Notice: 7 January 2021

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

Included in this update:

Welcome to the first edition of the Education Noticeboard of the spring term. This week there is a lot of information relating to Covid and we are still awaiting further Government guidance. Apologies if some of the information is repeated from messages received earlier in the week, but I wanted to ensure that all the information was in one place for ease of reference. Links to Government guidance are available throughout the noticeboard, and I will of course keep you updated as new information is received.

Some of the highlights this week include updated risk assessment information and HR guidance, please do take a moment to look at these. Information has also been provided regarding remote learning and best practice.

The Educational Psychology team have provided links to downloadable documents to support teacher resilience and how to talk to children about Coronavirus. In the next few weeks more useful resources will be shared.

Once again, I would like to thank you and your teams for your continuing hard work and commitment during this challenging time as you continue to support all the children and young people within your settings.

Simon Wellman
Director: Education and Skills

Education and Skills Core Offer

A collaborative approach is operated between Telford and Wrekin Council, Teaching School Councils and Multi-Academy Trusts to improve outcomes for our children and young people. This document lays out the Council’s education services offer to schools, and includes a directory of key contacts and management structure charts.

Telford and Wrekin are committed to working in close partnership with schools to ensure that every young person receives the best possible education, drawing on the education expertise our Borough has to offer.

The Core Offer document outlines:

the education services that Telford and Wrekin Council delivers to maintained schools and academies across the borough
an overview of our key priorities for 2020-2021
the management structure in place to deliver these services

The full document is available to download: Education and Skills Core Offer.

National Lockdown Updates and Reminders

Following the government announcement please find guidance that has been published.

Restricting attendance during the national lockdown: Guidance for all schools in England

Actions for early years and childcare providers during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak

Actions for FE colleges and providers during the coronavirus outbreak

National Lockdown: Stay at Home
Some information is provided about schools, colleges and childcare providers.

Going to school or college
Childcare

Free School Meals

We have checked with the DFE and would like to remind that food vouchers are an acceptable alternative to the food parcels suggested in the guidance. Ways in which to deliver FSM for eligible benefit related pupils not attending school can be found in the article: Free school meals - support for schools. We await confirmation of when the national delivery scheme will commence.

Critical workers

We have had queries from critical worker parents this morning. The DFE communication sent out yesterday confirmed, ‘During the period of national lockdown, schools and colleges should only allow vulnerable children and the children of critical workers to attend. Children with at least one parent or carer who is listed as a critical worker are eligible for a school place. It is not necessary for both parents to be critical workers.’ In addition we have heard that some are setting priority criteria for critical workers who are in the NHS, which is not mentioned in the guidance. Following the release of DfE guidance last night the Council will be sending out communication to emphasise that parents and carers who are critical workers should keep their children at home if they can.

Wrap around provision

We are aware that some issues are arising with workforce availability as some wrap around provision has closed. This is a complex area as it involves private companies alongside those maintained by schools. Whilst our ideal position is that provisions remain open for vulnerable children and critical workers there are issues around viability in some cases. Further work will be done with the sector to get a better understanding of the problem and we will continue to monitor the impact.

Mass Testing in Secondary Schools and colleges

Settings across Telford are at different points in terms of implementation. For those secondary settings and colleges that would like support from the Health Protection Hub to review their mass testing setup, an on-site visit can be requested.
Please contact HealthProtectionHub@telford.gov.uk.

Useful Links

Guidance: Children of critical workers and vulnerable children who can access schools or educational settings

Guidance: School attendance: guidance for schools

Decision: Disapplication notice: school attendance legislation changes

Guidance: Coronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care

Information: cancellation of 2021 national curriculum assessments

The Prime Minister announced earlier this week that primary schools should move to remote provision, except for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. We recognise that due to the further disruption caused by this change, key stage 1 (KS1) and key stage 2 (KS2) national curriculum assessments cannot continue as intended.

The following assessments, scheduled between April and July 2021, have been cancelled:

KS1 teacher assessments
KS2 tests and teacher assessments
phonics screening check
all statutory trialling

Schools do not need to complete any further activities to prepare for these assessments. Local authorities will not need to undertake monitoring or moderation activities.

We know that schools will continue to use assessment to inform teaching, to enable them to give information to parents on their child’s attainment in their statutory annual report and to support transition of KS2 pupils to secondary school. We strongly encourage schools to use past test papers in their assessment of pupils.

These arrangements will apply for summer 2021 only, and we are planning for a full programme of primary assessments to take place in the 2021/22 academic year. This will include the introduction of the statutory reception baseline assessment and multiplication tables check, as previously announced. We will confirm full details for 2021/22 primary assessments in due course.

