for teachers and professionals

Given the current spell of hot weather, some information about looking after children during heatwaves is being circulated by the Health Protection Hub.

Looking after children and those in early years settings during heatwaves: for teachers and professionals, available on the GOV.UK website, covers the health risks presented to children from the heat.

It notes that those under 4 years of age, who are overweight, have disabilities or complex health needs or who are taking certain medication may be more susceptible to high temperatures and at increased risk of adverse effects.

Advice is given on how to protect children suffering from heat illness, as well as practical steps that can be taken both indoors and out to protect children from the heat. Some of the advice is obvious and intuitive, and some is less so – so it’s worth a few minutes having a read and implementing the measures. For example, it states that at temperatures above 35°C fans may not prevent heat-related illness, and may actually worsen dehydration, which isn’t immediately obvious.

Information is also available on Cancer Research UK’s website, giving advice on skin cancer:

Sun, UV and cancer

Water safety

Tragically, there are over 400 water-related fatalities in the UK each year, mostly in the summer months. In addition, there are many ‘near misses’ where people have found themselves unintentionally in the water and have required rescue.

With the summer holidays rapidly approaching The Royal Life Saving Society UK is offering all schools free water safety lesson plans and resources, to be delivered in classrooms by educators. These lessons are fully resourced, reference the National Curriculum (Health and Wellbeing) and align with the objectives of the Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) Association.

The resources can all be found on the Royal Life Saving Society website. Please note that a simple signup is required:

Primary School Resources - Water Safety Education

Secondary School Resources - Drowning Prevention Week

Additional information is also available for young adults, parents and carers:

Water Safety Advice

Should you wish to discuss any of the materials, please feel free to contact Andy Lane, RLSS UK Education Manager via email to andylane@rlss.org.uk.

Queries can also be sent to Scott Thomas-White, Education Safeguarding Coordinator, via email to Educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Apply for a senior mental health lead training grant

Start the new academic year learning how to embed a culture and practice in your school that promotes and supports mental wellbeing, helping children and young people to engage in learning.

Now is a great time to apply for a senior mental health lead training grant and book training for the new academic year.

Senior lead training helps develop the knowledge and practical skills  of school or college leaders to implement an effective approach to promoting and supporting mental wellbeing in your setting.
Apply for a senior mental health lead training grant now.
Find out about other resources and help you can get to promote and support mental health and wellbeing on the GOV.UK website: Promoting and supporting mental health and wellbeing in schools and colleges

Support Staff Recruitment Challenges

Telford & Wrekin Council are seeking information and views from all of the schools and settings within the borough, around the specific recruitment and retention challenges currently being faced for support staff. This is with a view to looking at whether the Local Authority can provide any support and advice around these challenges.

Please take the time to complete a short survey by the 20 July 2022.

Support staff recruitment challenges survey

Any problems accessing the survey please email claire.edmonds@telford.gov.uk for an invite link to be sent directly to you.

Summer 2022 School census

Schools are thanked for their assistance and support with the Summer 2022 school census.

Now that this has been finalised by the Department for Education (DfE) please all signed summaries be submitted via email to School.Organisation@telford.gov.uk. Thank you to those who have already done this.

As you are probably aware, the Autumn 2021 census takes place on Thursday 6 October 2022 (guidance notes will be forwarded in due course).

Queries can be sent via email to eileen.finnigan@telford.gov.uk.

Arthog Ambassadors Diary – Ella

Dear World

We had our very first meeting today (30 June 2022) about going to Arthog and becoming an Arthog ambassador. We’re celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, and as a result Arthog wanted to do something a little different.

The motto is “everyone’s welcome” – the council and Rob are working on a project for young diverse people like me, and I want you to come along with us on our adventure.

I’ll start by telling you about how the meeting went, so here goes.

I was nervous – really nervous. I didn’t know what to expect, and when I sat down I realised that everyone was just as nervous as I was. I saw two girls who I knew from one of my old schools, and in a way I felt relieved for once that I was surrounded by people who looked just like me.

