Notice: 10 September 2020

A round-up of news, guidance and key updates for education settings.

Included in this update

I hope your week is going well. The attendance of our children at school is steadily increasing, and it is obvious that you are working hard to encourage all to come back to school where they belong. Your hard work is paying off! When we compare, our attendance rate is above that of the national picture and this reflects the work you are putting in with your communities. By the end of this week it is anticipated that all schools in Telford and Wrekin will be open full time to all pupils. That is nearly 27K children back in school and learning! We know our post 16 providers are opening too over the coming week, further consolidating the return of education. Cllr Shirley Reynolds, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People, Education and Lifelong Learning, wants to pass on her personal thanks for the brilliant attendance figures for Telford and Wrekin schools and for making the transition back into school such a great experience for all our children.

This week there has been some focus on the Health Protection Hub and settings have been making contact to seek Test and Trace advice and guidance. As a result, further information has been provided below by the team clarifying steps that are needed for raising suspected coronavirus cases and the use of the suite of ‘COVID-19 letters’ sent in the Noticeboard last week (3 September 2020). We will continue to refine our advice listening to your feedback.

Many thanks too for your comments about the Education Noticeboard which has been well received. We are open to any suggestions for improvements!

Finally, can I thank you for submitting the daily online attendance form by 12 noon each day, this helps us to understand our local picture which we discuss with the DfE during daily catch up calls.

Best wishes
Simon Wellman
Interim Director Education and Skills

Update from the health protection hub

Thank you for your notifications into the hub since the start of term, it has been great to see you all engage with this process so successfully - it has been a busy time for us all in the past week. Unfortunately as you will have seen in the media that there is unprecedented demand for testing, which means that we have had to modify our approach to contacting and referring symptomatic pupils. As from 10.9.2020 a work around will be in place, this means for the time being we will:

continue to undertake full contact tracing and outbreak investigation for any positive COVID-19 cases associated with your school
continue to refer for NHS testing any symptomatic members of schools staff or their symptomatic family members
continue to refer for NHS testing any symptomatic children at our special schools
email (rather than directly call and contract trace) parents with symptomatic children with advice to self isolate where they have the main symptoms of COVID-19 we unfortunately will not be able to refer pupils for testing.

When access to testing improves (please note this is an national issue and not one that Telford and Wrekin can rectify) we will communicate with you again regarding advice for symptomatic children. Please do not refer siblings of pupils with symptoms these pupils will get picked as contacts of the symptomatic pupil.

Can we ask you to emphasise to parents please that it is important that people follow the existing guidance for testing and only people with coronavirus symptoms should get a test. The three main coronavirus symptoms are a high temperature, a new continuous cough, a loss or change to your sense of smell or taste. It is also important to remind parents that pupils do not have to self-isolate and should not get a test if their only symptoms are sore throat or runny nose.

Please note the schools COVID-19 phone line has been set up for schools, but appears to have been passed to parents, this should be avoided as it is increasing demand and means we cannot respond to schools staff as quickly as we would like.

Last week a suite of letter was sent to settings for use for suspected and/or confirmed case of COVID-19 (view the Education Noticeboard 3 September 2020). Schools are able to use their discretion regarding the use of the letter informing where there is a suspected case.

Finally PHE have provided an update regarding Test and Trace to all school and college leaders.

Download the Test and Trace Letter.

For further enquiries please contact HealthProtectionHub@telford.gov.uk.

School Census – Autumn 2020 (October)

Guidance notes for Schools for Autumn 2020 (October) School Census

Preparing for the School Census, Thursday 1 October 2020.

Information for all school types including PRUs and all software systems.

Download the guidance notes for the Schools Autumn 2020 (October) School Census.

For any enquiries please contact:

Data Officer - School Organisation and Admissions
Email: Eileen.finnigan@telford.gov.uk

Reminder to submit the daily online educational settings status form to the Department for Education

We would like to thank those schools and colleges that have completed the daily return to date and ask you to please continue to provide information on your educational setting’s status. Please complete the educational setting status form by 12noon daily. This helps us understand our local picture.