Local Testing Arrangements for Staff in Educational Settings

If you work in educational settings, please be aware that rapid testing is available to you (even if you are not displaying symptoms) should you wish to take one. This should be for your peace of mind and that of your colleagues. Regular testing will support the reduction of risk in spreading the virus.

Book a rapid flow test at The Place, Oakengates.

When booking for a rapid test, please select "Education setting" from the "targeted group" drop down list

The rapid test centres are open in the evenings as well as at weekends. There are limited spaces. This local offer compliments the testing routine that will be in place at secondary schools as part of the new mass/serial testing procedures.

For more information please see the Education Noticeboard: 17 December 2020
New Testing Offer: Availability of rapid testing in Telford and Wrekin for staff who work in educational settings (i.e. early years providers, schools and post 16 institutions)

Local Authority Support for Vulnerable Learners Tracking

The published guidance for schools on vulnerable children and young people released on 5 January 2021 makes clear schools and other education settings should identify the vulnerable children who most need support at this time.

We know that some families need more support than others and that education is an important protective factor for children receiving support from a social worker. We want to prioritise supporting those in need at this difficult time. To assist you in doing this we have worked with the Local Authority Social Care teams to establish a list of children who are on a child protection or child in need plan as of 04/01/2021. Where possible, social workers have RAG rated the children to assist DSL’s in their risk assessment of how often they need to contact families.

We have done as much work as possible to identify what children attend which school or education setting. However, we know we may not have this information precisely accurate.

We are only able to share with you the list of young people known to Local Authority services, this includes those open to Social Care and those with an EHCP. The DfE list of vulnerable learners is much wider than this, you will need to use your own information in school to consider a more complete cohort of vulnerable learners according to the DfE guidance and how you engage these with on site learning.

We have allocated ‘Vulnerable Learner Champions’ from the BSAT Team to each cluster, these are:

South - Helen Evason
Newport - Jenny Wheatley
North - Clare Wilson
Wellington - Kyly McCallum
Central - Helen Fox
Special Schools - Tracey Duckers

Your champion will be in contact with you in the next couple of days to share the list of vulnerable children that we hold. The key purpose of this is to ensure that there is coherence between the list we hold and your records in school.

The list we will send will include:

Children open to a Social Worker, these have been RAG rated on their vulnerability.
Children with an EHCP, the RAG rating was undertaken in the last academic year, this was triangulated with schools and parents/carers. Those RAG rated Red are those where there is a need for these young people to be in school because of their vulnerability.

We have discussed with Social Care team managers and agreed the following DSL’s should make regular contact (every 1-3 days as per the risk assessment) with vulnerable children who are not in school through illness or self-isolation

DSL’s should make regular contact (every 1-3 days as per the risk assessment) with vulnerable children who are not in school through illness or self-isolation
For any child who is open to a social worker and is not in school, after suitable attempted contact with families to establish the whereabouts of children, the child’s allocated social worker and team manager must be notified without delay
Social care will then discuss with DSL’s who is best placed to conduct a visit to the child, if necessary.

We want to work with schools to implement weekly attendance tracking for all children open to social care and those with an EHCP who are RAG rated Red. Your champion will be in touch to work with you to find a way that we can collect this attendance data weekly with minimal impact on your teams in schools.

Updated Covid HR Guidance

HR Guidance has been updated to reflect the changes as a result of the National Lockdown from the 5 January 2021.

This guidance is available to download: Updated Schools Guidance re National Lockdown.

The following appendices are available to download below:

Appendix 1 – Absence Reasons

Appendix 2 – Higher Risk Groups

Appendix 3 – Individual Risk Assessment template

Appendix 4 – Recruitment Guidance

The key updates are as follows:

Average Pay for Regular Casuals – reinstatement of average pay for regular casuals for this period
Updated information for those unable to work due to issues with childcare – please note the change to Unpaid Special Leave.
Information for those who live with CEV children
Information for those who live with CEV adults – please note the change to Unpaid Special Leave.
Guidance where staff refuse to attend work for Health & Safety Reasons
Reinstatement of virtual recruitment
Updated position re Clinically Extremely Vulnerable and those over 28 weeks pregnant in Tier 4/National Lockdown as shielding has been reinstated.

Any queries should be directed to you HR Advisor or the HR helpdesk on the email/phone number below.

Email: HRhelpdesk@telford.gov.uk
Phone: 01952 383601

Risk Assessments (information supplied from the health and safety team)

Supplementary Risk Assessment for Spring Term 2021 (for all school settings)

Since schools returned back in the summer of 2020, you have assessed the risks and implemented proportionate control measures to limit the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19).