This project means a lot to me – I want to prove that we’re not weak, I’m not weak, and we’re a lot more powerful when we work together. I had no hope in myself, I’ve always wanted to tell a story that meant something to someone, but I didn’t see it happening. But here I am writing something important to a lot of people, so in a way this project has given me hope.

Our meeting was held at Shortwood Centre. It was an information session as part of the ‘Everyone’s welcome’ project, which will see us going to Arthog in just over three weeks’ time on a three day residential trip. Part of this session was signing forms and taking part in discussions about the project and the other part was activities.

One of the Instructors said we were going to do a hoola hoop activity and I was practically shaking with anxiety – when we got down to the smallest hoop I could see the panic in everyone’s eyes, and I could feel it in mine. I knew exactly what they were thinking, it was the one question everyone had on their mind – “how am I going to fit through that?” No one had the answer but after we worked together we realised no matter how strong or weak you think you are you will always be ten times stronger when we work together.

We all proved ourselves wrong and I’m glad we did because something changed, people felt a little more comfortable. Before the air was so tense but afterwards it felt much clearer.

If you told me I was going to make friends at this meeting I wouldn’t have believed you, but I have. I’ve had friends over time, but because of a racist situation that happened the relationship suffered as result. I believe they didn’t understand racism and its complexities, or how deeply it effects people. They probably never will, but that’s okay because I’m now surrounded by people who do understand, and together we’re going to embark on an opportunity to grow, learn and challenge ourselves.

The Arthog Ambassadors Project, for me, couldn’t have come at a better time: It’s our time to shine.

This day proved to be challenging in a lot of ways and for many reasons. There was even a torrential downpour with thunder and lightning, but nothing can stop us. We’re still going forward and will continue to move on, because the two things you cannot break are hope and dedication. No matter how big or small it is, it’s still there and will always be there.

Please look out for our next update. Until we meet again I will leave you with this quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” – Martin Luther king Jr.

By Ella-Louise Cureton age 15

Flu vaccination briefing for primary schools

This is an update from the Department for Education

This autumn term, all primary school-aged children in England (from reception class to year 6) will be offered a flu vaccination by the NHS school-aged immunisation service.

Flu is an unpredictable virus that can kill thousands of people during a flu season. The benefits of vaccination include protection against flu for the children who receive it and reduced transmission of the virus in the community, including to those at higher risk from complications. For schools, the benefits include reduced absenteeism and the reduced likelihood of teachers catching flu from pupils.

There have been very low levels of flu activity in the last two years because of measures to reduce COVID-19 infections. This means that there may be a rebound in flu levels this winter because people mix more and are more susceptible as they have not been exposed to the virus.

As usual, a local school-age immunisation provider team will get in touch to agree a date for the vaccination session and the best implementation approach. A briefing on the flu vaccination programme is available.

Guidance for schools on the National Tutoring Programme

This is an update from the Department for Education

The guidance for schools on the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) for the 2022/23 academic year has now been published.

The NTP has been simplified, so schools have freedom to decide how best to provide targeted academic support to their pupils. This could include one-on-one, or small group tutoring through teachers or teaching assistants, or continuing to work with external Tuition Partners and Academic Mentors.

From September 2022:

schools will receive their tutoring funding directly
all tuition routes will have the same 60% subsidy rate
schools working with existing Tuition Partners will be able to continue working with them, where the organisation remains on the programme
schools with Academic Mentors can continue to employ them, with the cost subsidised by the 2022/23 funding allocation

If you have any queries about the 2022/23 academic year, please email the tutoring support team.

A reminder to complete the year-end statement for school-led tutoring

This is an update from the Department for Education

All schools, local authorities and virtual school heads that received the School-Led tutoring grant must complete the relevant year-end statement:

Form for schools, academies and independent special schools

Form for local authorities including virtual school heads

We have published full guidance on how to complete the forms and tutorial videos.