Further guidance on completing the educational setting status form can be found in the guidance on recording attendance during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Attendance – BAME/EAL and persistent non attenders

In line with DfE guidance, all pupils should now be attending school. We have been delighted by the high numbers of pupils that have been returning to schools at the start of term and know that is testament to your hard work and positive attitude to attendance to have made that happen.

You will receive a list of pupils specific to your school by email that have been identified as those particularly vulnerable for non-attendance.

Please find the letter received by schools with the full instructions:

For more information please contact: attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk.

Safeguarding training for schools/academies and colleges

During the COVID-19 lockdown the Department for Education set out the exemption that safeguarding training did not need to be renewed due to difficulties accessing the training. Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership honoured this allowing expiry dates of safeguarding training to be extended to the next available course date. We are pleased to announce all safeguarding training will recommence this term through virtual delivery, or where necessary, face-to-face delivery. Therefore, all staff and governors should now proceed to complete all necessary safeguarding training because the exemption to extended expiry dates will now cease. Please see the summary below of our safeguarding training offer for the autumn term 2020.

Child Protection and Safeguarding Training – all staff, volunteers and governors should complete this training every three years with an annual update. This training can be delivered face-to-face or virtually to whole-school staff as part of the Safeguarding Service Level Agreement. To book child protection and safeguarding training to be delivered directly in school please email educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk.

Mop-up Child Protection and Safeguarding Training will be held virtually on 17 September 2020 3.30pm - 5pm and 22 October 2020 3.30pm - 5pm. Each school/academy and all those who purchase the Safeguarding SLA receive one free place per half term on the mop-up session.

Newly appointed Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL) two-day Training – to be attended by all newly appointed DSL’s to be trained on the requirements of Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSIE) and the procedures of the Telford and Wrekin Safeguarding Partnership (TWSP). This training will be held face-to-face on 23 September 2020 and 24 September 2020, 30 September 2020 and 1 October 2020 or 2 December 2020 and 3 December 2020.

DSL Refresher Training – must be attended by all DSL’s every two years from the date of their initial training. This training is available virtually. Delegates will complete four e-learning modules on Ollie and then attend a webinar session. To access the e-learning and/or book a webinar session please visit the Telford learning pool website.

DSL and Safeguarding Governor Termly Update – DSL’s must attend at least one termly update each year. The autumn term termly update will be held as one virtual session on 4 November 2020 4pm - 5.30pm.

Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training – should be attended by all safeguarding governors to understand their roles and responsibilities and the requirements placed on them by KCSIE. This training will be held virtually on 21 October 2020 5pm - 7.30pm.

Child Protection Supervision Training – for Governors, Head teachers, Principals and DSL’s to understand the requirements of Working Together to Safeguarding Children in order to provide supervision to those dealing with the safety and welfare of children. This training will be held face-to-face on 8 December 2020 9.30am - 12.30pm.

For more information about the training sessions or to book your place please email CPDSchool.Improvement@telford.gov.uk.

Climb – a new Diversionary service

The Children’s Society are delighted to announce that they have now launched Climb, the new Diversionary Service funded by PCC John Campion for young people across West Mercia.

The programme aims to support 10 to 17 year olds who are at risk of entering the Criminal Justice System. They will offer young people who are not involved with support agencies the holistic support to help divert them and raise their awareness to vulnerable situations.

Climb is a preventative programme. They will work one-to-one with young people, listening to what they need to create their positive future path. They also have participation workers in the team to support young people into sustainable positive activities within their local communities.

The Children’s Society will work closely alongside each local authority to ensure young people have the right support in place for them.

What is the criteria for referral?