You should have revisited and updated your risk assessments (building on the learning to date and the practices you have already developed) for the start of the autumn term and subsequently schools should have reviewed and considered any additional risks and considered the need for relevant revised controls in respect of their conventional risk profile considering the implications of coronavirus (COVID-19)

As schools return back for the Spring 2021 term you will need to review your risk assessments in order to ensure that you continue to implement sensible and proportionate control measures which follow the health and safety hierarchy of controls to reduce the risk to the lowest reasonably practicable level. .

To assist with this process we will be sending out a supplementary risk assessment for schools that will enable you to ensure that any additional controls measures have been adopted, and are effective and working as planned

Each school should satisfy themselves that the controls are operational and satisfactory.

The supplementary risk assessment includes additional points for schools to consider (some of these have been added below as a quick reference point)

They have been added following learning outcomes and investigations from recent cases within some of our schools, new government guidance, information about national lockdown and local restriction tiers and any changes in public health advice.

Review your bubble sizes and how you manage them
Review what cleaning products you use, know the contact time of the products and ensure the products are appropriate for the task.
Review your provision of PPE
Ensure where there is a need for face coverings in the school the control is implemented
Review your arrangements for your staggered start and end times, break times and lunch times
Review any Wrap around care and extra curriculum activities - can they take place safely?
Review any equipment that is frequently used and how it is cleaned after use
Ensure you are applying the 2m social distancing in all areas of the school
Review ventilation within the school

Starting from week commencing 11 January 2021 the internal health and safety team will be contacting all schools to offer support and guidance for the Spring term 2021.

Download: Supplementary Risk Assessment for Schools Spring Term 4 January 2021

Template Risk Assessment for Mass Testing in Secondary Schools

This risk assessment has been produced to support secondary schools to consider the general and clinical activities for asymptomatic testing.

Public Health England and the Health & Safety Executive require this documentation to ensure end to end health, safety and infection control risks for mass lateral flow testing are identified, pre-assessed, managed and monitored regularly by the site owners and testing operators.

Currently the internal health and safety team are contacting all secondary and special schools to offer support and guidance on the implementation of mass testing.

Download: Risk Assessment of General and Clinical Activities on Asymptomatic Testing Site Schools

If these schools would like a supportive site visit please could you email the healthprotectionhub@telford.gov.uk to book a appointment.

*Added on 8 January 2021 - Additional information on Rapid testing in schools and colleges*

The Department of Education have issued additional information on rapid testing in schools and colleges that is contained in restricting attendance during the national lockdown: schools (publishing.service.gov.uk) guidance (Response to any infection (Section 9 and 10 - page 19 – 23)

It states that secondary schools participating in the rapid asymptomatic testing programme should follow the Mass asymptomatic testing: schools and colleges guidance and this includes key points on:

handling any positive tests as a result of that programme.
Where consent is not given for a secondary-age pupil who has been a close contact of the positive case to participate in asymptomatic testing, the pupil must self-isolate.
ensure contacts of the positive case are tested

Telford & Wrekin Council have produced a template risk assessment to assist those schools that are participating in the rapid testing.

Primary schools and any secondary schools not participating in the rapid asymptomatic testing programme must follow the advice below:

If schools would like support on the action they should take to respond to a positive case, they can contact the dedicated advice service introduced by Public Health England (PHE) and delivered by the NHS Business Services Authority.
This can be reached by calling the DfE Helpline on 0800 046 8687 and selecting option 1 for advice on the action to take in response to a positive case. Schools will be put through to a team of advisers who will inform them of what action is needed based on the latest public health advice

Further guidance is available on testing-and-tracing for coronavirus (COVID-19). This process will look different for secondary schools once they have commenced lateral flow testing of close contacts of confirmed cases. The advice will be update shortly to reflect this

NHS COVID-19 app

The app is available to anyone aged 16 or over to download if they choose. For some young people, particularly some with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), parents will need to decide whether or not their use of the app is appropriate.

This will mean that some students in year 11, and the majority of students in years 12 and above will be eligible to use the app and benefit from its features. Staff members will also be able to use the app. The guidance for schools and further education colleges in England is intended to provide information to senior leaders in education settings about the app and how it works, and to set out guidance for its use within schools in England.

Amended Individual Risk Assessment for Staff that are Potentially Vulnerable

The risk assessment for individuals that are deemed to be at higher risk from COVID 19 has been reviewed and amended to include the requirements that those that are clinically extremely vulnerable must stay at home whilst we are in national lockdown.