You should only complete the form once you have delivered all School-Led tutoring for the 2021/22 academic year. The final delivery date is Wednesday 31 August. If you are delivering tutoring during the summer holidays, please complete the year-end statement by Friday 16 September 2022.

If you are not providing School-led tutoring in the summer holidays, we recommend that you complete the year-end statement by the end of July 2022.

Early Years consultations launched

This is an update from the Department for Education

This week, we have launched two consultations and set out our plans to improve the cost, choice and availability of childcare.

We have also announced that from 2023/24 we are providing an additional £10 million in supplementary funding for maintained nursery schools, supporting more disadvantaged children.

We are consulting on reforming the staff:child ratios required by law in early years settings and to make explicit the requirement of supervision of children whilst eating. The second consultation seeks views on how early years funding is distributed around England, so that the system is fair and effective. Both consultations will close on Friday 16 September 2022.

We encourage you to read and respond to the consultations and share them with anyone else with an interest.

Changes made to the Working Together to Safeguard Children Guidance

On 1 July 2022 the statutory guidance on inter-agency working, to safeguard and promote the welfare of children, was updated to reflect recent changes in legislation in relation to ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children 2018’.

Please ensure you are using the most up-to-date version of this document:

Working Together to Safeguard Children

Queries can also be sent to Scott Thomas-White, Education Safeguarding Coordinator, via email to Educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Student and child bus travel: Direct Debit option

Arriva has provided two letters for Telford & Wrekin schools and colleges to send out before end of term.

Both letters contain information for parents and carers who purchase bus tickets for their children to travel to school on Arriva buses, which inform them how they can save money on their child’s tickets for the 2022-23 academic year.

The first letter is designed for primary schools and contains information for Year 6 pupils who will shortly be moving onto secondary school and may be taking a bus to school for the first time.

Arriva year 6 school bus letter

The second letter is for secondary schools and remind students to organise their tickets for the next academic year.

Arriva secondary school bus letter

Please download and distribute to the relevant families.

Important news regarding the Government’s proposed changes to the Early Career Teacher Appropriate Body arrangements

Transition of Appropriate Body services to Teaching School Hubs

As part of a package of Appropriate Body (AB) reforms, the Government is proposing the transition of AB service from local authorities to teaching school hubs. Under these proposals, from 31 August 2023:

local authorities would cease to operate as ABs
any ECTs part way through their induction who are registered with an LA AB will need to transfer to a TSH AB

Telford & Wrekin LA will be working closely with the STEP TSH, based at The Priory School, Shrewsbury, to ensure this transition runs as smoothly as possible. We recommend that when schools either choose, or have to transfer their ECTs, that they chose the STEP TSH.

How will this affect ECTs already registered with T&W?

ECTs who started their induction with T&W as an AB in September 2021 should be able to complete their induction with T&W AB.
ECTs who start their induction after September 2022 will need to transfer to a TSH AB by or before August 2023.
Schools may request to transfer their ECTs from the T&W AB at any point. If, less than one whole year or equivalent, T&W AB will, on request, advise the school on the amount due for the proportion of the AB package used.

How does this affect ECTs starting on or after September 2022?

T&W AB will offer a 1 year AB package to ECTs starting in September 2022. These ECTs will need to register with a TSH AB for the 2nd year from 31 August 2023.
An AB support package will not be available for ECTs starting after September 2022 (i.e. mid-year) - these ECTs should be registered with a TSH AB.

Schools therefore have two choices in September 2022 for ECTs starting their induction?

Register ECTs with T&W for the first year, then at the end of the year transfer to a TSH AB.
Register ECTs with a TSH from the start; they may then, if the school chooses, remain with this AB for the whole of their induction.

Please send any queries via email to schoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk and either Joanne, our ECT AB Administrator, or Ant, our ECT AB Manager, will get in touch with you.

This entry was posted by Claire on Wednesday, 13 July 2022.

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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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