Those missing education, excluded, not in training or employment (NEET)
Those going missing with indications they are being ‘pulled’ into an environment where they would be susceptible to CCE – as early as the first missing episode
Intel/arrest for possession of drugs
Intel/arrest for possession of weapons/knives
Those engaging in ASB
Those at risk of entering the Criminal Justice System.

To find out more about the programme and how to make a referral, visit the Childrens society website.

To find out more please contact the Climb Service Delivery Manager by email Jessica.Whitfield@childrenssociety.org.uk.

Safeguarding Alert - Viral TikTok Video

When viral events happen information can travel quickly, often before full details have emerged. You should note that details, videos and images are still being shared online, which can be distressing for many young people and others.

The facts:

the video was originally broadcast last week on Facebook and shows a man ending his life
the video shows the graphic depiction of his death and the emergency services responding. It will likely distress anyone who watches it, particularly children and young people
there are a number of viral TikTok videos discussing the man’s death, using pictures from the original video - there appears to be a number of accounts asking where they can find the video
there are concerns that some TikTok users are discussing how they ‘felt nothing’ after seeing the video, which may push users toward the video to compare how they felt
links to the full video are being circulated via TikTok and Instagram.

For more information and to understand what you can do, visit the safer schools website.

Email: educationsafeguarding@telford.gov.uk
Website: Safer schools

School Staff - Contractual Obligations in relation to working arrangements

You may have needed to make changes to working arrangements for employees to ensure your schools is able to operate in line with the covid safe guidelines. Despite the fact that we are in unprecedented times you still need to ensure, that in making these changes, you are compliant with terms and conditions of employment and relevant legislation.

The requirements are set out below and we would advise that you check your staffing arrangements against these.

Consultation on changes to working arrangements

Should there be a need to make changes to employee’s working hours/patterns or break times then there is a legal requirement to consult with staff on these changes and where possible seek agreement.

In some cases this will be a contractual change and will require an amendment to their contract of employment (for example, changes to days of the week/weekly hours).

Working Arrangements:

Teaching Staff

School Teachers Pay and Conditions set out the following requirements for those in teaching roles:

Hours (excluding those in Leadership positions)
- Full time teachers are contracted to work 1265 hours/195 per academic year (pro rata for part time), these hours should be “allocated reasonably throughout those [195] days”.
- PPA time – all teachers are entitled to “reasonable periods of time for PPA as part of the 1265 hours. “PPA must be provided in units of no less than half an hour during the timetables teaching week and must amount to no less than 10% of the teacher’s timetabled teaching time. A teacher must not be required to carry out any other duties during their PPA time” (Paragraph 52.5).

Breaks – “A teacher who is required to be available for work for more than one school session on any school day must be allowed a break of reasonable length either between school sessions or between the hours of 12 noon-2.00pm” (Paragraph 52.3). For those in leadership this should be as near to the middle of the day as possible.
Cover – Teachers should be required to provide cover, only rarely, and only in circumstances that are not foreseeable.

Support Staff

Hours – where support staff are undertaking additional hours over their standard contractual hours they are entitled to be paid for this time/take the time back at another time.

Where this is a regular ongoing change in hours/days they should be issued with an amendment to contract.

Breaks (all staff)

Under the Working Time Regulations any member of staff working 6 hours or more is entitled to 20 minute break. Although there is no legal requirement around when this break is taken or for those staff who work less than 6 hours (excluding the requirements for teachers set out above), any ongoing arrangements that were in place previously could be classed as contractual (custom and practice). Therefore, consultation and agreement is likely to also be required.

For further advice and support please contact your HR provider or where we provide your HR services contact your named HR Advisor or the HR Helpdesk hrhelpdesk@telford.gov.uk or 01952 383601.

Advisory notification that the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will be carrying out spot-checks in schools

The HSE have asked us to brief all school duty holders that they will be carrying out spot-checks in schools as they return to full capacity for the start of the Autumn term. If you receive a call you need to know about your Return to school risk assessment and have it to hand.