Download: Individual Risk Assessment for Potentially Vulnerable Employees 4 January 2012

Any issues or further advice needed on any of the above matters or H&S please contact donna.irish@telford.gov.uk or tracy.guy@telford.gov.uk

Free School Meals – Support for Schools

Please find updated information to support schools as they provide free school meals (vouchers) to children who are self-isolating. This group has been looking at the various voucher systems that are in place. Several schools have provided feedback and are trialling systems in order to provide feedback on how they work, we will keep you updated with the results.

Government Guidance: Providing school meals during the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak

FSM Electronic Vouchers

Edenred
Free school meals vouchers, Edenred UK are working with the Department for Education (DfE) to deliver supermarket vouchers to those families, where schools are not able to make food available directly to families.

Available supermarkets:

Morrisons
Tesco
Sainsbury’s
Asda
Waitrose
M&S food
Aldi
McColl’s (including RS McColl’s and Martin’s)
Iceland
Company Shop.

View the Edenred website for more information.

Gift Card Centre

They operate a non-profit element called Helping Hands, schools can make purchases online free of admin costs for the following supermarkets (schools can order all of their vouchers in one online transaction)

Marks and Spencer’s
Waitrose
Sainsbury
Tesco
Asda
Aldi

Schools may wish to survey FSM parents to ascertain a supermarket preference in advance (in case self-isolation is required)

Digital codes can be processed in one transaction and sent directly to parents electronically who can then use them at their chosen supermarket

Helping Hands is currently working with 1690 – LAs, Schools and Universities

Gift Card Centre - Helping Hands

School Vouchers

Supermarket vouchers can be sent directly to parents using a simple and secure voucher system, which is connected to the MIS system.

School Vouchers

Direct from Supermarkets

Asda
Tesco

E-gift cards

Reminder from Information Governance:

During this process schools need to be careful what information they are handing over.

For example: If the school are buying vouchers and emailing from the school to parents, then this would be safe from a DPA viewpoint.

However, if the school are asking a third party to email the vouchers to parents then they would need to review the company and what details are being shared, in these cases the school must:

Inform the parents of children receiving free school meals what they are doing as their information will be passed to a 3rd party.
They must ensure they limit the information from MIS that goes to this company
Inform their DPO

If you would like to share any feedback on the suppliers above or have used a system that’s worked well please feel free to let us know at: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.

Lets Dine - Free School Meals for children who are self-isolating

In response to a request from schools Lets Dine has put in place an alternative option to a packed lunch for children who are self-isolating.

Lets Dine have sourced a nutritious ready meal and pudding, these meals are delivered frozen with cooking instructions and all allergen information. Samples have been delivered and tested, they are of good quality and portion size for primary age, the company that provides these cater for hospitals and deliver to people within the community that need that extra care.

For those families that schools feel Vouchers aren’t beneficial and a meal would be a better alternative to those children isolating this could be the option for them. The school would have to take on the responsibility to deliver these meals and to ensure the hygiene rules are undertaken-this would require the temperature of the meals to be taken upon delivery the Lets Dine service have all the necessary paperwork for this and would support the setup, The meals would be supplied to the school and the school would be charged the FSM meal price as normal, there would be no extra costs.

If you would be interested in finding out more about this option please contact:

Lorna Hicks
Catering Group Manager
Email: lorna.hicks@telford.gov.uk

Remote Learning - NCETM and Maths Hubs online resources available

Materials to support teachers and schools planning and delivering maths teaching in school and remotely at both primary and secondary level are available from the NCETM.

All are accessible from the dedicated Covid support page on the NCETM website.

For primary schools and teachers, the 180 primary video lessons produced during the first lockdown are still available. Each lesson has an accompanying teacher guide, and PowerPoint slides of the lesson for teachers to adapt themselves.

There are also resources linked to the DfE guidance published in July 2020. These include ready-to-use training materials, a short introductory video, and a suite of 79 PowerPoints focusing on the ready-to-progress criteria found in the DfE guidance. Additional training materials addressing the transition between Year 6 and Year 7 are also particularly relevant when pupils in Year 6 have had their maths learning disrupted.

For secondary schools, an evidence-based guidance document to support discussions about recovery curriculum content and pedagogy is available, along with a series of ‘Planning to teach…’ videos and PowerPoint slides offering advice on teaching crucial KS3 topics. CPD materials include a one-hour training session to help understand the implications for Year 7 of the DfE primary guidance, and six Departmental Workshops for any teachers able to engage in collaborative professional development.