In summary what this means is:

Spot checks that will take the form of an initial phone call to review the measures taken for reopening, to minimise spread of the virus causing COVID-19.
Calls will be made to schools will evaluate duty holders’ knowledge and awareness of the relevant government guidance - DfE Guidance for full opening - School (England) - and the control measures required under health and safety legislation.
They will ask if you have/need to consider the additional COVID-19 guidance for school science and technology activities is provided by CLEAPSS (Wales and England).
Where the initial call raises concerns about a school’s approach, it will be referred for a further intervention which may include a visit to the school.
Inspectors will check that the school has carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment and put in place measures to make the school COVID-secure in line with the latest government guidance.

The HSE appreciate that guidance is being updated regularly, and schools are working hard to respond to the changes. HSE inspectors are experienced at applying professional judgement and discretion and will seek to take a proportionate approach, focussing on what is reasonable and achievable in an evolving situation. They state that they know that schools want to do the right thing and are working extremely hard to put in place safety measures. Most of the time we anticipate advice from our inspectors will be enough to resolve the issues that we find, but if inspectors encounter serious risks, they will take enforcement action to ensure people’s health and safety is protected.

It is imperative duty holders at all schools liaise fully with HSE inspectors regarding the spot checks to ensure they are COVID-secure.

The internal health and safety team will, as part of our ongoing advice, guidance and support to schools are arranging to call every LA school or those that buy back into the internal Health and Safety provision to offer an initial telephone conversation about their Return to school risk assessment and controls. We will also schedule supportive site visits where necessary or when a school request/need a site visit.

During the call we will go through a checklist/list of questions that will include all the points identified by the HSE, check that your return to school risk assessment is operational, the controls are effective and offer any additional advice as needed.

For further advice or information please contact:

Donna Irish
Internal Health and Safety advisor
Email: donna.irish@telford.gov.uk

TWC Policy and Guidance for Educational Visits and Journeys

(Review for September 2020)

TWC Policy for Educational Visits and Journeys

This policy is essential for all those who have responsibility for the approval, planning and/or execution of any educational visit or Outdoor Learning including on site adventurous activities.

All visits must be planned and organised in accordance with this document. The status of this document is mandatory for all Telford and Wrekin maintained schools and for establishments working under the TWC Educational Visits Service Level Agreement. Schools / Establishments, school staff and course providers have a duty of care to their children and young people, any accompanying adults, each other and themselves to ensure that they are kept safe and well and, that, in the event of any incident, they are able to respond appropriately in order to minimise the risk of harm.

Any Telford and Wrekin foundation or voluntary aided schools choosing not to follow the Telford and Wrekin Policy and Guidance must (as employers) have other guidelines in place for educational visits and journeys, which the Local Authority (LA) will expect to be at least as comprehensive as its own guidelines.

For updated guidance please visit the Telford Education Services website or go to the Document Library on your E Visits account.

For Telford & Wrekin Council Maintained Schools there is no additional charge for this service as it is Statutory Employer’s Guidance.

If your school/establishment wishes to purchase the Educational Visits Service Level Agreement the annual fee is:

£0.85 per child/pupil on roll (Minimum of £225 per School/College).

For more information contact the Outdoor Education Advisor by email EdVisits@telford.gov.uk or, by phone 01952 382057

EHC Annual Review Listings

Annual review listings were sent out to all schools, settings and post 16 providers week commencing 7 September 2020, detailing the dates when we require annual reviews to be completed by and returned to the LA.

Please may we request that you carefully check through your listing and let us know if there are any inaccuracies by emailing the sendandinclusion@telford.gov.uk.

As you know we have some statutory dates by which we need to finalise EHC plans with a named September placement where a child/young person is moving between phases:

15 February 2021 for any child going into reception, year 3 (where there is movement between an infant school to a separate junior school only) and Year 7 in September 2021
31 March 2021 for young people entering post 16 provision in September 2021

We therefore require annual reviews for the following year groups to be completed during the Autumn Term, please do stagger the reviews throughout the term. The final deadline for these annual reviews to be received by the SEND Team is detailed below:

Year Groups	Please send completed annual reviews to the SEND team by:
Nursery year (aged 3 since 1 September 2019)	13 November 2020
Year 2 pupils (infant school only)	23 October 2020
All Year 6 pupils	13 November 2020
All Year 11 pupils	18 December 2020

We understand that in some circumstances, a full year may not have passed since the last annual review for children in these year groups but their completion is still required by the specified dates.

The annual reviews of all other year groups should occur within 12 months of their previous annual review.

For more information please contact the SEND Team by email sendandinclusion@telford.gov.uk or by phone on: 01952 381045

Website: SEND Local Offer

ISF (Inclusive School Forum) – New Term Dates and Reminders

The Inclusive School Forum is a school led forum within Telford and Wrekin that provides support and challenge to mainstream schools regarding the provision and practice they deliver for children with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND).

DATE OF FORUM (TUESDAY)	TIME	PAPERS DUE IN (THURSDAY)
15 September 2020	9am - 1pm	10 September 2020
6 October 2020	9am - 1pm	1 October 2020
10 November 2020	9am - 1pm	5 November 2020
1 December 2020	9am - 1pm	26 November 2020

Reminders and Top Tips

ISF funding is not only for 1 year – following reviews the funding can continue.
When requesting funding for the 3rd year – please submit professional reports. (E.g. EP/LSAT Updates).
Please submit a costed provision map with your ISF application – the panel cannot make a decision on the day without one (the ISPP is a different document and is to be completed after the funding is agreed)
If funding is agreed, it will not be released until an ISPP is completed and emailed into the ISF inbox. Jamie is now emailing the ISPP template out along with the decision letter as a prompt.
When submitting an application for ISF please be aware that time slots are not given out until the Friday before the panel.
There are currently 3 time slots 9.15am, 10.15am and 11.15am. Cases are heard in quads so there are 4 schools per time slot and they are grouped together in a specific way.
You cannot request specific time slots, so if you are submitting an application to ISF, please bear in mind that you need to keep the whole morning of the panel free because you will be allocated any one of the 3 time slots above.
One case, per school, per panel.
All ISF applications, ISPPs and queries need to be emailed to the ISF inbox at inclusiveschoolforum@telford.gov.uk.
For the purpose of the school census, pupils who are in receipt of ISF and EYIP funding should be recorded as receiving high needs top up funding but logged as SEN Support (K).

For more information please contact the SEND Team by email sendandinclusion@telford.gov.uk or by phone on: 01952 381045

EHC Requests

With regard to any possible new EHC need assessment requests we ask that all educational settings first discuss these with your allocated SEND officer before starting an application. They will work with you to discuss how best to get SEND support and provision in place for children which might involve the use of more flexible release of ISF funding.

Contact details for your SEND Officer and/or Coordinator can be found on the SEND Local Offer.

For more information please contact the SEND Team by email sendandinclusion@telford.gov.uk or by Phone on: 01952 381045

Letter from Minister Ford to children and young people with SEND, their families and carers, and those who work to support them

Download an Open Letter from Vicky Ford, the Parliamentary under Secretary of State for Children and Families, to children and young people with special educational needs (SEND), their families and carers and those who work to support them.

The letter provides advice and guidance on several issues, including behaviour, risk assessments, face coverings, specialist and visiting practitioners, mental health and wellbeing, aerosol generating procedures and hospital schools, as well as linking to some of the support available to help.

Please share widely with young people with SEND, families and carers and those working to support them.

For more information please contact the SEND Team by email sendandinclusion@telford.gov.uk or by Phone on: 01952 381045.

Website: SEND Local Offer

Update to the COVID-19: Temporary disapplications to the Early Years Foundation Stage

To support early years providers during the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily disapplied and modified certain elements of the early years foundation stage (EYFS) statutory framework. This was to allow providers greater flexibility to respond to changes in workforce availability and potential fluctuations in demand, while still providing care that is high quality and safe.