DfE Requirement to Provide Remote Education Information to Parents on School Website – template for school

This optional template is designed to help school leaders share relevant information with pupils and parents or carers about how they will provide remote education. The information should be published on school websites by 25 January 2021 to support understanding of what pupils, parents and carers should expect during periods of school closure or pupil isolation relating to coronavirus (COVID-19).

This is intended as an example template and school leaders can choose to use the most appropriate format for their setting. We recognise that not all questions will be relevant to your particular school and there may be additional information you wish to include. For example, special schools may want to include additional questions around access to wider support services that children and young people would normally receive in school, such as therapy sessions.

Schools can find further help and support on how to meet the expectations for remote education via the remote education good practice guide and school-led webinars.

Information and Template: Providing remote education information to parents: template

Important notifications to the Local Authority related to pupils

Schools regularly send key information or notifications and the linked paper work related to pupils to individual teams within the Local Authority. This would include such things as notifications of a modified timetable, an exclusion, a request for an Educational Health and Care Assessment or a request for legal intervention regarding attendance to list but a few.

The vast majority of these come via email to the relevant generic in box. A small number of schools and academies send paperwork by post.

Given the new national state of lockdown we will not have staff going into the office and therefore ask that all communications come to the LA electronically and not by post.

If there is any query related to which generic in box to be used for whatever the communication is, please contact the relevant officer direct. If there is still a query and you are not sure where to direct something please send your query to COVID19@telford.gov.uk and we will inform you of the correct in box to use.

Advice for schools leaders with staff that may have concerns about their safety when coming into school

Via the daily DfE notification bulletin (7 January 2021) we have received the following:

Information for schools with members of the National Education Union and Unison.

This information is about recent advice to members from the National Education Union and UNISON about attendance of staff in schools and colleges because it may be impacting on your ability to provide on-site provision for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers. Their advice was issued before the Prime Minister’s announcement about the national lockdown on Monday evening. More communications about the operation of schools during that lockdown will be coming from the Department for Education shortly.

You will be aware that the National Education Union and UNISON had advised their members that they believe schools are not safe and their members should not be returning to the workplace. We understand that this advice has now been withdrawn. The Government did not agree with this advice because section 44 of the Employment Rights Act, on which they relied for this advice, is specific to each individual employee and cannot be applied in a blanket way to all school staff in the country.

As you know better than anyone, being at school is vital for children and young people’s education and for their wellbeing. Time spent out of education is detrimental for children and young people’s cognitive and academic development, particularly for disadvantaged children and young people. The Government has therefore made it a national priority that education and childcare settings operate as normally as possible during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

The decision to limit on-site provision to vulnerable children and the children of critical workers, does not suggest that schools and colleges are no longer safe places. Instead, limiting attendance is about reducing the number of contacts that all of us have with people in other households. We have resisted limiting attendance at schools and colleges until now, but in the face of the rapidly rising numbers of cases across the country and intense pressure on the NHS, we now need to use every lever at our disposal to reduce contacts outside households wherever possible. In all cases, provision must continue to be made on-site for vulnerable children and the children of critical workers to safeguard their welfare and ensure essential services can continue to function.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has in the last few days said: “Children’s wards are usually busy in winter. As of now we are not seeing significant pressure from COVID-19 in paediatrics across the UK. As cases in the community rise there will be a small increase in the number of children we see with COVID-19, but the overwhelming majority of children and young people have no symptoms or very mild illness only. The new variant appears to affect all ages and, as yet, we are not seeing any greater severity amongst children and young people.”

There is no evidence the new strain of the virus causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there continues to be strong evidence, to date, that children and younger people (those under 18 years old) are much less susceptible to severe clinical disease than older people. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey data from 2 September to 16 October showed no evidence of difference in the rates of teachers/education workers testing positive for COVID-19 compared to key workers and other professions. Additionally, the Schools Infection Survey (covering 3 to 19 November) found the infection rate among teachers to be similar to that of the wider population.

The forthcoming guidance will remind you of employers’ health and safety obligations and will ask that you continue to operate the Public Health England (PHE)-endorsed ‘system of controls’ that have been in use throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These measures create an inherently safer environment for children, young people and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. The Department for Education (DfE) keeps these controls under review, working with PHE, based on the latest evidence. The way to control this virus is the same, whatever the variant.

We understand that your staff may have concerns about their safety when coming into school, and the appropriate process is for those members of staff to resolve these with you and your leadership team. You will of course be able to discuss and consult as appropriate with any trade union representatives, as well as seeking advice from your Regional Schools Commissioner’s office and local public health teams. If you are receiving letters from members of staff stating that they do not intend to attend the workplace as they do not consider it to be safe, you should engage with them, noting that the NEU and UNISON advice has been withdrawn and setting out, as we have above, the reasons that schools can and should be open. You will also want to consider their specific circumstances and concerns, to which you can then respond. If required, we recommend you seek your own legal advice.

We know this can be a difficult time to be running a school, and that the virus rates will be causing concern. We share your commitment to ensuring children get the best education, and that the process above will take into account all health and educational considerations in looking at this issue.

Request for Attendance & P/A data for the Autumn Term 2020

We want to thank you for your sterling efforts around school attendance in general and in particular over the last term. We also want to thank you in anticipation of schools submitting their schools attendance and P/A data for the Autumn term 2020.

We are fully aware of COVID 19 and the impact on overall attendance but it is still important that we are able to capture the Borough’s overall attendance and P/A levels.

The Attendance Support Team are requesting this data in the usual way each term by asking schools own Attendance Administrator to complete a grid. Once all schools have submitted their data AST will publish the Borough averages on the Education Noticeboard.

Can we ask that schools ensure that the Attendance Administrator completes the grid as shown below and return it to: attendancesupportteam@telford.gov.uk.


Name of School:	Attendance % for Autumn term 2020	No. of pupils on roll Autumn term 2020	P/A % for Autumn Term 2020	No. of pupils with P/A Autumn term 2020

As before, I will share the average attendance & P/A data with all schools once it is collated. We will anticipate attendance to be lower due to the impact of the virus but this will reflect a National picture.

Please can I ask that this data is submitted no later than 4.30 pm on Friday 15th January 2021.

Autumn 2020 School census

I would like to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you for your assistance and support with the Autumn 2020 school census’.

Now it’s all finalised by the DfE could you please email your signed summaries to: School.Organisation@telford.gov.uk

Thank you to those who have already done so.

Wishing you all a Happy & Safe New Year.

As you are aware the Spring 2020 census takes place on 21 January 2021, guidance notes will be forwarded in due course.

The test blade of the 2021 spring school census is now available for you to become familiar with. This will remain available until 4pm on Friday 15 January 2021.

Please email your test runs to me at Eileen.finnigan@telford.gov.uk if you wish to.

Eileen Finnigan
Data Officer – School Organisation & Admissions

School Admission Arrangements for 2022/2023 (proposed)

We are consulting for the school year of 2022-2023 for community and voluntary controlled schools for whom the local authority is the responsible admitting authority.

We propose an amendment to the ‘review of places’ after national offer day for the transitional rounds.

Currently we have a review stage, which means that children that have applied late will receive an offer once this stage is complete. However, this is usually a couple of weeks after national offer day. To streamline and improve efficiency we propose to remove the review stage and allocate places asap and as close to national offer day.

Please view the information here:

Introduction - School admission arrangements - Telford & Wrekin Council

For comments please email: admissions@telford.gov.uk by the closing date of 15 January 2021.

For foundation, voluntary aided and academy schools we will display any proposed admission arrangements on the website when we receive them.

Please also refer to Shropshire Local Authority website for schools who are also proposing changes which may be of interest to you as they are one of our neighbouring LA’s.

School admissions & fair access panel flowcharts

In talking to schools, and through the Fair Access Panels, we have become aware that there is a need for greater clarity over the school admission process, timescales and processes for escalation. The attached flowcharts are therefore intended to clarify the process for school in year admissions and for the fair access panel.

Our intention is that these flowcharts will help the processes to run as smoothly and as quickly as possible to ensure we place children and young people within Telford & Wrekin schools in a timely manner. We recommend you read these in the following order:

1. School Admission In Year Application Process

This shows the process from when a request for In Year Admission is received. The initial screening from the Admissions Team will look for key indicators that the young person should be going through either the SEND placement processes or regarded as Hard to Place. However, there is no capacity for the Admissions Team to go into great depth and follow up on, for example, attendance or fixed term exclusions. If schools identify that they believe the young person meets the criteria for being Hard to Place then they need to refer this back to the Admissions Team.

The local agreement in Telford and Wrekin, as outlined in the FAP Protocol, is that the pro forma for in year admission needs to be returned to the Admissions Team within 5 working days. If the pro forma is not returned within that timescale, or if the school has places but is not offering one of these to the applicant, then the ‘Escalation Process’ flowchart will be applied.

Download: School Admissions In year application process Flow chart

2. Hard to Place

Any young person who is identified as Hard to Place, either by the initial screening or by schools, will then be referred to the Fair Access Panel. Unless they are a Child in Care, children in care should be admitted at the earliest opportunity and can then be referred to the Fair Access Panel retrospectively, for recognition as Hard to Place, if appropriate.