The disapplication’s came into force on 24 April 2020 and will end on 25 September 2020. These disapplication have been reviewed on a monthly basis.

Provisions were made in the regulations to allow for a transitional period of up to 2 months for disapplications around staffing levels to continue in recognition that some providers may need some time to get back to full staffing levels once the disapplications are lifted.

Further restrictions or requirements related to COVID-19 due to a local or national lockdown may affect a provider’s ability to comply with the EYFS. Therefore, government have laid new regulations which will come into force on 26 September 2020 and (with the exception of the EYFS Profile disapplication) will allow the disapplication’s to reapply where a provider is prevented from complying with the EYFS due to coronavirus related restrictions or requirements which have been imposed by government.

Visit the GOV.UK website to view the revised document.

For more information contact the Early Years Team by email talkingchildcare@telford.gov.uk or, by phone: 01952 385423.

New Development Matters Published

The new Development Matters has been developed by Dr Julian Grenier, in consultation with a range of professionals across the early years sector, including some from Telford and Wrekin. It offers a top-level view of how children develop and learn, and guides, but does not replace, professional judgement.

The guidance sets out pathways of children’s development in broad ages and stages but recognises the actual learning of young children is not so neat and orderly. The document encourages early years practitioners to use their knowledge to facilitate holistic learning and development and help children make progress without generating unnecessary paperwork.

View the development matters document.

This is in line with the main aims of the reforms to the EYFS - to improve outcomes for all children, especially disadvantaged children, and to reduce teacher and practitioner workload.

When should the guidance be used?

The guidance can be used by schools participating in the EYFS reforms early adopter year to support changing their curriculum and practice as they deliver the new framework this year. Those who are not early adopters may find some elements of the new Development Matters useful in 2020/21 but they will still need to follow the existing EYFS framework until statutory roll out of the reforms in September 2021.

For more information contact the Early Years Team by email talkingchildcare@telford.gov.uk or, by phone: 01952 385423

Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel Review

The first year of the Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel has been exciting, we have all learnt a lot about support for young people with a variety of needs. As the year has progressed we have also tweaked the way the panel has operated in an attempt to make this more effective.

An analysis of the first year of the panel is included with this article, the intention of this is to support Mental Health Senior Leads in Schools to support the needs of young people and to make appropriate referrals to the panel. This includes an analysis of the data around presentations and looks at some of the outcomes of these presentations. Also included in the appendices are a couple of examples of good referrals (anonymised).

As a result of this analysis and from feedback from both panel members and people who have presented, the Protocol for the panel and the Referral Form have both been updated. These updated versions for operation in the academic year 2020-21 are also included.

Related downloads:

For more information about the Emotional Health and Wellbeing Panel visit the SEND Local Offer website or contact Andy Cooke Service Delivery Manager, Pupil Support Services by email andy.cooke@telford.gov.uk.

Free Online Course for Parents: Understanding your Child

Could this be the weirdest start of a term ever? Children and young people need all the emotional support they can get right now, from adults with space to think about how they communicate emotions through their behaviour.

Did you know that online courses for parents/carers and staff about children’s physical, emotional and brain development have been prepaid in this area, making £88 worth of content FREE for residents of Telford! These courses don’t lecture, they explain psychological and neuroscience in jargon free bite sized chunks.

Highly recommended for all!

To access the course visit the in our place website.

Log on details:

Access code: DARWIN18
Create an account** and start right now!

The available courses are:

'Understanding your child’ 0-19 years (main course)
'Understanding your teenager's brain' (short course).

Please feel free to pass this information onto parents and carers.

For more information please take a look at in our place website or contact the Public Health Team.

Annual Health Checks for people with a Learning Disability

Telford and Wrekin Adult Social Care would like your support in improving the physical and mental health of people with a Learning Disability.