The Fair Access Protocols have been agreed with all schools and are binding on all schools, as described in the Admissions Code. The Fair Access Panel will make a recommendation for which school the young person should be placed. The guiding principles for this recommendation will be that this will ensure all young people are offered a place as quickly as possible and that there is a fair distribution of the most difficult to place young people across schools.

The school allocated by the Fair Access Panel has 10 working days to confirm that the young person has been placed on roll, if not, then the ‘Escalation Process’ flowchart will be followed.

Download: School Admission Hard to Place Flow chart

3. Escalation Process

Where a school hasn’t responded to an In Year admission within 5 days, hasn’t admitted even though they have spaces or hasn’t placed within 10 days of a FAP recommendation, the first stage will be to issue a ‘pre-warning letter’. If the school does not offer a place with 7 calendar days of receipt of a pre-warning letter, the LA will inform the school and either the Governing Body (maintained schools) or Trust (academies) of the intention to direct. The Governing Body or Trust then have 15 calendar days to respond before this becomes a ‘direction’.

Download: School Admission FAP escalation Flow chart

For more information please contact us by email at: admissions@telford.gov.uk.

SENCo Briefing: Thursday 14 January 2021

Don’t forget to sign up for the SENCo Briefing for ALL settings, including Early Years, all schools and post 16 settings. This briefing will give an overview of the celebrations and challenges from 2020 and the support from SEND in 2021.

Thursday 14 January 2021
4pm-5pm
Microsoft Teams

Agenda:

Local & National Updates
Update on statutory requirements during lockdown
Preview of how the SEND Teams will be providing support this term
Launch of the new SEND News pages on the Local Offer
Your questions answered

To book your place, please email: localoffer@telford.gov.uk

Wellbeing for Education Return Supervision Groups

The supervision is available to staff within any provision who is deemed to have responsibility for overseeing positive wellbeing and mental health. This may be Mental Health Leads, attendees at the recent Wellbeing for Education Return webinars or such staff deemed suitable by a Headteacher to attend supervision.

Supervision group dates:

2 February 2021
16 March 2021.

Time:
1.30pm to 4.30pm.
Via Microsoft Teams.

We would encourage delegates to attend all the sessions.

These sessions are for staff with responsibility for overseeing Mental Health and Wellbeing across a provision.
The supervision groups will be delivered by fully qualified educational psychologists, supported by the Behaviour Support Advisory Team and the Mental Health Support Team.

Description:
There is an expectation within the caring professions that practitioners receive supervision from relevant qualified and experienced practitioners. In the context of Mental Health within settings, supervision involves understanding the psychological development of children and young people considering the meaning behind children’s behaviours and applying psychological principles to the process of supporting change
It is essential for Mental Health Leads to receive regular on-going support that develops their knowledge and understanding in these areas
If support is delivered well, it provides opportunity for reflective practice, supportive challenge and personal support
Research suggests that effective supervision has a wide-ranging impact on the supervisee, resulting in increased feelings of support, self-efficacy and self-awareness, as well as enhanced skills and knowledge.

To book your place, please contact us by email at: SendandInclusion@telford.gov.uk.
FAO: Kaileb Vint, specifying your name, school and cluster.

Free until Easter 2021

Resources from the Educational Psychology Team

Please find two documents available to download, they have been shared by the DECP to support teachers.

Download: Teacher resilience during Coronavirus school closures
Download: Talking to children about Coronavirus

If you would like more information or advice please contact your link EP or email: SENDandInclusion@telford.gov.uk

SEND Local Offer – Educational Psychology Service

FutureFocus Support during Lockdown

Given the unprecedented circumstances that we all find ourselves in, we wanted to provide an update on what FutureFocus, the careers service for young people, are doing to support your students during this time and how we can be contacted. With full ICT access, Advisers are working from home, enabling them to continue to provide careers support for the Year 11’s in the schools that buy our service, as well as working with those students that are at risk of NEET, Looked After or SEND across all schools. We will still be attending annual reviews, PEP’s and any other relevant meetings via MS Teams, so please continue to invite us along.

We are working closely with our post 16 education & training providers, who have assured us that they are still receiving and processing applications, with telephone interviews offered along with scheduled online open events. We are helping young people with these applications as best we can, via telephone calls, emails, MS Teams and texts, and chasing where needed. As always, we are liaising with parents/carers to help them to support their young people too.

FutureFocus Advisers linked to schools will continue to liaise with appropriate school staff to ensure we are aware of any concerns and to provide feedback on progress as required. Please help us to help you and your students by getting in touch if there is anything you feel we need to know.

Our main telephone number, 01952 388988, is available Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm. In addition, our emails are also monitored, so queries can also be sent to future.focus@telford.gov.uk.

CPD courses up to February Half Term 2021

Please can we take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year and we look forward to continuing to work with you in 2021.

The majority of our CPD courses are currently being provided online via Microsoft Teams and the delegate fees are being manually adjusted to take account of any savings made by not using external venues.

Further details of all of our courses can be found in the CPD Booklet, available on the Telford Education Services website. For the majority of courses bookings continue to be made in the normal way by completing a CPD booking form and sending it via email to cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk.

CPD Courses up to February Half Term 2021
Induction Training for New Governors (GO 502)	Tuesday 12 January 2021	9.30am to 3.30pm
SEND: Building Capacity in your school two parts (LSAT 403)	Tuesday 12 January 2021 Tuesday 09 February 2021	3.45pm to 5.15pm
Recently Qualified Teacher Development Programme (Primary) (CPD 507)	Wednesday 13 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
MAPA Refresher (BSAT 212)	Thursday 14 January 2021 (currently full)	9am to 12.30pm
SENCO Network Meeting (LSAT 227)	Thursday 14 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
The Essential Induction Event for Newly Qualified Teachers (CPD 521)	Thursday 14 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Child Protection Supervision (SG 203)	Monday 18 January 2021 (currently full)	9.30am to 12.30pm
Developing the Behaviour Policy (PSS 103)	Wednesday 20 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Newly Qualified Teacher Development Group: Supporting and Accelerating your Progression (CPD 522)	Wednesday 20 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Taking the Chair – four parts (GO 504)	Wednesday 20 January 2021 Wednesday 24 February 2021 Wednesday 24 March 2021 Wednesday 21 April 2021	4pm to 6.30pm
Preventing and Dealing with Racist Bullying (CPD 533)	Wednesday 20 January 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Cherish Your Team: Effective tips, strategies and resources from Positive Psychology to support the mental health and wellbeing of school staff (EPS 201)	Thursday 21 January 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Teaching children with SEND - meeting the need (LSAT 508)	Monday 25 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Online Safety – a Safeguarding Responsibility (CPD 609)	Tuesday 26 January 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Ensuring the EAL provision provided by support staff in primary schools to meet the needs of all pupils (CPD 713)	Wednesday 27 January 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Supporting SEND in the classroom - for newly qualified teachers (LSAT 502)	Monday 1 February 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
An Introduction to the Early Years Foundation Stage (EY 001)	Monday 1 February 2021 Monday 8 February 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
EAL and Maths (CPD 603)	Tuesday 2 February 2021	3.30pm to 6pm
Induction & NQT mentor network and update (CPD 516)	Tuesday 2 February 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Safer Recruitment Training (this course should be booked via Human Resources)	Wednesday 3 February 2021	9am to 4.30pm
Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS2 (CPD 504)	Wednesday 3 February 2021	9am to 12.30pm
Designated Safeguarding Leads Refresher (SG 107) (this course must be booked via Ollie)	Thursday 4 February 2021	10am-11.30am
Awareness Raising of Emotion Coaching (PSS 0041)	Thursday 4 February 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Preparing for Statutory Assessment at the End of KS2 (CPD 504)	Thursday 4 February 2021	9am to 12.30pm
SENCO Network Meeting (LSAT 227)	Thursday 4 February 2021	4pm to 5.30pm
Emotional Based School Refusal: Using applied psychological principles (EPS 203)	Friday 5 February 2021	1.15pm to 4pm
Teaching and delivering outstanding EAL provision for 'new to English' pupils and advanced bilingual learners in primary schools (CPD 712)	Tuesday 9 February 2021	1pm to 3.30pm
Newly Appointed Safeguarding Governor Induction Training (SG 103)	Wednesday 10 February 2021	5pm to 7.30pm
Meeting the OFSTED requirements and developing reading strategies for EAL learners at KS2 (CPD 714)	Wednesday 10 February 2021	3.30pm to 6pm
Raising Awareness of Prevent (SG 101)	Thursday 11 February 2021	1pm to 2.30pm
Understanding and managing your school budget (GO 508)	Thursday 11 February 2021	9.15am to 12noon
Meeting the Statutory Safeguarding and Welfare Requirements of the EYFS (EY 009)	Thursday 11 February 2021	4pm to 5.30pm

Sue Dyson
Traded Service Specialist
School Performance and Development
Email: sue.dyson@telford.gov.uk

For bookings please email cpdschoolimprovement@telford.gov.uk

This entry was posted by Marianne on Wednesday, 06 January 2021.

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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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