To make a positive change towards improving the health of people with a Learning Disability we can support them in getting their Annual Health Check.

People with a learning disability often have poorer physical and mental health than other people. This does not need to be the case.

Annual health checks are for adults and young people aged 14 or over with a learning disability.

An annual health check helps people with a Learning disability to stay well by talking about their health and finding any problems early, so they get the right care.

They do not have to be ill to have a health check – in fact, most people have their annual health check when they're feeling well.

Adults and young people aged 14 or over with a learning disability who are on the GP practice learning disability register should be invited by their GP practice to come for an annual health check.

Most GP surgeries offer annual health checks to people with a learning disability. However, GP surgeries don't have to offer this service. If the GP surgery hasn't offered an annual health check, please contact them with the person you support, and ask them if they could provide one.

If they say no, ask the community learning disability team for advice on 01743 211210. They should be able to help you access an annual health check.

To find out more about an Annual Health Check please watch the film, share it with the person, you will be supporting with their annual health check, their carers, family and/or friends for more information.

View MENCAP’s easy read booklet on Annual Health Checks to support discussions with individuals, carers, families and friends.

You can also contact the Adult Social Care Learning Disability and Autism Team for individual discussions through Family Connect on 01952 385385 Option 3.

If you know the allocated worker of the person you are supporting you can call the team on 01952 385385.

Travelling to School Safely

A short video that is available to share with students to encourage travelling to school safely. Please feel free to share this with your school community.

Introducing the new team leader for the Multi-Cultural Development Team

I have received a warm welcome to Telford & Wrekin Council when I joined the Multicultural Development Team (MDT) as joint Team Leader alongside Qamar Maqsood. My name is Kirsty Holden and my background as a Teacher, Headteacher and International New Arrivals Consultant has enabled me to gather an extensive knowledge and experience of EAL teaching and learning from which to support the schools in Telford to meet the DFE and OFSTED expectations. The MDT team work with schools to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their BAME/EAL pupils and providing them with up to date information through termly network meetings and high quality bespoke and centralised CPD and Training.

The recent events in the media, in relation to the Black Lives Matter campaign, have highlighted the need for schools to address and tackle Racism, ensure that Diversity is celebrated and that the education pupils receive highlights our rich multicultural society with events such as Black History month, which is celebrated in October. These events compliment the school’s agenda to promote Diversity, Tolerance and understanding of others, alongside providing Cultural Capital for all pupils and promoting and celebrating our British Values. It has also identified and given renewed emphasis on the role of Headteachers and Senior Leaders when dealing with of Bullying and Racist incidents and renewing the need of recording such incidents using the IRIS system which is accessible to Telford schools. There will be more information in next week’s noticeboard in relation to resources, planning support and workshops for Black History Month that MDT will be offering to schools.

Covid-19 has meant that MDT have had to provide additional advice, support and guidance to many schools who have EAL/BAME pupils as they, and their families, are aware of the enhanced risk it poses to many from their community. Remote learning access for BAME/EAL pupils has been highlighted by the government as being of concern as many children did not have the technology or support to learn from home. MDT has been at the forefront of supporting schools with EAL assessments for pupils returning to school to enable teachers to identify gaps in learning and target support to close the attainment gap. MDT also provides advice and guidance for schools for whom, in some cases, there is a need for ongoing remote learning as well as providing support for staff when dealing with issues around pupils’ emotional issues which can affect pupil attendance, such as their fears around the Virus, Shielding and often their Family’s Anxiety upon returning to school.

If your school needs any advice or support, please do not hesitate to contact the team.

Email: Multicultural.Development@telford.gov.uk
Kirsty Holden: Kirsty.Holden@telford.gov.uk
Qamar Maqsood: Qamar.Maqsood@telford.gov.uk
Telephone: 01952 380828

This entry was posted by Admin on Wednesday, 09 September 2020.

About

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

Site Feed

Education Noticeboard

Education Noticeboard